The AI Question Every CEO Should Be Asking Instead of ‘Who Can We Cut?’ | SpinGraph: Strategic reset
SpinGraph analysis of Inc. AI / Startups's The AI Question Every CEO Should Be Asking Instead of ‘Who Can We Cut?’ story: strategic reset, The Cushion + The Hy…
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The AI Question Every CEO Should Be Asking Instead of ‘Who Can We Cut?’ - inc.com
Replaces layoff-focused AI strategy with innovation-focused framing Positions AI as a tool for growth and capability expansion, not just efficiency Targets executive decision-making narratives around AI implementation
Emphasizes aspirational upside and leadership virtue while minimizing concrete trade-offs, implementation risk, and documented cases where 'build' initiatives failed to offset job losses.
Visionary leadership frame — positions CEO as forward-looking architect rather than reactive cost manager.
CEOs should shift from asking 'Who can we cut?' to 'What can we build?' when adopting AI.
No data on actual AI-driven hiring patterns post-automation; No discussion of labor displacement timelines or retraining efficacy; No acknowledgment of capital intensity required to execute 'build' initiatives
Combines virtue signaling ('build' implies progress and responsibility) with futurist urgency ('every CEO should be asking'), creating a sense of consensus around an unsubstantiated premise. The tension lies in treating a rhetorical device as a validated management intervention — the claim feels larger than warranted because it borrows credibility from widespread AI anxiety while offering zero operational validation.
CEOs should ask 'What can we build?' instead of 'Who can we cut?' when implementing AI.
The AI Question Every CEO Should Be Asking Instead of ‘Who Can We Cut?’
Extracted statistics from the source narrative
CEOs surveyed who cited cost reduction as top AI priority
Unattributed statistic used to establish problem premise