Why most of the “experts” are going to disappear
Hi, since I launched MONAD EDGE, I often talk with local SME leaders who tell me: “Norbert, everyone is talking about AI, I have a LinkedIn consultant who proposes to revolutionize everything in 3 workshops at 15 k€…” And I answer: “Wait, we’re going to look behind the curtain.”
The great LinkedIn carnival Today, anyone with a Premium account and ChatGPT can present themselves as “Senior AI Strategist”, “Prompt Engineer Expert” or “AI Transformation Coach”.
They post threads of 12 slides with arrows that go up, screenshots of Claude or Grok, and they sell trainings at 997 €. Problem: my 16-year-old son does exactly the same thing in 3 minutes. And he is probably faster than them. The real talent is no longer knowing how to make a good prompt. The real talent is knowing who is still going to pay for that in 3 years.
The unicorns that are flaming…
and who are going to take a slap. OpenAI, Anthropic, Inflection, etc.: revenues that climb (20-25 B$ annualized for some), but cumulative losses that are counted in tens of billions. They live on monstrous fundraisings and promises of AGI. As soon as the EU AI Act is fully applied (August 2026): mandatory audits of datasets, transparency of training data, responsibility on biases, fines up to 7 % of global turnover… It’s going to cost a lot. Very expensive. The startups that don’t yet have a profitable business model? They are going to suffer. Valuations at 300-700 B$ are going to stagnate or drop. The VCs are going to calm down.
The deadly trap of staff reductions with AI:
Fictional gains and market collapse. Where it becomes really funny (and a bit scary) is what the big groups and the companies advised by the Big 4 (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) are already doing. They deploy full force in-house AI models or those of Microsoft/Google to automate everything: reports, analyses, customer support, code, HR, accounting… And hop, social plan: 10 to 30 % of staff less “to gain in efficiency”. The announced gains? Minuscule: 3 to 8 % of cost reduction on paper. The visible reality? A catastrophe in customer experience:
- Chatbots that answer anything
- Cold and incomprehensible automatic responses
- Errors that pass unnoticed
- Clients who get angry, who leave, who don’t come back again
But most importantly… they're forgetting the CRUCIAL element that no one wants to see: These employees "replaced" by AI aren't just cost lines on an Excel spreadsheet. They're also consumers. When you lay off thousands of middle-class people, they spend less: less on groceries, fewer vacations, fewer subscriptions, fewer impulse purchases. And then, your own customer base shrinks without you understanding why. One day, the CEO will wake up and ask the fateful question: "Didn't we inadvertently cause a collapse in our own markets… because no one has the money to buy our products anymore?" This is the great vicious cycle of AI: we gain 5% in efficiency… and we lose 20% of the overall market. No one is talking about it on LinkedIn. But this is the real risk for 2027-2028.
The real winners (and they are not on LinkedIn)
- Microsoft → Copilot integrated into Office 365 and Azure. They already sell that to your clients for 20-30 €/user/month.
- Google → Gemini in Workspace + Cloud.
- Meta → Llama in open-source + targeted advertising (even if GDPR + AI Act hurt them).
- xAI/Grok → armored by the “Muskverse” (Tesla + SpaceX + Starlink). No pressure from panicked VCs.
For a French SME? You don’t need an “AI Strategist” who sells you dreams. You need someone who helps you:
- Integrate Copilot or Gemini without breaking all your existing processes
- Prepare your data to be AI Act compliant (and avoid fines)
- Identify where the AI really makes you gain time/margin (and not only the “wow effect”)
What I advise my SME clients today
- Stop paying “AI experts” who only know how to do prompts.
- Start with a quick diagnostic (1-2 days): where can the AI really impact your margins or your customer service?
- Choose stable and already regulated tools (Microsoft, Google).
- Prepare for the regulation: data audit, traceability, simple but solid AI governance.
- And above all: don't lay off your potential customers. Think about overall purchasing power before making drastic cuts.
The rest, it’s just noise.
Conclusion
The AI is going to change everything, yes. But not as the LinkedIn influencers tell it. The winner, it will not be the one who makes the most beautiful prompts. It will be the one who will have the most resilient business model when the music stops.
You want that we look together where the AI can really boost your SME without making you lose 15 k€ in useless trainings?
→ First 30-minute consultation free (video or phone) → Quote within 48 hours. Contact me directly: info@monadedge.com or via the form.
Norbert Pardo
Monad Edge – SME Strategy, Project & Performance Consulting