Former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt (에릭 슈미트) said the spread of artificial intelligence agents would rapidly change core work for CEOs and other executives.

Business Insider reported on Oct. 21 that Schmidt said future CEOs would be assisted by AI secretaries that provide an at-a-glance view of how a company is run. He said companies' demand for labour could also fall sharply in the process.

Schmidt focused in particular on the speed of change. He said AI competition is fiercer than past rivalry between PCs and Macs, and between Android and the iPhone. He said it takes about 6 months to develop a model and 2 months to test it, but a product can fall behind competitors in as little as 5 months after launch.

He rejected the idea of an AI bubble. Schmidt said Anthropic's revenue growth is steeper than it was when he worked at Google. He also stressed that the growth is supported by revenue based on actual customer demand.

He went on to mention that two founders have their AI secretary check every Friday for anything within the company that goes against their values. He also introduced a case in which another executive had staff create an AI modeled on the executive to monitor employees' work progress, issue instructions and respond to requests for help.

Schmidt said there is room for abuse in such cases and that he is concerned, while also acknowledging that the approach increased decision-making speed. This is interpreted as meaning that AI could change workforce management itself.

Schmidt said that as CEO, most of his days were filled with meetings. He said he spent 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, in meetings to hear explanations of projects and decisions, and that AI platforms could remove much of those "coordination costs". He said recognizing changes, passing them up the chain and aligning teams could be automated. He also estimated that as AI automates many tasks, a significant portion of needed staff could be reduced.

He said AI would not replace every role. People would still be needed for product development and sales, dealing with regulators and running teams. As the use of AI agents in management expands, boosting productivity, organisational restructuring and redeploying staff are expected to emerge as key tasks for companies.