Businesses should reinvest the productivity gains created by artificial intelligence into new products, markets and customers rather than treating AI primarily as a way to cut costs, according to Paul Griggs, senior partner at PwC US.

Griggs said the debate over whether AI will destroy jobs was overlooking a potentially larger economic effect, with the technology creating a “dividend” of human capacity that companies can redirect towards growth.

“AI creates value. Value creates growth. And growth creates demand for new kinds of work,” Griggs said.

His comments come as businesses accelerate investment in AI, with spending on infrastructure and wider business transformation accounting for an increasing share of economic activity.

PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer, which analysed one billion job advertisements globally, found that organisations most exposed to AI were experiencing headcount growth at twice the rate of those least exposed.

The research also found that AI is affecting different types of work in markedly different ways.

Jobs where AI increases the value of human expertise, judgement and creativity are growing faster and often attracting higher pay, while roles where AI takes over more advanced expertise-based tasks are becoming narrower and seeing slower growth.

Griggs argued that businesses therefore face a strategic choice over what they do with the capacity freed up by AI.

“The default answer, and the easiest one to defend, is to harvest those gains for today’s earnings. Cut costs, expand margins, return capital to shareholders,” he said.

While he acknowledged that savings and some workforce reductions would be unavoidable for some companies, he warned that an excessive focus on efficiency could weaken future growth.

“Treating AI solely as a cost opportunity risks mortgaging tomorrow to fund today,” Griggs said.

He said reskilling employees would remain important as jobs change, but argued that it should form part of a wider strategy for redeploying workers into areas where AI creates new opportunities.

Businesses should first identify new markets, products and customers made commercially viable by AI, before deciding how their workforce needs to change, he said.

That could mean redeploying existing staff, retraining employees, hiring people with skills that are not available internally and reducing roles where the gap between existing and future requirements is too large.

“The sequence matters. Define the opportunity before deciding what to do with people,” Griggs said.

He pointed to software development as an example of how AI could alter work without necessarily eliminating it.

AI coding tools can take over parts of software development, freeing experienced developers to spend more time coaching colleagues, developing teams and improving quality.

At the same time, employment of software developers is projected to grow by 15 per cent over the coming decade, according to the analysis cited by Griggs.

Lower software development costs could also allow companies to undertake more projects, launch additional products and reach more customers.

Griggs said similar opportunities could emerge in other sectors, including personalised financial advice for customers previously considered too expensive to serve, legal and tax support for small businesses, and wider patient navigation and preventive healthcare services.

He urged company leaders to track AI-generated efficiency not simply as a cost saving, but as strategic capacity, including hours, expertise and staff time that can be redirected towards growth.

“If leaders can’t see their workforce clearly or move talent quickly, redeployment stays a slide in a deck,” he said.

Griggs said companies that successfully connect their AI strategy with workforce planning could gain an advantage over rivals.

“Human capacity isn’t what’s left after AI has done its work. It’s the raw material for the next wave of growth and performance,” he said.

He added that employees were more likely to respond positively to AI when they could see opportunities for career development and participation in future growth.

“The most powerful signal a leader can send about AI is not a memo about its potential. It’s a growth strategy that shows where the business is headed, paired with a workforce plan that shows how people will help get it there,” Griggs said.

The central message, he said, is that the cost of waiting is rising quickly as AI develops.

Businesses that reinvest the gains rather than simply reducing costs could create new sources of value and competitive advantages that become increasingly difficult for rivals to match.