He pulled 80-hour weeks to build the future. Then the future asked for his badge.
Michael thought prestige and purpose lived inside a Big Four badge, so he poured 80-hour weeks into coding AI agents for PwC, the kind that chew through tax and regulatory work once done by people. Then the headcount calculus shifted, aided by the very automation he helped ship. His story slices through hustle culture’s mythology and offers a blunt lesson on corporate loyalty in a market where human output is benchmarked against algorithms.
The dream job that wasn’t
Michael, a 26-year-old consultant, believed he had reached the height of his ambitions when he joined PwC, one of the world’s prestigious “Big Four” firms. Driven by the promise of innovation and success, he quickly settled into an 80-hour-a-week routine. In the company’s AI division, he worked on a team building advanced AI agents to streamline tasks traditionally handled by humans. It felt like his dream job, until it wasn’t.
The relentless hustle of AI innovation
Like many young consultants, Michael was pulled into the demands of what’s often called hustle culture. Long hours, tight deadlines, and constant pressure to deliver cutting-edge solutions defined his days. His core mission was to develop AI agents capable of handling complex work such as taxation and regulatory compliance, tools that promised greater efficiency and lower costs for clients. Ironically, the systems he was building aimed to replace the very human labor he once hoped to support, but the excitement of working on transformative technologies eclipsed any doubts.
The irony of automation
Then the ground shifted. He was told his role was no longer needed after restructuring and improvements in the very technology he had helped refine. The twist was stark: he was sidelined by automation that mirrored the systems he had spent countless hours developing. His experience captures the accelerating reshaping of the workforce and the paradox facing many tech professionals. What happens when the tools you create ultimately render your own efforts unnecessary?
A hard lesson in corporate loyalty
Now away from PwC, Michael shares his story openly on social platforms, positioning it as both a cautionary tale and a wake-up call. He underscores a difficult reality: corporate loyalty can be one-sided, especially when AI rollouts prioritize profit over people. His advice to peers is to safeguard well-being and focus on personal growth rather than sacrificing everything to meet corporate demands, since even dream roles can be fragile in a tech-driven labor market.
What does the future hold?
Michael’s journey reflects broader shifts across industries. In an era that prizes algorithmic efficiency, more professionals find themselves competing with colleagues and with the systems they design. The trend is not limited to consulting or the Big Four. From software engineering to customer support, as AI capabilities expand, organizations will continue to redefine the contours of work. The challenge ahead is not only which roles are automated next but how people can adapt and build resilient careers in a constantly evolving landscape.