Thoma Bravo’s billionaire founder says AI will transform junior workers’ roles by eliminating grunt work, despite growing concerns about the technology’s impact on entry-level roles.

Orlando Bravo, the founder of software-focused private equity firm Thoma Bravo, discussed how the role of junior associates is changing as the company increasingly utilizes AI, in a conversation with CNBC’s Annette Weisbach at the SuperReturn conference in Berlin on Tuesday.

The jobs of junior associates will become greater, and they’ll “mature a lot quicker,” Bravo said. “They’re spending a lot less time doing models or comparables than before…overall, now they really get into investing operations and a much bigger way of thinking about business.”

“I bother them a lot less, because at midnight I can do something really quickly with AI instead of [comparables], instead of calling them to do it in the middle of the night, which improves their life anyway, which is what they want,” he added.

The comments come amid growing concerns about youth unemployment, with recent data showing the number of young people not in education, employment or training in the U.K. increased to over a million in the first four months of the year.

Young people are facing an increasingly competitive job market in the U.S. and U.K. as companies lay off thousands of workers and deploy AI, resulting in a shrinking of entry-level jobs.

“For young people, AI is going to be amazing, and I’m very, very upset that some people say that it’ll destroy entry-level jobs,” Bravo said.

“If you define the role of an associate as just doing a spreadsheet, you don’t need that, but our associates are now calling on companies a lot more. They’re developing relationships with CEOs, and we need a lot more of them.”

Bravo explained that it’s the first time in his 30-year career in private equity where he has needed to hire more, as AI creates more work.

While some like Bravo are more bullish on AI’s capacity to create jobs, there have been a slew of AI layoffs in the past year, with the technology behind over 50,000 layoffs in the U.S. in 2025. Major firms like Salesforce, IBM, and Microsoft cited AI as a reason for job cuts.

Meta said in April that it plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce to offset major capex spending on AI infrastructure this year, which the tech giant said could reach up to $135 billion in 2026.

Meanwhile, Jack Dorsey’s Block laid off over 4,000 people, or over half of its workforce, saying it can operate more efficiently with a smaller team as AI automates more work.

As young people struggle to secure jobs, the U.K.’s technology secretary Liz Kendall said the government is focused on upskilling young workers on AI by providing free courses to help boost employment.

Entry-level workers with AI skills can command salaries up to…

Tax and finance software maker Intuit said Wednesday that it’s cutting 17% of its full-time workforce, the latest tech company to announce a mass downsizing during the artificial intelligence boom. Shares tumbled 11% in extended trading.

The decision will affect over 3,000 people, based on the company’s last reported employee count of 18,200. The restructuring will trigger $300 million to $340 million in charges, mostly in the current quarter, Intuit said.

“As we look ahead, we are further scaling our growth engines and architecting an organization that operates with greater velocity to deliver durable long-term growth,” Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi said in a statement.

Intuit, which makes QuickBooks and TurboTax, has been hammered by investors this year, alongside a broader downdraft in software, as Wall Street fears that AI will displace some products and services from established companies. Intuit shares are down more than 40% this year, while the S&P 500 has gained roughly 8%.

ZoomInfo and content delivery network provider Cloudflare announced earlier this month that they will each will trim 20% of headcount. Cisco said last week that it’s cutting its workforce this quarter by fewer than 4,000 jobs, representing less than 5% of total employees. On Wednesday Meta moved forward with plans to lay off 8,000 people.

In addition to announcing layoffs, Intuit reported earnings on Wednesday. The company finished the fiscal third quarter with $12.80 in adjusted earnings per share on $8.56 billion in revenue for the period, which ended on April 30, after the tax filing deadline. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for $12.57 per share and $8.61 billion in revenue.

Revenue grew 10% from a year ago, the slowest rate of expansion for any period since 2024. Net income rose about 9% to $3.06 billion.

Intuit lifted its forecast for the 2026 fiscal year. The company now expects $23.80 to $23.85 in adjusted earnings per share, with $21.34 billion to $21.37 billion in revenue. The LSEG consensus called for $23.21 per share in earnings and $21.23 billion in revenue.

“We believe we can serve more customers and deliver breakthrough products that fuel our customers’ success by reducing complexity and simplifying our structure to become a faster, leaner, and more focused company,” Goodarzi wrote in a memo to employees.

