HEC Paris Links Chatbot Adoption to 4.3% Startup Job Growth

Chatbot adoption was associated with 4.3% employment growth at digital software startups, according to research published by HEC Paris. The study examined 13,241 high growth startups from 2019 to 2024 and compared adopters with companies of similar age, size, region, funding, product stage and prior growth.

Employment increased across sales, programming and customer service roles. Sales recorded the largest gain, while customer service employment grew at a lower rate despite having the greatest task overlap with chatbots.

The association was strongest among startups that had launched a product, had more developed technology systems or had less funding. Employment increases appeared around the time of chatbot adoption, which the researchers said indicated that companies were reorganizing work rather than hiring only after customer demand increased.