Shopify CEO says no new hires without proof AI can’t do the job (The Verge, Apr. 7, 2025)
Summary
The Verge reports, citing CNBC, that Shopify's chief executive Tobi Lütke sent employees a memo saying that before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must show why they "cannot get what they want done using AI." The memo, which Lütke posted on X and which CNBC says was sent late the previous month, calls "reflexive AI usage" a "baseline expectation" at the company. It adds that AI usage questions will be added to the performance and peer review questionnaire. Lütke is quoted calling AI "the most rapid shift to how work is done that I've seen in my career."
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Full text
Shopify CEO says no new hires without proof AI can’t do the job ‘Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.’ ‘Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.’ by Jay Peters Apr 7, 2025, 10:06 PM UTC Bloomberg via Getty Images Jay Peters is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke sent a memo to employees saying that before they ask for more headcount or resources, teams must show why they “cannot get what they want done using AI,” as reported by CNBC . “What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects,” Lutke says in the memo, which he posted on X . The memo was sent late last month, CNBC says. The broader memo is about how “reflexive AI usage” is a “baseline expectation” at the company. In it, Lütke talks about how AI has been “the most rapid shift to how work is done that I’ve seen in my career” and that “using AI well is a skill that needs to be carefully learned by… using it a lot.” Using AI effectively is “now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify,” according to Lütke. AI usage questions will also be added to “our performance and peer review questionnaire.” “What we need to succeed is our collective sum total skill and ambition at applying our craft, multiplied by AI, for the benefit of our merchants,” Lütke says. Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. - Jay Peters Most Popular Most Popular More in News Bluesky’s AI tool now lets you make games and apps to share on social Withings now charges $100 per year to sync your data to other apps Meta and Apple team up to make Muse AI models run better on Macs Sony made a $5,900 gold-plated Walkman MP3 player Google is making inline links more prominent in AI responses E Ink upgraded the screen found in most color e-readers Bluesky’s AI tool now lets you make games and apps to share on social Jay Peters Oct 15 Withings now charges $100 per year to sync your data to other apps Andrew Liszewski Oct 15 Meta and Apple team up to make Muse AI models run better on Macs Jay Peters Oct 15 Sony made a $5,900 gold-plated Walkman MP3 player Terrence O'Brien Oct 15 Google is making inline links more prominent in AI responses Jay Peters Oct 15 E Ink upgraded the screen found in most color e-readers Andrew Liszewski Oct 15 Top Stories Two hours ago The Tesla Roadster flew, drove upside down, and hit 60mph in under a second Oct 15 Friends don’t let friends feed their data to AI agents Oct 15 Nobody is safe from celebrity AI deepfakes Oct 15 The tech backlash is now in theaters Oct 15 Benn Jordan on Flock, privacy, and the new surveillance backlash
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