A Quarter of Microsoft Just Got Exit Offers. Here's What I'd Build Instead.

On October 26, Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees. That is roughly a quarter of its workforce.

I read that headline twice. I spent more than a decade at Microsoft in Redmond, testing Windows hardware and software, starting in 1997. I tested Windows XP, Windows Media Center and Windows 7 before most people ever saw them. Then I spent three years at AT&T certifying phones and apps. So when a number like that shows up, I don't scroll past it. I think about the people, because I sat beside them. In my early years there, I was in the war room meetings where we decided which defects got fixed, and how, before Windows shipped. You had to really know your stuff to be in that room.

Before I go any further, let me be careful with the facts, because fear spreads faster than details.

These were buyout offers, not layoffs. Eligible employees were offered a voluntary exit package. Some will take it and some won't. And a Microsoft spokesperson said the buyouts are not being driven by AI. When it cut about 4,800 roles in July, its own memo said those roles are not being replaced by AI.

The bigger picture is calmer than your feed makes it look, too. Challenger, Gray & Christmas is a firm that has tracked US layoff announcements every month for decades, and news outlets quote its reports all the time. Its latest numbers show total announced US job cuts through September 2026 are down 39% from the same point in 2025.

So why am I writing about this at all?

Because the fear is real, even when the headline is more complicated than it looks.

The question people are quietly asking

That same report shows AI was the most-cited reason for announced US job cuts so far this year. Employers attributed 120,136 announced cuts to AI from January through September, about 21% of the total.

Read that and it is hard not to ask yourself, "Am I safe?"

Maybe you are. Maybe your company values you and your role is solid. I hope so.

But I've been in tech long enough to know that "solid" is not the same as "in control." I've worked inside big companies. You can be good at your job, show up every day, and still have no say in what happens to it.

I'm not writing this to scare you. I'm writing it because I care what happens to American workers, and because there's another side of this story that doesn't get told enough.

The side nobody is talking about

The same tools people are afraid of can also be what lets you build something of your own.

People are already doing it. Americans filed more than 3.2 million business applications in the first half of 2026, the highest first half in Census records going back to 2005. I'm not going to tell you why each of those people started. But I know the feeling of wanting more control over your own future.

And here's the part that matters most to me. In a Goldman Sachs survey of small business owners in its 10,000 Small Businesses program, 76% said they use AI. Only 14% said they are fully integrating it into their core operations. And 73% said they would benefit from more training and resources to implement it.

That is the gap. Most of those owners already have AI. What they don't have is a system that makes it work for their business.

We need more good people using AI. Not just big companies. Not just people who love tech. We need coaches, service providers, agency owners and everyday business builders who will use it with care, honesty and good judgment.

That can be you.

What I'd build instead

I've spent 26+ years in IT, marketing strategy, systems, and automation. I didn't approach AI as another marketing tool. I approached it as a systems problem.

Here is the method I use and teach. It has three parts.

Build the Brain. Your AI can't do good work if it doesn't know your business. Most people re-explain themselves in every new chat. Instead, you give your business knowledge a home: who you serve, what you offer, how you sound, how you work. That becomes your Smart Business Brain, and every AI Team member reads from it.

Train the Team. Then you give AI clear jobs. One AI Team member, one clear job, with skills and workflows behind it. You start small and prove the work before you rely on it. You decide what it does on its own. Anything that goes out to a client can wait for your OK.

Own the System. Your Brain, your team instructions, your skills and your workflows are files you own and control. You don't have to become a tech expert, and your business isn't built around one AI platform. We teach with Claude, and show you how to connect ChatGPT or Grok if you use them. We don't build your business around any one of them.

That's it. Build the Brain. Train the Team. Own the System.

If you're feeling the fear right now

Take a breath. You don't have to quit your job tomorrow, and you don't have to figure this out alone.

Whether you want a side business, already run a small one, or simply want to stop feeling like the news is happening to you, the first step is the same. Learn how an AI Team actually works, so you can decide what you want to build with it.

I put together a free masterclass that walks you through this method, so you can see how an AI Team works before you decide anything.

Watch the free masterclass here: brain2aiteam.com/masterclass

The world needs more good people using AI. I'd love for you to be one of them.

Lisa