Surviving AI: Cutting Through the Hype on AI, Work & the Economy

Tufts University just released the first-ever American AI Jobs Risk Index (March 24, 2026) — and the results are not what most people expected. Silicon Valley has the highest AI job risk of any U.S. city at 9.9%. Boston, D.C., Seattle, New York — the Wired Belts — are the most exposed. Writers face 57% displacement risk. Computer programmers 55%. And the day after this report dropped, ADP published a survey of 39,000 workers: only 22% feel their job is safe. On this week's bonus episode, Carlo Thompson breaks down every number, explains what the geographic story means for your career, and gives you four specific actions to take this week.

📊 Sources: Tufts Digital Planet (March 2026), ADP Research Today at Work 2026, Fortune/Duke CFO Survey

Episode resources

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12w6mzGndqtqx4tlHFxaQ2lu80bHIcnxMgIIWo5ltZXs/edit?usp=sharing

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

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Your job is your single point of failure. Build an insurable side business earning $2K/month in 6 months. Here's exactly how.

A restructuring. A merger. One decision from leadership you can't control. Your main job disappears. You've got savings, unemployment, maybe severance. But that covers you for how long? Two months? Three?

Here's what most people don't realize: a side business earning just $2,000 per month doesn't make you rich. But it covers 57% of your basic living expenses. It buys you six months of runway. It turns panic into strategy. It moves you from dependent to strategic.

In this episode, Carlo breaks down the complete framework: the three business models that actually work in 2026 (AI implementation services, protected service businesses, AI-enhanced traditional models), the five non-negotiable launch criteria that separate real opportunities from time-wasting distractions, the realistic 6-month launch plan (validation, refinement, systems, growth, scale, decision point), and the honest pricing and time management strategy that keeps this as insurance, not a second job. You'll learn how to validate ideas in month one, land your first three customers by month three, hit $2,000/month by month five, and decide what's next. Includes the exercise: identify your side business, validate it, and commit to your first three customers this week. Direct, evidence-based, actionable. For professionals aged 25-55 who understand that career resilience starts with building income you control.

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQrGF8aHN5E

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

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Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

⚑ Correction: This episode has an on-air correction — details in the Episode Resources Center: survivingai.co/episodes-center

Block just fired 4,000 people — a 40% workforce reduction — while reporting $2.87 billion in profit, up 24% year-over-year. CEO Jack Dorsey called it AI-driven automation. Their stock soared 24% on the news.

This isn't an isolated case. New research shows 59% of hiring managers openly admit they exaggerate AI's role in layoffs because it "plays better" with stakeholders than the truth: cost-cutting disguised as innovation. Meanwhile, only 9% of companies say AI has actually replaced full roles. The gap between the hype and the reality is enormous — and your career is standing in the middle of it.

In this episode, Carlo Thompson dissects the playbook companies use to weaponize AI terminology, exposes which workers are actually at risk, and gives you the exact 7-point framework to determine whether your company is genuinely automating or using AI as cover for a standard cost-cutting exercise.

If your employer has said the words "AI layoffs" in the last six months, this episode is required listening. 

Resource List
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1heA8HlFO73F46wUu8FJmusQn6-9lck6leCRrgN1VRgY/edit?usp=sharing

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxqL9P3HhGs

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

Follow Surviving AI: Facebook | TikTok | Instagram | X/Twitter

Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

⚑ Correction: This episode has an on-air correction — details in the Episode Resources Center: survivingai.co/episodes-center

AI can automate your skills, execute your tasks, and write your emails. The one thing it cannot do: have coffee with the VP who wants to hire you.

In an era where technical skills are being commoditized by automation at scale, your professional network has become your primary career moat — and most professionals are either neglecting it or building it wrong.

In this episode, Carlo Thompson breaks down the economics of relationship-building in an AI-driven workplace, exposes why the standard LinkedIn strategy is already obsolete, and gives you the exact playbook to build a network that actively protects your livelihood through disruption.

The infrastructure of trust is the one thing no algorithm can replicate. This episode shows you how to build it before you need it. 

Exercise to build your network

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zoz35zBJa62BheldvXt04EOo_LSnN_3N/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=113840015682063908259&rtpof=true&sd=true

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ALEgddVT9U

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

Follow Surviving AI: Facebook | TikTok | Instagram | X/Twitter

Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

AI agents aren't working alone anymore — they're forming autonomous teams. And 40% of these multi-agent projects are failing. If you work in tech, project management, or enterprise software, this is the biggest career opportunity of 2026.

This episode breaks down the multi-agent AI orchestration revolution: what it is, why most companies are getting it wrong, and why their failure is creating four brand-new career roles that didn't exist six months ago.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why multi-agent AI orchestration is the defining enterprise trend of 2026
• The four emerging career roles created by companies failing at AI agent deployment
• Why 40% of autonomous agent projects collapse — and what that means for job security
• Your 30-day survival plan to position yourself in the agentic AI economy

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuzpgyVx7OY

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

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Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

Everyone says "learn AI." Nobody tells you WHICH tools or HOW. In this episode, I break down the exact 90-day curriculum that makes you valuable in the AI economy — updated for 2026 with the tools, certifications, and skills that actually pay $150K or more.

