AI may feel like a hanging sword for many worried about being replaced by technology. But for “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary, it’s boosting productivity, cutting costs, and pushing profits higher.
Markets are underestimating the impact AI is having on productivity, O’Leary said in a Fox Business interview he shared on X in February. While O’Leary acknowledged AI is replacing human jobs, he said he is seeing firsthand at his companies how it is driving major savings through gains in efficiency and productivity.
“People are not giving enough credit to what’s going on on balance sheets and income statements based on the enhancement of AI,” O’Leary said. “I know jobs are being lost, but at my companies, wow, we are saving a ton of dough. Our earnings are going up.”
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Layoffs are starting to rattle the labor market as companies cut costs and lean more on AI. In the tech sector alone, about 81,747 job cuts were announced in the first quarter, the highest quarterly total since early 2024, according to tech layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi.
AI has reduced monthly job growth by about 16,000 over the past year and lifted the unemployment rate by roughly 0.1 percentage point, according to Goldman Sachs.
Layoffs might be wreaking havoc on workers, but companies are still thriving—powered by AI doing more with less.
‘Margin Enhancement’ Thanks to AI Tools
Markets seem to have found a powerful tailwind in the form of AI, as technology boosts productivity and efficiency across companies, O’Leary said in a separate Fox News interview he shared on Instagram on April 23. Stocks are continuing to move higher despite geopolitical conflict and ongoing uncertainty, driven by the impact of AI on company financials, he said.
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“What people didn’t take into account, and I think in some ways it’s just sheer luck, is that AI has had a major impact in all 11 sectors of the economy,” O’Leary told Fox News. “It’s not just technology. Every single sector is enjoying the benefits of margin enhancement and productivity enhancement because of these AI tools that are being adopted into business, both large and small.”
Without AI, Throw The Idea ‘In The Garbage’
Using AI is no longer optional but a necessity for companies that want to grow, O’Leary said on entrepreneur Mario Nawfal‘s podcast in February. He said businesses today are increasingly judged by how much cost savings, efficiency gains, and real impact they are achieving in their financials through the use of AI.
“You better understand what tools are available for you as an entrepreneur because if you don’t use them and an investor like me comes along and assess you on what AI tools you are using and you say, well, we haven’t really adopted AI, you just take that idea and you throw it in the garbage,” O’Leary told Nawfal.
The push for productivity-enhancing technology isn’t limited to AI software …
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