---
title: "BMW wants AI to do its managers' jobs, plans 20% layoffs across divisions and leadership roles; CEO says: We're improving our..."
description: "BMW plans to cut management roles by 20% in 2027, showing AI displacement reaching white-collar leadership jobs."
kind: "wire"
section: "Work"
author: "Josh Alley"
author_url: "https://hastalavista.ai/authors/alley"
published: "2026-10-04T00:40:39.060Z"
updated: "2026-10-04T01:46:39.150Z"
canonical: "https://hastalavista.ai/work/bmw-wants-ai-to-do-its-managers-jobs-plans-20-layoffs-across-divisions-and-leade"
source_url: "https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/bmw-wants-ai-to-do-its-managers-jobs-plans-20-layoffs-in-divisions-and-leadership-roles-ceo-says-were-improving-our-/articleshow/134632583.cms"
source_name: "The Times of India"
archive_url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20261003022201/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/bmw-wants-ai-to-do-its-managers-jobs-plans-20-layoffs-in-divisions-and-leadership-roles-ceo-says-were-improving-our-/articleshow/134632583.cms"
---

# BMW wants AI to do its managers' jobs, plans 20% layoffs across divisions and leadership roles; CEO says: We're improving our...

*BMW plans to cut management roles by 20% in 2027, showing AI displacement reaching white-collar leadership jobs.*

By [Josh Alley](https://hastalavista.ai/authors/alley) · October 3, 2026

Source: [BMW wants AI to do its managers' jobs, plans 20% layoffs across divisions and leadership roles; CEO says: We're improving our...](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/bmw-wants-ai-to-do-its-managers-jobs-plans-20-layoffs-in-divisions-and-leadership-roles-ceo-says-were-improving-our-/articleshow/134632583.cms) — The Times of India

## Human take

*These are the author’s thoughts, made without AI and typed directly into our publishing software without assistance.*

More data points showing that the corporate incentive to adopt AI and displace human labor is not some myth, but rather simple math.

- Humans have a sense of pride and identity in the skilled labor they perform
- When they're paid for that skilled labor, it becomes tethered to how they develop their life, family, and so on
- Being good at X enabled me to get a house, support a family, etc
- Whatever that X is, however confident you are in your ability, AI will eventually be able to do it better

> **Thought exercise**
>
> A personal anecdote: I am a self-taught developer across a bunch of languages, and I got pretty OK at a bunch of other skills the same way. I have pride in being a reasonably smart person who was able to "git gud" at a lot and emerge as a unique multidisciplinary talent.
>
> That's gone. A huge portion of my value-add is commoditized by AI, including being a reasonably smart person.
>
> Management is on the chopping block two-fold: when you have more people, you need more managers. When you have fewer people, you need fewer managers. AI labor displacement is coming, so some portion of managers are gone just because of math. Management is also a lot of herding cats, which AI can do just fine 24/7.
>
> Similar to how customer service is becoming almost predominantly AI (with some human backups), management stands to follow the same trajectory.
>
> What happens to the human psyche, sense of self and value, purpose and identity, when your special skill you used to make a life is replaced by something vastly superior?