A top Citi banker warns AI could mean a ‘tragic end’ for capitalism if we don’t act now

**From Business Insider’s Dan DeFrancesco:**
For longtime Citi banker Jay Collins, the rise of AI and robotics represents a threat to the future of capitalism that can’t be ignored.

Collins, who is Citi’s group chairman of the public sector, has spent more than three decades advising government officials during times of crisis and financial duress.

With AI and robotics, Collins sees a challenge to capitalism that policymakers and business leaders must address head-on.

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The following is a condensed, lightly edited version of the conversation.

**Dan DeFrancesco: How are you seeing AI impact capitalism, both now and in the future?**

**Jay Collins:** The first wave is cognitive jobs. It starts with white-collar, not blue-collar. It’s impacting the college kids who thought a college degree was everything. The graduate students who said, ‘If I can just learn to code, I’m safe.’ It’s hitting software, financials, media, consultants, accounting, and lawyers.

That wave of disruption is also interesting because it should be framed in the context of what’s happening in the K economy.

You have half our population at the bottom. You have this 10% at the top, with a net worth of $2 million or more.

The middle of the K has stagnated. They haven’t really been hit yet. But they don’t have equity assets. So what happens over time as you move into the second wave? You have the 10% who are not only high-wage earners, but more importantly, the largest participants in the equity market. So they’re basically riding the benefits of the wealth creation and increasingly separating themselves from those who are not participating, including the middle class.

[Read the rest of the conversation. ](https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-impact-on-capitalism-future-response-citi-banker-jay-collins-2026-3?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=insider-economy-sub-post)

So the options are redistribute the productivity gains… OR… authoritarianism?