Good morning. Anthropic’s recent study mapping AI’s reach across hundreds of occupations continues to raise fresh concerns about the future of white-collar work.
Economists Maxim Massenkoff and Peter McCrory analyzed millions of real Claude conversations, matched them against 800 occupations, and found a striking gap: AI can theoretically automate 94% of computer and math tasks but currently handles only about 33%. In business, finance, legal, and office administration roles, the story is similar. Financial and investment analysts are specifically identified as one of the most “exposed” roles.
For more insight on what’s behind the research, my Fortune colleague Matt Heimer sat down with McCrory, head of economics at Anthropic. He makes the case that exposure data could help corporate leaders, policymakers, and individual professionals adapt their workflows and careers to AI and perhaps help head off severe job-market disruptions before they become major social problems.
What makes this study different from the usual AI-disruption commentary is the data source—actual Claude usage data from the workplace. It sheds light on what share of the work in a given occupation AI systems can already do, and how much more they could theoretically take on.
For example, for business and finance occupations broadly, the theoretical exposure (tasks AI could speed up by more than 50%) is very high, but actual observed usage still lags behind. That means the potential disruption hasn’t been fully realized. That gap, however, is expected to close as capabilities improve and adoption deepens.
In McCrory’s conversation with Heimer, he goes into depth on the implications of the study findings, including, as an economist himself, what the degree of current exposure versus theoretical exposure looks like for his own work. You can read the interview here.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Moves:
Andrew Bonfield, CFO of Caterpillar Inc. (No. 64), has decided to retire effective Oct. 1, following eight years with the company. Caterpillar veteran Kyle Epley was promoted to CFO effective May 1, at which time Bonfield will assume an advisory role. Epley brings nearly three decades of Caterpillar experience to the role. He currently serves as senior vice president of Global Finance Services. Throughout his career, Epley has held several senior finance leadership roles across the company, including divisional CFO and corporate controller.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves:
Michael Rogers was appointed CFO and treasurer of Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: ULH), effective June 1. Rogers currently serves as CFO of Conlan Tire Co., Hercules Materials Holdings LLC and certain of their privately held affiliates. Before that, he spent approximately 30 years with Ford Motor Company in a variety of finance-related leadership roles, including global controller of warranty and finance director of Canada, Mexico, and South America operations.
Jeff Uttz was appointed CFO of Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, a casual American restaurant and steakhouse, effective May 18. Uttz most recently served as CFO of Kura Sushi, a technology-enabled revolving sushi concept. Previously, he served as CFO for Shake Shack Inc., where he guided the company’s initial public offering. Uttz has also served as EVP and CFO of Yard House USA, Inc., an American sports bar chain.
Big Deal
The Bank of America Institute's March 2026 employment report shows payroll growth rebounding, with year-over-year gains rising to 1.4% in March, which is back in line with early-2025 momentum, based on Bank of America customer deposit account data.
However, the headline improvement masks a deepening divide in wage growth. After-tax wage gains are increasingly "K-shaped": higher-income households saw wages grow 5.6% year-over-year in March, while middle- and lower-income workers saw gains of just 2% and 1%, respectively — the widest gap since 2015.
Going deeper
"Scaling agentic AI for operational breakthroughs" is part of McKinsey's video series. McKinsey partner Michael Chang discusses the potential of agentic AI and why waiting to implement it could be risky. The critical part to deliver impact is where you want to deploy these agents and how they work together to realize the expected impact, Chang explains.
Overheard
“Delta is not a low-cost airline. We can’t win by trying to provide the cheapest. We have to be able to win by providing the best.”
—Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told Fortune‘s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell in a recent episode of the Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast.
