Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months-for all white-collar work to be automated by AI

Fortune • February 13, 2026 • business

Key Points:

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, predicts that within 18 months AI will achieve human-level performance on most professional tasks, potentially automating roles in accounting, legal, marketing, and project management.
Suleyman and other AI leaders warn of a radical transformation in white-collar work, citing exponential growth in computational power and comparing the disruption to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite these predictions, current AI adoption in professional services has led to only marginal productivity gains, with some studies showing decreased efficiency, and economic benefits largely confined to the tech sector.
AI-related job cuts totaled around 55,000 in 2025, with major companies like Microsoft reducing their workforce, though broader market impacts outside tech