In a recent note to employees, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke made a bold policy change. Teams need to demonstrate why AI can’t run jobs before they are allowed to seek more people and resources.
“Before seeking more people and resources, teams need to demonstrate why they can’t use AI to get what they want to do,” Lütke wrote in a note she shared publicly on social media on Monday. “What does this field look like if an autonomous AI agent is already part of a team? This question can lead to a really fun discussion or project.”
Advancing the notion that AI and so-called agents could help Shopify maintain a smaller workforce is certainly engaging controversy given the widespread concerns about the impact of AI on employment. A new report from the UN Trade and Development Organization estimates that AI could disrupt more than 40% of its role worldwide.
However, Lucke is not the only CEO looking for AI for increased efficiency. Other leaders in the tech sector have expressed similar sentiments.
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski boasts how Klarna’s AI chatbots do the job of 700 customer service agents. He also said that thanks to AI, Klarna’s workforce could ultimately drop to just 2,000 people. Klarna currently employs around 4,000 people.
As of 2024, Shopify had around 8,100 employees. The previous year, the company fired 20% of its staff. According to Business Insider, Shopify reportedly quietly fired an employee in its customer service department in January.
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