“White-collar work, where you're sitting down at a computer, either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person — most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12-18 months.”
CEO, Microsoft AI
Said Feb 12, 2026Deadline Aug 31, 2027Financial Times interview with editor Roula Khalaf, February 12, 2026
He cited software engineering — where many engineers now report AI-assisted generation of the vast majority of their code — as the leading indicator for other professions.