The most persistent fear in the AI conversation, that robots are coming for everyone’s jobs, just took a hit from actual corporate spending data. Firms that invested heavily in AI tools grew their headcounts by 10.2% over two years, according to a new working paper. The ones that barely spent anything on AI? Their employment numbers basically flatlined.
The study, published June 30, 2026 by Ramp Economics Lab, analyzed spending records from 21,559 US firms and cross-referenced them with workforce data from Revelio Labs. Co-authored by Ara Kharazian and Ryan Stevens of Ramp alongside Lisa Simon from Revelio Labs, it offers one of the most granular looks yet at what happens to payrolls when companies actually open their wallets for AI.
The spending gap tells the story
The study divided firms into two buckets based on their AI spending intensity. High-intensity adopters spent an average of $33.67 per employee on AI tools. Low-intensity adopters spent $2.78 per employee.
The high spenders saw that 10.2% headcount increase over two years. The low spenders showed no statistically significant change in employment levels.
