India, May 20 -- Ever since OpenAI's ChatGPT revealed itself to the world in 2022, the internet has been flooded with speculation about AI replacing human jobs. Then came the inevitable. Witnessing AI-native companies do more with less, several others started talking about leaner teams, too. Every productivity gain achieved on the back of coding copilots and autonomous agents nudged humans closer to the exit door until companies came out in the open, blaming restructuring on AI-led automation.

However, underneath this, a more complicated reality is emerging. Companies may simply be using AI as a convenient cover for post-pandemic corrections, restructuring and cost-cutting.

The rationale is simple: If AI coding tools are getting so powe...