The company has too many management layers, and it will bring teams together physically to increase collaboration, with offices closing in Reno, Nevada, and Woodland Hills, California, Goodarzi told employees. Intuit is eliminating redundant roles after integrating TurboTax and Credit Karma, and it will pull back on its Mailchimp operations, Goodarzi wrote.

WATCH: Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi on canceled insider stock sales

The Gates Foundation has launched an external review of the philanthropy’s past ties with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

To cut costs, the Gates Foundation will eliminate up to 500 jobs, or about 20% of its staff, by 2030, the Journal reported, citing an email to staff that the newspaper reviewed announcing both the job cuts and Epstein ties review.

“This is a challenging time for our organization in many ways, but it also highlights the critical importance of taking the tough actions now,” Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman reportedly said in the memo.

The Journal said the foundation, which has a 2026 budget of about $9 billion, plans to cap operating expenses at $1.25 billion.

The Gates Foundation was founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda Gates.

Gates is scheduled to be interviewed about Epstein on June 10 by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The Gates Foundation, in an email to CNBC, said “For context, as we noted to the WSJ, neither of the ‘announcements’ included in the article published today are new.”

“These were included in an update from CEO Mark Suzman to all foundation employees on a range of topics related to foundation operations,” the foundation said, pointing to press releases about the budget cap and the review of Epstein’s relations with the foundation released earlier this year.

In February, Bill Gates apologized to the foundation’s staff for his association with Epstein and admitted having affairs with two Russian women, which Epstein learned of, the Journal previously reported.

Gates told staff, “I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,” the newspaper reported.

Gates became friends with Epstein in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida state court to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution.

Epstein killed himself in August 2019, while in a New York City federal jail, weeks after his arrest on child sex trafficking charges.

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett told CNBC in March that he has not spoken to Gates since details of Epstein’s communications with Gates were revealed in documents released by Congress and by the Justice Department.

“I don’t want to be in a position where I know things … to be called as a witness,” said Buffett, who since 2006 has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

The White House last month warned staff in an email not to make prediction markets bets related to the Iran war, a Trump administration official confirmed Friday.

The warning came amid increasing concern about insider trading on prediction markets such as Polymarket after a series of suspiciously timed trades around the Iran war, and on the U.S. ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the March 24 email to White House staff.

That email was sent a day after President Donald Trump announced a pause in hostilities in a post on the social media site Truth Social.

In the 15 or so minutes before that post, there was a flurry of unusual activity on oil and stock futures markets. More than $500 million in crude oil futures trades were made in that narrow time window, Reuters has reported.

Two Democratic senators, in a letter Friday to the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said that the same pattern appears to have recurred on Tuesday, “in the hours before President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran – an announcement that sent oil prices down approximately 15 percent.”

On that day, “traders placed an approximately $950 million bet on oil prices falling,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, in a letter asking CFTC Chair Michael Selig to open an investigation of the unusual trading.

“This pattern raises serious questions about whether there has been recurring misappropriation of material nonpublic government information and about the extent to which individuals inside or outside the government have acted on such information,” Warren and Whitehouse wrote.

On Wednesday, Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, sent a separate letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins and Selig requesting a federal insider trading probe.

“What kind of trader would make a massive trade at 6:49 a.m., 15 minutes before a market-moving presidential announcement with billions of dollars at stake and without a hedge?” Torres asked in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.

“The only plausible answer to that question is an insider trader,” Torres said. “Any other alternative is a statistical impossibility.”

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent USDA staff an Easter email that emphasized the story of Jesus being crucified and resurrected, a message that some Christians said alienated them for its overt religiosity.

“Happy Easter — He is Risen indeed,” Rollins wrote in the email sent on Good Friday, which CNBC has reviewed and was first to report.

“From the foot of the Cross on Good Friday to the stone rolled away from the now empty tomb, sin has been destroyed,” Rollins wrote.

“Jesus has been raised from the dead. And God has granted each of us victory and new life. And where there is life — risen life — there is hope.”

The email included an illustration of a round stone rolled away from the entrance to Jesus’ tomb, with the words “Christ is Risen” written above the image.

A USDA staffer who spoke to CNBC said the email was offensive to them as a devout Christian, and as a department employee who works “with people of other faiths, Muslims, Hindus.”

The staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were worried about retaliation, said other USDA employees also were offended by Rollins’ message.

“People are not on board for her sort of brand from a Christian nationalist perspective,” the staffer said. “It misses the mark from a lot of angles.”

“I find it blasphemous, actually, because it’s contrasting Jesus’ message,” they said.

Asked for comment about Rollins’ email and reaction to it, a USDA spokesperson, in an email to CNBC, said, “The Secretary is within her rights to send a message to employees and the public on the Easter holiday. Just like Secretaries of Agriculture and Presidents have in the past.”

The email was the subject of a thread on the social media site Reddit, where one commentator wrote, “I am a fed and a Christian and fully offended by this crap!!! It makes me want to puke how they use Christ as an excuse to behave so badly.”

Another commentator wrote: “Christ is Risen indeed. But, that’s as a Lutheran that I say that.”

“It’s disgraceful to advocate religion as a civil servant,” that commentator wrote. “My faith guides my life, it is immaterial for the service I provide as a government employee and I would be doing a disservice to the Warfigthers who believe differently than me if I were to actively advocate for Christianity.

Rollins, in an interview with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Decision magazine published in June 2025, said, “God’s hand has been the driving force in everything I’ve ever done. God has been, for as long as I can remember, such a massive part of everything, even in times when I didn’t really want to.”

The interview was headlined: “Q&A with Brooke Rollins: Fighting for the Soul of America: USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins builds policy on…

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass.,, on Wednesday announced an office-wide policy barring his congressional staff from using prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket.

“Congressional staff and the Members they work for exist to serve the constituents of the districts they represent, not to profit off of the very policy decisions and world events that we are here to respond to,” Moulton said in a statement posted to X. “My office has not, and will not, engage in these trades that run counter to every principle of a clean, honest a government that works for the people.”

A spokesperson for Moulton said he believes the policy is the first of its kind on Capitol Hill. It comes amid a wave of proposals from lawmakers seeking to rein-in prediction markets, which allow users to place bets on the outcome of a wide-range of events, from basketball games to Oscars best picture winners. 

The platforms have come under intense scrutiny from some states and casinos, who argue prediction markets offer a loophole for gambling and should be state regulated. Lawmakers have also recently expressed concern about the potential for insider trading on prediction markets, in the wake of well-timed trades on world events like the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the war in Iran.

Moulton co-sponsored legislation that would bar elected officials from placing prediction market bets on insider information.

“Prediction markets have become a playground for corrupt insiders who are able to place bets on things like election outcomes, wars, and even the deaths of public figures,” Moulton said in his statement. “This is creating a perverse incentive structure that poses a genuine threat to American society today.”

Spokespersons for Kalshi and Polymarket didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Kalshi and Polymarket both announced new insider trading protections on their platforms this week.

Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes a CNBC minority investment.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with “early stage breast cancer” but remains committed to her job while undergoing treatment, President Donald Trump said Monday.

Wiles, 68, “has decided to take on this challenge, IMMEDIATELY, as opposed to waiting,” Trump said in a Truth Social post revealing the diagnosis.

She has an “excellent” prognosis and will be spending “virtually full time at the White House,” Trump said in the post.

“Her Strength and her Commitment to continue doing the job she loves, and does so well, while undergoing treatment, tells you everything you need to know about her,” he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for additional information on Wiles.

She appeared next to Trump at the White House later Monday, during a meeting of the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The board, which has been stocked with Trump’s appointees including Wiles, had convened to vote on plans to close the center for renovations starting on July 6, The New York Times reported.

Trump said at the event that Wiles is dealing with a “minor difficulty” and reiterated that she will be addressing it “immediately.”

Wiles oversaw Trump’s winning 2024 presidential campaign and has wielded major influence in his second administration.

While often seen alongside Trump at public events, Wiles rarely speaks on camera or grants on-the-record interviews. However, she participated in a series of interviews in 2025 with Vanity Fair that revealed strikingly blunt assessments of Trump and his top aides.

She told the outlet, among other things, that Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality” and said he has engaged in legal “retribution” against his enemies as president.

After the interviews were published in December, Trump said he stood by Wiles and a slew of top administration officials leapt to her defense while attacking Vanity Fair. Wiles herself called the articles a “hit piece.”