Prompt engineering is no longer a differentiator. The LLMs got better. The market moved on. The real money — $150K to $250K+ — is now in AI governance, agent architecture, and strategic implementation.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The 3-Tier Skills Hierarchy: what's essential, what's professional, and what unlocks six-figure roles
• Why you need THREE LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, AND Gemini) and which to use for what
• The 90-Day Mastery Plan: Month 1 foundation, Month 2 professional tools, Month 3 advanced strategy
• What changed in 2026: Claude Code launched, agentic frameworks went mainstream
• The certification path that actually pays: AI Governance, not prompt engineering certs
• The 6 mistakes that keep people stuck — including the new one most people are making right now
• Industry-specific AI tools for finance, legal, marketing, data, HR, and software

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po_H0ogf4XU

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

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Send us Fan Mail

Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

⚑ Correction: This episode has an on-air correction — details in the Episode Resources Center: survivingai.co/episodes-center

Welcome to Surviving AI with Carlo Thompson!

In this highly requested deep dive, we are tackling the multi-trillion-dollar question keeping investors and tech executives awake at night: Is the massive AI bubble finally popping, or are we just witnessing a painful but healthy market correction?

We are cutting through the hype to look at the cold, hard data driving the financial and technological turbulence of 2026. If you have a 401(k), own tech stocks, or work in the software industry, you cannot afford to miss this episode.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The S&P 500 Unwind: Why Capital Economics predicts a major pullback in 2026 driven by inflation and high interest rates.
• The Smart Money Pivot: Why Bridgewater Associates slashed their stakes in giants like Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft, while betting heavily on Block and Oracle.
• The Shadow Banking Risk: The precarious "house of cards" created by circular financing and unregulated private equity funding AI startups.
• OpenAI's Leaked Financials: A look at the mind-boggling projected $14 billion loss for 2026 and the reality of the $500 billion Stargate data center project.
• The Enterprise Paradox: Why 90% of organizations are using AI, but only 40% are actually seeing a positive ROI.
• The Labor Market Reality: Moving past the "AI apocalypse" to understand the transition from training-time compute to inference-time compute.
• New Regulations: What you need to know about the Colorado AI Act and California's AB 2013 data transparency laws.

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oynPg73kDI4

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

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Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

Are you worried that your job is being automated, but feel like you're "too old" to start over? You are not alone, and you are not out of options.

While age discrimination is a reality—especially in the tech sector, where ageism costs the U.S. economy $850 billion in lost productivity—older workers possess distinct advantages that younger generations lack. In this episode, we unpack the truth about late-career transitions in the era of Artificial Intelligence. We break down the exact financial Return on Investment (ROI) for pivoting into "human-centric" and AI-resistant moats like healthcare, skilled trades, consulting, and the public sector.

Discover why second-career nurses are highly sought after by hospitals for their maturity, how adult electrician apprentices boast near-zero dropout rates compared to their younger counterparts, and why government jobs offer a crucial 5-to-10-year buffer against AI disruption. We also dive into the hard math: how to calculate your break-even point whether you are 35, 40, or 45, and why taking action now is the ultimate defense against the "Silicon Tsunami".

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The reality of age bias: Why the EEOC just recovered a record $700 million in discrimination cases, and what it means for you.

How to leverage your financial stability, life experience, and professional network.

The math behind retraining: Break-even timelines for nursing and the trades.

Why the public sector is an "AI Sanctuary" currently lagging 5 years behind the private sector.

Actionable plans tailored specifically for your 40s, 50s, and 60s.

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chkDK07bVgQ

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

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Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

AI agents aren't doing safe, simple tasks anymore. They're writing production code, triaging support tickets, and opening pull requests — completely autonomously. If your job involves following a manual or a predictable workflow, it is being replaced right now.

2026 is the year agentic AI moved from demos to deployment. This episode breaks down the data that most mainstream media is ignoring: which jobs are already being replaced by AI agents, how fast it's happening, and what you can do about it before the next round of layoffs hits.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why 2026 is the tipping point for AI agent deployment in the enterprise
• Which job categories are being automated first by agentic AI systems
• The difference between AI assistants and AI agents — and why agents are far more dangerous to your career
• Real examples of companies replacing entire teams with autonomous agent workflows
• What you can do now to stay ahead of the agentic AI wave

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEEv-v7RVeA

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

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Send us Fan Mail

Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future

Where you live now matters more than what you do for a living. In 2026, some cities are creating massive AI-driven wealth while others are watching jobs disappear — and the gap is widening every month.

This Season 3 premiere reveals the geographic arbitrage playbook: the real map of where AI is creating opportunity, where it's destroying livelihoods, and why your zip code is the most underrated variable in your career survival strategy.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why geographic location is now the single biggest predictor of career resilience
• The cities and regions booming from AI investment (data centers, tech hubs, healthcare corridors)
• The areas being hollowed out by AI-driven automation and remote work shifts
• How to use geographic arbitrage to dramatically lower your cost of living while increasing your earning potential
• The real map of AI opportunity in 2026 — and how to position yourself on the right side of it

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Surviving AI is hosted by Carlo Thompson and Ainsley (AI co-host), breaking down what AI job automation actually means for your career — every week.

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0dnUM7g9V8

📚 Browse every episode, show notes, and resources: Surviving AI Episode Center

Follow Surviving AI: Facebook | TikTok | Instagram | X/Twitter

Send us Fan Mail

Please visit our website for more information - Surviving AI: Navigate the Future