NEW YORK — By Angela Tech, AI Bee Reel Staff

February 25, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Kevin Patel, a Junior Backend Optimizer at Uber, was found trembling under his standing desk late Tuesday afternoon. He claims he has spent the last six hours pitching a slide deck to a tablet that refuses to smile, part of a new internal program where staff practice presenting to an AI clone of the CEO.

AI Bee Reel: Why are you putting yourself through this?

Kevin Patel, Junior Backend Optimizer: "I need to be ready for the big meeting next week. The AI Dara Khosrowshahi simulates every possible scenario. Right now, it is stuck on ‘Passive Aggressive Silence’ mode. I presented my Q3 projections, and the avatar just stared at my hairline for four minutes without blinking. Then it asked if I really thought that font choice was ‘disruptive enough’ to justify my existence."

ABR: Is the simulation actually helpful?

Patel: "It is too realistic. I tried to tell a joke to break the tension. The AI immediately calculated the joke’s ROI as negative and deducted the time from my lunch break." Patel held up a trembling hand to show his smartwatch. "Look at this. I tried to ask for a raise, and the screen flashed a 2.4x surge multiplier on my workload instead. I think it knows I am afraid."

A reporter watched as Patel turned back to the screen. The digital avatar simply whispered, "Your hustle is insufficient," causing Patel to weep softly into his mechanical keyboard.

Inspired by the real story: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed that employees have built an AI chatbot version of him to practice their pitches and presentations before meeting the real thing. Read the full story.