Accenture has told senior staff they must regularly use its AI tools to be considered for promotions for leadership roles.

Associate directors and senior managers at the consultancy giant were informed that “regular adoption” of AI would be required to progress to leadership positions, according to an FT report.

An Accenture spokesperson told CNBC the report was correct. They added: “Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work.

“That requires the adoption of the latest tools and technologies to serve our clients most effectively.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that, as the FT reported, the policy had been set out in an internal email.

“Use of our key tools will be a visible input to talent discussions,” the email said, according to the FT.

The FT reported that Accenture staff in 12 European countries were unaffected by the policy, as well as staff working in the division that handles U.S. government contracts.

In September, Accenture outlined a restructuring strategy in which it said staff who are unable to reskill on AI would eventually be laid off.

On an earnings call, CEO Julie Sweet said all employees would be expected to “retrain and retool” at scale, adding that 550,000 workers had already been reskilled on the fundamentals of generative AI. Accenture employs a total of 780,000 people globally.

“Our No. 1 strategy is upskilling, given the skills we need, and we’ve had a lot of experience in upskilling, we’re trying to, in a very compressed timeline, where we don’t have a viable path for skilling, sort of exiting people so we can get more of the skills in we need,” Sweet added.

Sweet told CNBC at the time: “Our early investment in AI is really paying off.”

“Every CEO, board and the C-suite recognize that advanced AI is critical to the future. The challenge right now they’re facing is that they’re really excited about the technology and they’re not yet AI ready for most companies,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

Accenture announced a string of partnerships and tools in recent months. Accenture partnered with OpenAI in December to give tens of thousands of its employees access to ChatGPT Enterprise and continue to upskill on AI.

Accenture also partnered with Anthropic to train 30,000 employees on Claude AI tools, with tens of thousands of Accenture developers to use Claude Code for coding and AI-assisted work.

Other ventures include partnering with Palantir so that over 2,000 Accenture staff can get AI training using the software company’s platforms.

Shares of Chinese solar panel makers surged Wednesday after local media reported that staff linked to Elon Musk had recently visited several photovoltaic suppliers in China, sparking speculation that a high-profile customer could boost demand for advanced products.

The reports fueled talk of a potential business partnership and came days after Musk said he planned to build large-scale solar cell production capacity in the U.S.

Shares of China-based JinkoSolar, one of the world’s largest panel producers, jumped as much as 20% in early trade, hitting their daily limit, according to LSEG data.

Jolywood Suzhou Sunwatt, which makes photovoltaic auxiliary materials, also saw its shares jump 20%.

Other solar panel makers, including Trina Solar and Shenzhen Topraysolar, gained 8.9% and 10%, respectively. The CSI All Share Solar Power Equipment Sub-Industry Index rose 6.8%.

According to local media reports, a team sent by Musk recently visited several photovoltaic companies in China, including those involved in equipment manufacturing, silicon wafers, battery modules and perovskite technology.

The visitors appeared most interested in suppliers developing heterojunction and perovskite technologies — next-generation approaches that aim at improving cell efficiency. Perovskites could eventually lower costs if manufacturing challenges are resolved.

State-backed outlet Cailianshe reported that the visitors were from SpaceX and Tesla. Separately, another state-run outlet, 21st Century Business Herald, reported that JinkoSolar confirmed a visit from a team sent by Musk, but did not elaborate on potential business plans.

CNBC could not independently verify the reports. SpaceX, Tesla and JinkoSolar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wednesday’s rally was driven by a narrative that energy remains the key bottleneck for AI, rather than any change in the companies’ fundamentals, said Ke Zong, a portfolio manager at a Shanghai-based quant fund.

“Musk’s apparent interest in solar has been read as a signal that tech giants are moving upstream into power,” Zong said. “But there hasn’t been an immediate shift in fundamentals such as order books — the move was largely momentum trading and short-covering.”

Musk said during a Tesla earnings call last week that he planned to build 100 gigawatts of solar cell capacity in the U.S. “The solar opportunity is underestimated,” he said.

China dominates global solar manufacturing, but large state-funded investment has fueled a supply glut, pushing module prices sharply lower and accelerating consolidation across the sector.

The solar sector has been grappling with a prolonged price slump and oversupply, squeezing margins even…