Nikesh Arora says AI has changed how he approaches hiring — but not in the ways many workers fear.
The CEO of Palo Alto Networks — a cybersecurity company with a nearly $200 billion market cap — told The New York Times’ “Hard Fork” podcast that he thinks it’s a “fallacy” that AI productivity gains automatically mean companies need fewer people.
“No, I need more,” he said. “The fallacy is that organizations are going to get 30, 40, 50, 60% more productive from a development perspective and a testing perspective, so we need less people.”
Arora’s comments run counter to a growing chorus of tech and business leaders who say AI will enable companies to operate with fewer workers. Some CEOs — including Block’s Jack Dorsey and Cisco’s Chuck Robbins — have said AI is already changing staffing needs and replacing certain roles.
That message comes amid broader backlash against AI. Some college graduates are booing commencement speakers who mention the technology, while protests have erupted over data centers that power AI models. Some Silicon Valley bosses, including Snap’s Evan Spiegel, have warned of growing societal dissatisfaction with AI — especially as it increases employment concerns.
Arora thinks there’s a more nuanced impact on jobs.
He argued that AI could create greater technical capacity — and that companies may use those gains to tackle long-delayed product roadmaps and business transformation rather than simply banking the savings through mass layoffs.
“The problem is, every technologist that you talk to has a feature request list which is longer than their arm,” he said. “I think the first thing that’s going to happen is, as we create more capacity, we’re going to try and fill the technological backlog.”
Arora also offered a layered view of recent AI-linked layoffs, saying some companies may be using cuts to “create capacity” and make room for workers with different job responsibilities.
“They’re saying, ‘That capacity allows me to hire more people and make room for people that I need who have the newer skill set,'” he said.
Palo Alto Networks has continued to add employees, though its filings do not attribute that growth specifically to AI. The company increased its total employee head count by 959 in the first two quarters of fiscal 2026, according to its latest 10-Q filing.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.