What leadership should be saying out loud

Your company is going AI‑first.
Are you, an operations manager, ready for what comes next?

"I have been in those rooms. I have made those lists. I have also sat across the table from people and delivered the news. That experience is why I built this. Not to expose anyone. To make sure workers have what leadership should already be giving them."

Get the weekly signal every Sunday. Written from inside the room.

Free. Every Sunday. No pitch. No doom.

Book a Free 30-Min Call →

US AI-Driven Layoffs // 2025

0 jobs

Confirmed AI-related workforce reductions announced by US companies this year. Updated weekly.

Last updated: APR 19 2026

Microsoft 6,000 MAY 25
Salesforce 1,000 MAY 22
Duolingo 10% APR 29
Workday 1,750 APR 10
Dell 12,500 MAR 18
0%

of employers plan AI-driven headcount cuts

WEF Future of Jobs Report, 2025
0%

of existing skills will be outdated by 2030

WEF Future of Jobs Report, 2025
0%

wage premium for workers with AI skills

PwC Global AI Jobs Barometer, 2025
This Week's Signal

APR 19 2026

The all-staff email that said nothing

This week three major financial services firms sent AI transformation updates to their full workforce. All three used variations of the same phrase: "AI will augment your work, not replace it." None mentioned the workforce planning meetings that preceded those emails. What gets said in those meetings is different from what gets sent. This brief exists to close that gap.

Previous Briefs

What is actually happening

Here is what is actually happening right now

The WEF's 2025 Future of Jobs report surveyed 1,000 employers across 55 economies. 41% plan to reduce headcount as AI automates their operations.

That decision is already being made in rooms you are not in, by people who are not telling you.

Your manager knows which roles are being evaluated. Leadership knows the restructure timeline. And most career advice you are reading right now is written by people who have never sat in a workforce planning meeting.

The workers who survive these restructures are not the ones who learned the most tools. They are the ones who understood how the decision was being made and positioned themselves accordingly before the announcement came.

"I have built the programs that helped people through restructuring. I know what both sides of that table feel like and what actually determines who lands where."
Boubacar · Founder, Human at Work

The AI Exposure Score

Two minutes. Three things you will know that most workers never find out.

Not a generic quiz. A role-specific read based on how HR actually evaluates exposure.

Your real risk level

A role-specific read based on how HR actually evaluates exposure. Not the generic automation percentage you have seen everywhere.

ROLE-SPECIFIC

Your specific defense moves

Three concrete actions calibrated to your exact score. Executable inside your current role this week. Not "build your personal brand."

ACTIONABLE

Your severance trigger signals

The early signals HR watches before a restructure is announced. Know what to look for before the all-hands meeting happens.

INSIDER

NO TOOLS PITCH  ·  NO EMAIL REQUIRED TO START  ·  2 MINUTES

Why this exists

Why this exists

I built Human at Work because I kept watching the same thing happen.

Companies would announce AI transformation initiatives. Workers would search "will AI take my job" and get the same recycled list of safe occupations. Leadership would send a reassuring all-staff email that said nothing meaningful.

And then, six months later, the restructure would land.

The workers who survived were not the ones who had learned the most tools. They were the ones who understood how the decision was being made and positioned themselves accordingly before the announcement came.

That is what this is. Not a tools tutorial. Not a doom newsletter. The read from someone who has sat on both sides of that table.

Boubacar ───────────────── 15 years · Global HR Leader
Fortune-scale companies
MENA · Africa · US · Europe ───────────────── Founder, Human at Work
humanatwork.ai

"The workers who survived were not the ones who had learned the most tools."

From the Brief

Recent Intelligence

Published weekly. Written for workers, not for HR departments.

APR 12 2026

What "efficiency initiative" really means for your role

When leadership uses this phrase, there is a specific internal process already underway. Here is what it looks like from the inside and what to do in the next 30 days.

READ → APR 05 2026

The three questions HR asks before a restructure

Workforce planning meetings follow a pattern. The three questions asked about every role determine who stays and who goes. Most workers never know what they are.

READ → MAR 22 2026

How to make your value visible before it gets evaluated

Visibility is not self-promotion. It is making sure the people who make restructure decisions can articulate what you do before the meeting starts.

READ →
Browse the full archive →

Frequently Asked

What people ask before they subscribe

What is Human at Work?

Human at Work is a weekly intelligence brief for workers navigating AI transformation at their companies. Founded by Boubacar, a former global HR leader with 15 years at Fortune-scale companies across MENA, Africa, the US, and Europe, it publishes what leadership should already be saying out loud about workforce planning and what workers can do about it.

What is the AI Exposure Score?

The AI Exposure Score is a free 10-question assessment that evaluates your real risk level based on factors HR actually uses when making restructure decisions: role replaceability, task predictability, organizational visibility, company AI adoption pace, and team headcount signals. It takes two minutes and produces a personalized score plus three specific defense moves.

Who is Boubacar?

Boubacar is a former global HR leader who spent 15 years at Fortune-scale companies across MENA, Africa, the US, and Europe. He has been in the rooms where restructure decisions got made. He has built the workforce planning programs. He has also sat across the table from people to deliver that news. Human at Work exists because workers deserve the same clarity leadership already has.

Is this about learning AI tools?

No. Human at Work is tool-agnostic by design. The frameworks, strategies, and intelligence published here hold up regardless of which AI systems your company deploys. The focus is mindset, positioning, and political intelligence. The human side of surviving and thriving through AI transformation.

How is this different from other AI career newsletters?

Most AI career content is written by people who have never been in a workforce planning meeting. Human at Work is written from the inside by someone who has made those decisions and delivered that news. The content is strategic and political, not instructional.

Is it really free?

The AI Exposure Score and the weekly newsletter are free. Human at Work also publishes paid resources for workers who want to go deeper. The free brief is complete and useful on its own.

How do I know if this is for me?

If you work at a company that has mentioned AI, automation, or "transformation" in the last 12 months, this is for you. If you have wondered whether your role is at risk and have not found a satisfying answer, this is for you. If you are tired of being told to "learn prompting" without anyone explaining the actual organizational dynamics at play, this is for you.