Thought Leadership
The Canadian e-commerce specialist Shopify is taking an unusual approach to personnel planning under the leadership of CEO Tobi Lütke.
According to a recently published internal letter, department heads and teams will in future have to prove that their tasks cannot be handled by AI solutions before additional employees are approved.
“What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?,” says Lütke, explaining the new way of thinking. This should trigger innovative discussions and projects, he says.
AI as a productivity factor
Shopify’s management makes it clear that the integration of artificial intelligence into everyday working life is not optional. According to Lütke, the use of appropriate tools will also be taken into account in performance reviews in future. He points to examples from the company’s own workforce, where employees are mastering tasks that were previously considered almost impossible thanks to the skillful use of AI.
At the same time, the company is driving forward the development of its own AI solutions and already offers corresponding services for its retail platform with “Sidekick” and “Shopify Magic”.
Background: staff cuts and cost pressure
The new guidelines are set in the context of a tense personnel situation in the technology sector. While massive sums are being invested in AI development, the industry is experiencing significant job cuts – according to the tracking portal Layoffs.fyi, over 150,000 jobs in tech companies were already cut in 2024.
Shopify itself significantly reduced its workforce in several waves: after staff cuts of 14% in 2022 and a further 20% in the following year, the number of employees fell to 8,100 by the end of 2023.
CFO Jeff Hoffmeister recently emphasized at an investor event that Shopify expects personnel costs to rise despite the largely stable number of employees – among other things due to the recruitment of highly qualified and appropriately remunerated AI specialists.
