Shopify CEO: justify new hires by proving AI can't do the job better

[midian182]

A hot potato: In another example of the impact AI is having on jobs, Shopify's CEO has issued a warning to the company's managers: show that AI can't do the job better than a human before hiring new workers. Shopify previously laid off staff after it started using generative AI to complete some customer support tasks.

Like many CEOs, Shopify boss Tobi Lütke has a passion for using AI in the workforce. In an internal memo to employees sent last month titled AI usage is now a baseline expectation, Lütke writes that before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.

"What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?" Lütke wrote in the memo, which he published on X after it was leaked. "This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects."

I heard this internal memo of mine is being leaked right now, so here it is: pic.twitter.com/Qn12DY7TFF

– tobi lutke (@tobi) April 7, 2025

The promise of increased productivity and fewer workers leaves many CEOs salivating at the prospect of implementing AI into their companies. Lütke is certainly an advocate, waxing lyrical about the technology. Not only does the memo state that using AI is essentially mandatory, but its use will also become part of Shopify's performance and peer review questionnaire.

Lütke adds that the AI directive applies to everyone at Shopify, even the CEO himself. Using AI effectively is "now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify," he wrote.

"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.

E-commerce platform Shopify helps people and businesses create and manage online stores, covering everything from initial storefront creation and selling to marketing and analysis.

The company has leaned heavily into generative AI tools in recent years. Shopify Magic, its suite of generative AI features built directly into the platform, offers features such as AI-powered product descriptions. There's also Sidekick, a conversational AI built into the admin dashboard.

As with many other firms, it appears the more Shopify spends on AI, the more jobs are eliminated. The company laid off 20% of its staff, or around 1,500 people, in December 2023, the same year it started using genAI for some customer service tasks. It also reduced its workforce by 14% in 2022.

Masthead credit: Open Grid Scheduler

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Shopify CEO: justify new hires by proving AI can't do the job better

 

[Dr Roboto]

First job that could most likely be replaced by AI, the CEO.

I am willing to bet that an AI that is trained on both traditional business practices and market success stories can do a better job than a human CEO. I wonder if "Tobi" has to defend his job? Seriously, do all CEO's have to be such schmucks?

 

[Str8Shot]

The sheeple need to understand, that Agenda 2030, is the ushering in of AI Governance. They’ve told us, on the record, that by 2030, “the cellphone as we know, will be obsolete. It will be a part of your body.” Incoming BCI/Brain-Computer-Interface along with Musk’s Neuralink and Gates/Bezos’ Synchron, the goal is to mix iron and clay, man and machine, specifically what’s forbidden in the Bible. If people don’t realize what’s headed our way under the guise of all these “benefits” of streamlining business, then we deserve what’s coming. And what’s coming is digital slavery.

 

[Lowhangingfruit]

The Shopify layoffs we're for business reasons and had nothing to do with AI. Their revenue growth dropped significantly after the Covid bump.

This feels like the work-from-home craze of 2021. Where every CEO proclaimed that WFH was the way of the future. Only to realize 2 years later that teams were becoming dysfunctional and slackers were slacking even harder. And now it's all about RTO.

Not to say that the shift isn't happening, but we're still very far from having truly useful AI human replacements.

 

[NumberNine]

Bad news for anyone banking on a career spent fanning the flames for a bloated e-commerce corporation who'd rather replace them with software.

 

[Hooda Thunkett]

Seriously, do all CEO's have to be such schmucks?

Only until Wall Street stops requiring them to be schmucks. So, yes. All of them. And the less schmucky they are, the more likely they are to be replaced. Mob mentality at work.

"ChatGPT, help me justify to my boss hiring someone to actually do this job instead of working cross-wise with an AI trained on incomplete and incompetent information."

 

[scoffer]

First job that could most likely be replaced by AI, the CEO.

I am willing to bet that an AI that is trained on both traditional business practices and market success stories can do a better job than a human CEO. I wonder if "Tobi" has to defend his job? Seriously, do all CEO's have to be such schmucks?

Agreed. Because the AI wouldn't have the GREED gene built -in.

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Perhaps politics in the work place will once again be abundant as only the sharks will survive.