Dow Chemical cut 4,500 jobs and replaced them with AI. That cut might be too deep.
Dow cut 4,500 jobs and leaned on AI to cover the gap, and I think that cut goes too deep on technical depth. The formulation knowledge that technical sales reps carry moves to whoever is closest to the customer, so distributors who hire and train real chemistry depth will take accounts from the ones who don't.
Producers are thinning their bench, and the technical sales rep who walked customer sites and answered formulation questions is becoming rare.
That work does not disappear. It moves to whoever is closest to the customer.
If your bench has real chemistry depth, you become indispensable. If it does not, you lose accounts to the distributor who can solve a problem on a phone call.
They don’t teach chemical formulation in college. It must be learned by artists who hand down their craft or through rigorous trial and error. I was lucky enough to do both.
Hire formulators.
Train your sales team past the price book.