AI Field Notes – Issue No. 5

Quiet AI Layoffs and The Shift from SEO to Paid Search

Observations

A major shift is happening—subtle, quiet, and deeply structural.

First: “Quiet AI layoffs” are not hypothetical. They’re real, and they’re growing. Companies are automating service roles, consolidating teams, and masking headcount reduction under vague terms like “efficiency” and “return to office.”

Second: Traditional SEO—once a cornerstone of inbound strategy—is being undercut by AI Overviews. Google is training users to get their answers without clicking, collapsing traffic and forcing a shift to paid visibility.

These trends, confirmed by Alphabet’s Q1 earnings and reporting from The Information, are fundamentally rewriting how businesses acquire customers and deliver service.

This is not just a tech shift—it’s a marketing and business model reset.

Market Signals

• The Information reports execs across industries are avoiding the phrase “AI layoffs,” but quietly replacing roles with automation.
• Sysdig uses AI to respond to inbound leads, eliminating the need for junior SDRs.
• ABN Amro automates over half its support tickets with Microsoft Copilot; hiring is paused.
• United Wholesale Mortgage reduces mortgage doc processing time by 90% using AI.
• ServiceNow is selling a “zero-headcount” IT support model.
• Google Q1 2025 Earnings: Search ad revenue jumped 10% YoY to $50.7B, driven by strong monetization of AI Overviews.
• AI Overviews now serve 1.5 billion users monthly, training users to avoid organic listings.

Strategic Implications

For Marketing and CX Leaders:

• AI is the New First Impression: It’s the first to greet your customers. That’s your brand now.
• Messaging Must Shift: Your buyer may be anxious about their own job. Speak to value and outcomes, not fluff.
• Funnels Are Being Rewritten: If AI replaces SDRs and support, marketing needs to drive more aligned, high-intent leads.

For Visibility and Growth:

• SEO Is Quietly Dying: Being #1 means nothing if the AI gives the answer above you.
• Ad Budgets Are Defensive Spend: Companies are buying back traffic they once earned.
• More Competition: The ad auction is swelling. CPCs are up. Margins are tighter.
• Brand = Discoverability: Only strong brands get named in AI results. Others pay for every click.

Critical New Priority: AI Literacy for Business Leaders

This moment demands a new kind of competence at the executive level: AI literacy.

It’s no longer about “staying current”—it’s about survival.

Business leaders must understand:

1. Where headcount will shift or shrink.
2. How customers will interact with your brand—via AI, not humans.
3. How customers will find your brand in an AI-first search landscape.

Failing to build this fluency is not just a missed opportunity—it’s a direct threat to your future relevance.

“Not building AI literacy today means building irrelevance tomorrow.”

Key Takeaway

AI is collapsing the traditional marketing model from both sides:

• Inside the company, by replacing labor and restructuring workflows.
• Outside the company, by disrupting how customers discover, trust, and buy.

The companies that win won’t just adopt AI—they’ll understand it, integrate it, and design around it.

“The death of SEO won’t be loud. It will be silent—marked by a rising ad bill and a vanishing organic audience.”

Want to dive deeper?

I’m building frameworks and roadmaps to help companies rethink CAC, LTV, workflows, and marketing in this AI-dominant landscape. Let’s talk about how to future-proof your business.

Len Ward
Managing Partner, Commexis