Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke released an internal memo in late March where he said, “Reflexive AI usage is now a baseline expectation at Shopify.” He then shared it completely a few days later on X (formerly Twitter), saying that it’s being leaked anyway, so it might as well come from him.
The memo outlines six things: Everyone is expected to use AI in Shopify; all projects must use AI during the prototyping phase; AI use is included in performance and peer reviews; everyone must share what they learned using AI; teams must first check if something can be done using AI before hiring; and that everyone means including the executive team and Lütke himself.
According to the CEO, “…using AI well is a skill that needs to be carefully learned by… using it a lot.” He has previously said that people should tinker with AI, but he thought that it was too much of a suggestion. So now, he has turned it into an official company policy. Lütke believes that AI is a tool that multiplies productivity by 10x, and when paired with people who “contribute 10x of what was previously thought possible,” then Shopify could get 100x the work done.
“Our job is to figure out what entrepreneurship looks like in a world where AI is universally available. And I intend for us to do the best possible job of that, and to do that I need everyone’s help,” said Lütke. He also adds, “What we need to succeed is our collective sum total skill and ambition at applying our craft, multiplied by AI, for the benefits of our merchants.”
The Shopify CEO says that the e-commerce platform has been growing by 20% to 40% annually — and that its people must also “improve by at least that every year just to re-qualify.” More than that, Lütke thinks that this performance isn’t terribly ambitious anymore, specifically because of the availability of AI tools, and that the company’s top performers actually want this kind of environment.
Many companies are going all-in in AI technologies, especially after investing millions (if not billions) in it. AI can be a useful technology, but it still cannot think like a human. Of course, you should take stock of your available tools (including AI) before bringing someone on board your team. But specifying that people need to prove that AI can’t do a specific role before hiring someone is probably not good for the overall morale of people at any company.
