Aaron Levie, cofounder and CEO of cloud-storage giant Box, is challenging the prevailing narrative that AI will devastate white-collar employment. In a LinkedIn post published Sunday, Levie argued that artificial intelligence will actually drive job creation by dramatically reducing the cost of knowledge work, leading companies to take on more projects rather than fewer workers.
Levie’s thesis centers on the Jevons paradox, an economic principle dating back to 1865 when economist William Stanley Jevons observed that more efficient steam engines increased rather than decreased coal consumption in England. As energy became cheaper, new industries emerged that consumed even more resources. Levie believes AI will follow the same pattern: as tasks like writing code, reviewing contracts, designing marketing campaigns, and conducting research become cheaper through AI automation, companies will dramatically expand the volume of work they undertake.
The Box CEO draws parallels to previous technology waves, noting that each generation of computing—from mainframes to minicomputers to PCs to cloud computing—expanded adoption rather than contracting it. However, Levie identifies a crucial distinction: previous automation waves targeted “deterministic work” with clear rules and predictable outcomes (accounting, scheduling, data processing), while AI targets “non-deterministic work” involving judgment, creativity, and ambiguity.
This shift is significant because non-deterministic tasks have historically required expensive human expertise, making them difficult to scale. By making these capabilities affordable, Levie argues that “every business in the world has access to the talent and resources of a Fortune 500 company 10 years ago.” This democratization of advanced capabilities will drive companies to attempt projects previously considered too expensive or complex.
Levie’s optimistic view contrasts sharply with warnings from other tech leaders. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Ford CEO Jim Farley have warned of massive white-collar job losses, while OpenAI’s Sam Altman, JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, and Elon Musk have predicted varying degrees of disruption. Meanwhile, major tech companies including HP, IBM, Salesforce, and Amazon have already cut thousands of jobs citing AI-driven efficiency gains. KPMG’s chief economist Diane Swonk has warned of a potential “jobless boom” in 2026 as firms accomplish more with fewer workers.
Some economists, including Gbenga Ajilore from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, argue that current white-collar job losses stem more from high interest rates and economic slowdown than AI itself. Levie acknowledges that while AI automates many tasks, “it still requires people to pull together the full workflow to produce real value,” suggesting human oversight and coordination remain essential.
Key Quotes
Now, every business in the world has access to the talent and resources of a Fortune 500 company 10 years ago.
Aaron Levie, Box CEO, explaining how AI democratizes advanced business capabilities by making previously expensive non-deterministic work affordable for companies of all sizes, fundamentally leveling the competitive playing field.
The reality is that despite all the tasks that AI lets us automate, it still requires people to pull together the full workflow to produce real value.
Levie addressing concerns about wholesale job replacement, arguing that human coordination and oversight remain essential even as AI handles individual tasks, suggesting a collaborative rather than replacement model.
Our Take
Levie’s argument is intellectually compelling but may underestimate transition costs and distributional effects. The Jevons paradox historically operated over decades, giving labor markets time to adjust—AI’s pace may be far more disruptive. His distinction between deterministic and non-deterministic work is crucial: previous automation waves displaced blue-collar manufacturing workers who struggled to transition, while AI targets knowledge workers who may face similar challenges.
The real question isn’t whether AI creates aggregate economic value—it almost certainly will—but whether job creation happens fast enough to absorb displaced workers, and whether those new jobs are accessible to people whose skills have been automated. Levie’s optimism also assumes companies will choose expansion over margin improvement, but shareholder pressure often favors efficiency over growth. The simultaneous layoffs at major tech companies suggest many firms are currently choosing the latter path, at least in the near term.
Why This Matters
This debate over AI’s impact on white-collar employment represents one of the most consequential questions facing the global economy. Levie’s counternarrative matters because it comes from a CEO actively deploying AI technologies at a major enterprise software company, giving him direct visibility into how businesses are actually using these tools.
The Jevons paradox framework offers a compelling alternative to doom-and-gloom predictions, suggesting that AI could trigger an expansion of economic activity rather than contraction. If Levie is correct, we may see a proliferation of new business models, services, and industries that were previously economically unviable—similar to how cloud computing enabled the startup boom of the 2010s.
However, the tension between Levie’s optimism and the reality of ongoing tech layoffs highlights the transition period uncertainty. Even if AI ultimately creates more jobs than it eliminates, the interim disruption could be severe for displaced workers. The distinction between deterministic and non-deterministic work automation also suggests that different categories of white-collar workers may experience vastly different outcomes, with some roles expanding while others contract. This debate will shape corporate strategy, workforce planning, education policy, and economic forecasting for years to come.
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- AI’s Role in Tech Hiring Freeze: White-Collar Job Market Slump
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/box-ceo-ai-will-expand-white-collar-jobs-fuel-growth-2025-12