Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt broke down how he sees AI agents changing C-suite jobs - Business Insider

Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, broke down how he sees AI agents changing C-suite jobs at companies, Business Insider reported in October 2026. In the article, Schmidt described AI assistants that would check whether a company's activity aligns with a leader's values, follow up on projects, and help identify ways to increase profits. Business Insider framed the remarks around AI reshaping jobs from the top down.

Schmidt also offered an estimate of what that could mean for headcount. For a company with 10,000 employees, he guessed AI could leave "a couple of thousand people who you don't need." The phrase he used was "a couple of thousand people who you don't need," rather than a precise headcount figure, and it was framed as a guess rather than as an output from a stated model. The article did not identify which roles or functions would be affected, nor name a specific company in connection with the estimate.

The three functions Schmidt described — checking activity against a leader's values, following up on projects, and identifying opportunities to increase profits — are the tasks he expects AI agents to take on for executives. His comments concern a hypothetical employer of 10,000 rather than a named business. The article did not give a timeline for the changes he described, or say which parts of the C-suite he expects to be affected first.