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# Unpredictable costs of AI vs predictable cost of Humans


- **Date:** Thursday, Jul 9, 2026
- **Time:** 16:50–17:20 (30 min)
- **Room:** Stage 4
- **Event:** World Congress 2026 Europe

## Recording

[Watch recording](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100163-unpredictable-costs-of-ai-vs-predictable-cost-of-humans)

## Description

For years, organizations have viewed automation and AI as a pathway to greater efficiency and lower costs. But as AI moves from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, a new reality is emerging: while human talent comes with largely predictable costs, the true costs of AI, financial, operational, ethical, and organizational, are often far less visible and much harder to anticipate.

Join Hung Lee for a thought-provoking conversation with Meghan Hennessy, Rafi Krikorian, and Leandro Gomes da Silva as they examine one of the most important questions facing business leaders today: Are we fully accounting for the trade-offs between investing in people and investing in AI?

The panel will explore the hidden costs of AI adoption, including governance, infrastructure, security, compliance, model maintenance, and unintended consequences, while also challenging long-held assumptions about the cost of human work. Together, they will discuss how organizations can make smarter decisions about where AI creates value, where human expertise remains irreplaceable, and how to build sustainable workforce strategies in an era of intelligent machines.

## Speakers

### [Hung Lee](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@hung-lee)

Curator of Recruiting Brainfood
### [Leandro Gomes da Silva](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@leandro-gomes-da-silva)

Founder of The AI Laundry
### [Raffi Krikorian](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@raffi-krikorian)

CTO of Mozilla
### [Anna Ott](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@anna-ott-2)

VP People & Talent Advisor at HV Capital


## Related talks at this congress

- [Unlocking the AI Black Box: Building Trust in the Era of Agentic Production](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1445-unlocking-the-ai) — Jemiah Sius, Harry Kimpel
- [AI in Recruiting: What Works, What Fails - Real Lessons from Office & Volume Hiring](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1036-ai-in-recruiting) — Barbara Kryslak
- [The Hidden Cost of AI Coding: Technical Debt You Can’t See](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1340-the-hidden-cost-of) — Maish Saidel-Keesing
- [Cognitive Debt - Why AI makes human judgment the bottleneck](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/events/world-congress-2026-europe/sessions/1185-cognitive-debt-why) — Elisa Schön