Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch. She has been unpacking the complex dynamics of equity in the workforce on the network’s flagship podcast, Transportation Curated. Originally from New Jersey, she is a proud graduate of Monmouth University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication. The pace of change brought on by artificial intelligence (AI) is creating dramatic new shifts in the labor market. Loconsolo, who recently had the opportunity to dig into the learnings of Brendan Foody, CEO of rapidly scaling startup Mercor.
Mercor, a startup founded only three years ago, has already become a major player in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Just recently, it became a unicorn with an eye-popping $10 billion valuation. Through this effort, the company has cast itself as a profiteering middleman in what Foody calls AI’s data gold rush. Since launching in July 2023, Mercor has quickly become a darling of venture capitalists. This recent boom is all thanks to the hardships that Scale AI is now experiencing.
In a recent interview at this year’s Disrupt conference, Foody shed light on the company’s impressive achievement of raising $350 million in a Series C funding round. His vision of Mercor’s mission would be to deliver high-skilled contractors purpose built for AI labs. This strategic approach allows these labs to leverage niche talent. Foody contends that simply leaning on crowdsourced labor just doesn’t cut it anymore given the high bar of sophistication that AI development requires.
Foody made it clear that AI technology is moving fast. He has a vision of an entire economy that’s going to revolve around training AI agents. He believes the need for these high-skilled contractors is going to continue to increase as companies are forced to reinvent themselves in this new technological age. This transition is a reminder of the potential and the pitfalls that workers are likely to experience in the years ahead.
Even more troubling, Loconsolo’s exploration of these themes strikes at the heart of a larger problem. That begs the question of who will be prepared to compete in this new AI-powered economy. Mercor is one of many companies that are quickly changing the landscape and workforce development needs for AI development. This transition triggers essential and often confusing questions for prospective job applicants as well as employees alike.
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