15,000 Cuts and a 95% Failure Rate
The Human in the Loop by Enrique Cordero
Episode notes
We just spent $300 billion building a car nobody taught anyone to drive.
Q1 2026. The four largest venture rounds in history all closed in a single quarter. 80% of capital went to AI companies. Oracle cut an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people in one day and redirected the savings toward data centers.
AI is now the number-one reason companies are cutting jobs in the US. 15,000 cuts in March alone.
At the same time...
Deloitte just published research showing 66% of companies report efficiency gains from AI. Only 20% have seen actual revenue growth. 95% of pilot projects show no immediate ROI.
Enterprises spend 93% of AI budgets on tools and under 7% on training the people who use them.
No strategy. No enablement. Just tools.
Companies are buying AI like it's a vending machine. Put money in, get transformatio ...