Microsoft and Nvidia: AI, the New Recruitment Asset

AI, a New Asset in Hiring Negotiations at Microsoft

During an event in Seattle, Charles Lamanna, Executive Vice President at Microsoft, revealed that a candidate conditioned their hiring on receiving a daily budget of AI tokens for their team. This budget, according to Lamanna, could range from $100 to several hundreds of dollars per day. This request illustrates a notable transformation in the tech sector, where access to AI is becoming a decisive criterion for candidates.

The Impact of AI Tokens on the Job Market

Although the exact position and specific amount were not disclosed, Lamanna emphasized that this trend extends beyond the realm of software engineering, affecting sectors such as financial planning and data analysis. He stated that the perception of the total cost of hiring is undergoing significant change. Lamanna, who reports directly to Satya Nadella, plays a key role in these strategic discussions.

A Trend Confirmed by Other Tech Leaders

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, recently asserted that AI tokens would become an essential recruitment tool in Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, Tomasz Tunguz, a venture capitalist, mentioned back in February that inference costs could become a fourth pillar of compensation, alongside salary, bonuses, and stock options. He predicts that by 2026, employees could be compensated in AI tokens.

The Hidden Stakes Behind This New "Currency"

While the idea of an AI-boosted employee seems appealing, it conceals well-established interests. Lamanna heads the Copilot and Dynamics 365 products at Microsoft, Huang sells the GPUs necessary for running AI models, and Tunguz invests in the companies that leverage them. All have a vested interest in making the use of AI tokens a fixed and growing expense.

This phenomenon echoes other perks in the tech sector, such as free meals at Google or shuttles at Meta, which aimed to keep employees in the office. The AI tokens budget follows a similar logic: the more an employee relies on AI, the more they are embedded in their employer's ecosystem, and the more computing providers benefit. However, one question remains: what is the value of an employee who can no longer do without their AI tokens?