<div id="readability-page-1">Money Investing Why AI Automation Will Drive The Next Wave Of Margin Expansion ByJon Markman ,  Contributor.  Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Analyzing tech stocks through the prism of cultural change. Follow Author Dec 12, 2025, 09:50am EST It’s coming. Olivier Godement of OpenAI has named the first sectors facing AI automation: life sciences, customer service, and software engineering. Investors must view this not with fear, but as a monumental opportunity. Historically, massive productivity gains drive substantial profits and higher share prices.  Pharmaceuticals are a natural target. For decades, drug design and trial processes have been costly and slow. Per the Tufts Center, administrative burdens push new drug costs to $\$2.6$ billion. AI fundamentally changes this costly equation.  OpenAI pilots in life sciences show timelines accelerating by up to 40%. The savings flow directly into research pipelines. This shift could see operating margins in the sector rise sharply, potentially moving from 25% to as high as 35%.  Emad Mostaque, founder of Stability AI, calls customer service an already &#34;solved problem&#34; by AI. AI agents can replace thousands of call center workers, fully conversant in over 150 languages. This mirrors the transition to ATMs, moving human employees to more complex, high-value upsells.  Software engineering is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Coders using AI tools have been able to double their output. OpenAI confirms 30% efficiency jumps across enterprise pilots, a figure that is only set to improve as the tools sharpen.  This transition mirrors the shift to factory robots decades ago. Automaker profits soon soared after implementation. C.H. Robinson, a regional trucking firm, recently deployed AI to optimize customer quotes. Wait times dropped from 15 minutes to seconds. Profits jumped by 40%.  MORE FOR YOU It is hard for investors to see the signal in the noise of job loss fears. Yet, early adopters are already winning big. Amgen (AMGN) and Eli Lilly (LLY) are streamlining pharmaceutical pipelines. T-Mobile (TMUS) is deploying agents to cut 20% from routine operating expenses.  Investors do not need to guess where this is headed. Amgen, Eli Lilly, T-Mobile, JPMorgan (JPM), and Citibank (C) are redefining costs, service, and profits right now. Their current actions separate talk from execution.  These companies' fourth-quarter results, anticipated in early February, will begin to prove the market's new reality. The market will reward real productivity with share price appreciation. The time to position for this structural shift is before those numbers hit the tape.  Editorial Standards Reprints &amp; Permissions LOADING VIDEO PLAYER... FORBES’ FEATURED Video</div>

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<p>OpenAI targets life sciences, customer service, and software engineering for AI automation, with early adopters seeing up to 40% profit gains. AI is accelerating drug design, enhancing customer service, and boosting software engineering efficiency. Companies like Amgen, Eli Lilly, and T-Mobile are already benefiting, with significant cost reductions and profit increases. Investors are encouraged to view AI as an opportunity for substantial productivity and profit growth, with upcoming financial results expected to reflect these changes.</p>