Top AI Spenders Are Hiring More, Not Less, Ramp Study Finds

The pattern suggests that, for now, aggressive AI spending and workforce growth are moving in the same direction at these companies. Rather than using the technology purely to replace staff, the biggest adopters appear to be scaling operations and adding people alongside their AI tools. The findings challenge a narrative that has gained traction over the past year, in which generative AI is cast as an immediate driver of layoffs across white-collar and beginner-level positions.

Why it matters for the Africa–Europe corridor

The debate over AI and jobs carries particular weight for the technology and business links between Europe and Africa. European firms have been weighing how aggressively to automate, while many African markets are positioning a young, expanding labor pool as a competitive advantage for outsourcing, software development and shared-service operations.

If the relationship between AI investment and hiring holds as Ramp's data indicates, it could ease concerns that automation will close off entry-level pathways that have historically connected workers across the two regions. Employers that pair AI adoption with headcount growth — especially in junior roles — may continue to draw on talent pipelines that span both continents, rather than cutting them off. For European companies recruiting from or building teams in Africa, the study offers a counterpoint to the assumption that AI spending automatically means fewer jobs.

The caveats

The study reflects a specific slice of the market: the firms spending the most on AI, which tend to be well-capitalized and fast-growing. Their hiring behavior may not generalize to companies adopting AI more cautiously or to industries under cost pressure. Correlation is also not causation — heavy AI spenders may simply be expanding businesses that would be hiring regardless of their technology choices.

Still, the data adds an evidence-based dimension to a conversation often driven by speculation. As CoinDesk reported, the early signal from the biggest AI investors is one of expansion, not contraction. Whether that trend persists as the technology matures, and whether it extends beyond the most aggressive adopters, remains an open question for employers and workers on both sides of the Africa–Europe corridor.

Senators Tim Scott and Bill Hagerty have introduced legislation to give Washington new powers to protect American AI technology from foreign rivals.