I lost a client to AI and it taught me something I didn't expect
A little while ago, I lost a client I'd worked with for over a year. They were happy with my work, paid on time, and had no problems. Then, one month, they told me they were going to try handling it in-house with an AI tool instead. It stung more than I expected, partly because there was nothing I could point to as the reason. I hadn't done anything wrong. They just found a way to get something…
A few months ago, I lost a client I had worked with for over a year. The client was satisfied with my services, always paid promptly, and had no complaints. Suddenly, they informed me they intended to manage the task in-house using an AI tool. This news hit me harder than I anticipated, mainly because I couldn't pinpoint why. I hadn't done anything wrong; they merely discovered a way to achieve satisfactory results at a fraction of my cost.
The work I had been handling was the straightforward, repetitive tasks I had been managing effortlessly. It was a lucrative aspect of my business, and I never considered it a risk. However, AI was destined to seize that segment first. Reflecting on the experience, I realized that the work I could easily delegate was the mundane, routine stuff, and routine tasks were the most vulnerable to automation.
The clients who remained were those for whom I performed the intricate, judgment-intensive aspects that AI couldn't reason through on its own.
The event made me ponder: Have you ever lost a client to AI? What specific work did they replace, and have these developments altered your approach to your profession?
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
