Shopify CEO tells teams must show AI can’t do the job before hiring: Report

Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke has said that teams must first prove that AI can’t do a job before they ask for fresh resources.

Canadian e-commerce company Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke has told employees that before making new hires, teams must first prove that the job can’t be done using AI. In an internal memo written by Lutke, as CNBC reported, he noted that trams must consider how they would perform if autonomous AI agents were a part of the team.

He went on to add that AI usage is an essential expectation from employees at the company now, and that questions around the technology would be included in their performance peer reviews. 

Lutke said that using AI “reflexively” is now a common expectation at the company and using it well is a skill that can be built if people keep using it.

The platform has to apply the total skill and ambition of all employees and multiply it with AI to achieve success with their merchants, Lutke said.

Last year, Shopify had close to 8,100 employees after laying off 20% of their workforce in the previous year. Earlier in January this year, it was reported that the company had again fired customer support staff quietly.