Before They Cut You!

Last week, my friend and long-time professional colleague August Jackson, MBA shared the recent article where Shopify’s CEO says, “Staffers need to prove their jobs can’t be done by AI before asking for more headcount.”

He then posted something that hit a nerve:

“I am hearing from corporate CI leaders they are also being asked to justify new headcount based on whether or how they are applying AI to remove cost and effort from their CI functions. I’m curious what others may be hearing along these lines.”

That post sparked some great back-and-forth.

I shared that the CI leaders I work with aren’t being told they’re obsolete. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening elsewhere—but in my world, they aren’t being asked to prove they’re “better” than AI.

They are being asked how AI can help them deliver faster and more efficiently. That’s appropriate as I believe AI should amplify CI, not replace it!

At first glance, Shopify’s CEO’s statement seems fair—until it quietly morphs into something more dangerous for us CI professionals:

“Couldn’t we get 80% of this output using a cheaper AI tool?”

And that’s the real threat. Not that AI is replacing us… But that someone in leadership believes it can.

Because you’re not actually competing with AI. You’re competing with the perception of what AI can do. And unless you challenge that perception, your role may be reimagined—or quietly eliminated—without your input.

A Familiar Scenario:

Leadership Argument:

“AI can summarize all this data faster than your team. Why do we still need humans to do it?”

My Rebuttal:

“Yes, AI can summarize content, and lots of it. But only a person can synthesize meaning, prioritize what’s relevant to our unique strategy, convert that data into intelligence with analysis, and advise decision-makers on what to actually do. Speed is meaningless without direction. That’s what we provide. Otherwise, AI just provides you with faster noise.”

That’s why frameworks like ROCI® (Return on Competitive Intelligence) matter. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/demonstrating-value-ci-david-kalinowski/

They help you tie insights directly to business outcomes—cost avoidance, revenue protection, risk mitigation, and strategic foresight.

They help you shift the conversation from deliverables to impact—and speak in the metrics that leadership actually respects.

Because if you can’t prove your influence on the business, someone else may assume you don’t have any.

So let me ask: If your CEO asked tomorrow why your CI team deserves to grow in headcount, would your answer make them pause… or invest?

Let’s not wait to be compared to a chatbot.

Let’s own the narrative.

To learn more about my view on this topic, stay tuned for my next article where I’ll share the top arguments leaders are making for using AI over humans in Competitive Intelligence—and my debate-quality rebuttals.

Or better yet—come hear me speak live on this at the Society of Insurance Research Annual Conference in Chicago on May 5th.

#CompetitiveIntelligence #Leadership