According to the Ramp AI Index, the most aggressive AI adopters spend roughly $7,500 per employee each month on AI tools. The report notes this figure hasn't yet surpassed a typical engineer's salary — with the word 'yet' carrying significant weight. For founders and CFOs, this signals AI tooling costs are graduating from rounding errors to a budget category rivaling headcount.
Box founder Aaron Levie calls some executive thinking around AI replacement “AI psychosis.” He argues that the people deciding AI can replace workers are often the least likely to understand what those jobs truly involve. The article frames this against ClickUp cutting 22% of staff for AI agents and 2026 tech layoffs nearly matching all of 2025.