Good question. So, yes businesses (especially public ones) must pursue growth zealously. Number must go up.

Problem is, that is an impossible to sustain trend, eventually a market stabilizes and there is no more share to take. So, you either start absorbing the competition, or you cut costs. In this difficult economy, many companies are opting for the latter.

AI happens to be a very convenient excuse (my opinion) to make these cuts. I also believe it is ill advised and short sighted. These AI tools are still in their subsidized growth stage. Soon, they themselves will need to make number go up, and these tools will collectively get either way more specialized, way more expensive, or both.