Heavy AI Spenders Are Hiring More, Study Finds

Fintech company Ramp's Ramp Economics Lab and workforce data provider Revelio Labs linked corporate AI spending with employee records to analyze 21,559 U.S. companies from 2021 through 2026. Amid concerns that generative AI will displace white-collar and entry-level jobs, the study provides company-level evidence on the relationship between AI and employment using actual payment data rather than surveys.

The study was released on June 30, 2026. During the first three months after adopting AI, high-intensity adopters spent an average of $33.67 per employee each month, compared with just $2.78 for the low-intensity group. Two years later, the high-intensity adopters had 10.2% more employees than the control group, with entry-level headcount up 12% and its share of the workforce rising by 1.15 percentage points. The low-intensity group showed no statistically significant growth.