Marc Shorb

Joe Cecala is the founder and CEO of Dream Exchange, a Chicago-based exchange in formation that’s working to give small and emerging companies a real path to public capital while letting everyday investors take part. He arrived at the idea after about 30 years moving through finance from a lot of different angles, first as an accountant and military officer, then as a CPA, a lawyer, and a longtime advisor to entrepreneurs and investors.

As companies adopt AI tools to increase output and offset work that can be automated, new data shows AI use is creating a heavier review and rework burden for managers and senior leaders. Last month, we released our 2026 AI in the Workplace report, based on a survey of more than 2,000 American workers. The survey revealed that 57% of managers have had to fix or redo work from coworkers who that relied too heavily on AI, while only 38% of individual contributors have had to do the same.

The phrase “AI layoff” went from a niche concern in 2023 to the single most-cited reason for U.S. job cuts in both March and April of 2026. Over those two months alone, employers tied 36,831 layoffs directly to artificial intelligence, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Block cut 4,000 people. Meta cut 8,000. Oracle is cutting tens of thousands more.