My husband's former company, Block, laid off 40% of their workforce — over 4,000 people. When he told me, my first thought was: good thing I pushed him to leave when I did. I'd noticed the warning signs months earlier. He was bored. His team was doing most of his actual work. The role had stopped growing. I've been through two layoffs in my own career, and that gives you a kind of radar that's hard to shake. When I see those patterns in someone I care about, I say something.
Two CMOs I know — at two different companies I've worked at — both got let go within the past year. Both had been there for years. Both were experienced product marketing leaders. But when stock prices dipped and ad budgets tightened, pressure shifted to marketing to prove direct pipeline impact. If you can't show a clear line from your work to sales, you become the easy cut. My take: today's CMO needs a growth marketing background, or a strong head of growth beside them. Brand and comms expertise alone isn't enough anymore. And past 40, you need to be actively using AI to optimize your team's output and headcount — not just following it from a distance.
On the analytics side, I've heard the same story from multiple people I know. Entry-level analysts whose main skill is writing SQL are feeling the most pressure. As one friend who's a director of analytics put it: "AI writes decent SQL now. If that's all you do, you can be replaced." The teams surviving are the ones using AI to automate repetitive reporting work so their analysts can focus on higher-value, strategic projects.
The pattern is the same across functions: the people who make AI their assistant instead of their competition are the ones who stay relevant. Use AI to handle the low-value work faster, then use the time you save to move up the value chain — into strategy, relationships, and judgment calls that machines can't make. A friend of mine now handles website, design, branding, video, and go-to-market strategy using AI tools — one person doing the output of four. That's the profile companies want to keep. Start building toward it now.
© 2026 Accelerator Consulting