Shopify CEO to employees: Prove work can't be done by AI before requesting more staff

Canadian company will incorporate AI usage metrics into employee evaluations

Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke has issued a directive to employees: demonstrate why AI can't do the job before requesting additional headcount.

The policy, first shared in an internal memo to staff late last month and later posted publicly by Lütke on X, signals a new chapter in the e-commerce giant's operational strategy.

Under the new guidance, employees must prove the necessity of human resources by showing that AI is insufficient for their needs.

"Before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI," Lütke wrote.

He encouraged employees to envision AI's potential role, asking, "What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects."

According to Lütke, AI has already proven itself a powerful productivity booster among staff who have embraced it.

"I've seen many of these people approach implausible tasks-ones we wouldn't even have chosen to tackle before-with reflexive and brilliant usage of AI to get 100X the work done," he wrote.

He stressed that effective use of AI capabilities requires deliberate practice, stating that "using AI well is a skill that needs to be carefully learned by... using it a lot."

The new approach goes beyond mere encouragement, as Shopify will now incorporate AI usage metrics into employee evaluations.

"AI usage questions will also be added to our performance and peer review questionnaire," Lütke added.

Concerns about AI leading to job displacement are widespread. A recent United Nations Trade and Development organisation report estimated that AI could disrupt over 40% of roles globally.

In January, the Future of Jobs (FOJ) Report 2025 from the World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed that 41% of companies worldwide plan to reduce their workforce by 2030, primarily due to AI automation.

Jobs like postal service clerks, executive secretaries and payroll clerks are projected to face the most significant decline in numbers, as per the report.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of financial technology company Klarna, has also highlighted his company's use of AI.

He stated that Klarna's AI chatbot performs tasks equivalent to 700 customer service agents and has openly speculated that AI could enable Klarna to hugely reduce its workforce, potentially from its current size of roughly 4,000 employees down to 2,000.

Big companies are investing heavily in AI development while simultaneously scrutinising costs in other areas. In 2024 alone, around 152,000 jobs were cut across 549 tech companies, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Ottawa-based Shopify, which has rolled out its own suite of AI-powered tools for merchants – including a chatbot named Sidekick and an automation platform called Shopify Magic – has seen its workforce shrink in recent years.

Following workforce reductions of 14% in 2022 and 20% in 2023, Shopify's headcount dropped slightly to 8,100 by the end of 2024, down from 8,300 the previous year.

At a Morgan Stanley investor conference in March, CFO Jeff Hoffmeister said the company can "keep headcount relatively flat," though he acknowledged compensation costs could still rise due to high-value roles, such as AI engineers.

"A higher comp, high-end AI engineer" might push expenses up even if hiring slows, he said.