Canadian e-commerce company Shopify has made the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) a “baseline expectation” for all of its employees. Co-founder and CEO Tobi Lutke shared a “leaked” Shopify internal memo on Twitter (now X) and said it is time to “learn and adapt” to cutting-edge AI tools as a team.
In his X post, Tobi said that he was sharing the Shopify internal memo “because it was in the process of being leaked and (presumably) shown in bad faith”.
Shopify generates much of its revenue from the sale of imported goods.
Here are key takeaways from Shopify’s internal memo:
“We are entering a time where more merchants and entrepreneurs could be created than any other in history,” Tobi Lutke said in a memo while asking his employees to improve by at least how much the company is growing year on year “just to re-qualify”.
The CEO emphasised that with the proper use of AI, the company can help its merchants be more successful than they themselves used to imagine.
“AI can deliver…”
Shopify’s co-founder said that AI acts as a multiplier, and with its reflexive and brilliant usage, employees can get 100X of their work done.
“AI can deliver to augment our skills, crafts, and fill in our gaps,” he added.
Reiterating that all employees at Shopify are fundamentally required to learn how to use AI effectively, Tobi said, “Stagnation is almost certain, and stagnation is slow-motion failure. If you’re not climbing, you’re sliding.”
He made AI a must for his team’s Graphical System Design Prototype phase.
“Prototypes are meant for learning and creating information. AI dramatically accelerates this process.”
Learning to use AI well is an unobvious skill, Tobi said, adding that Shopify will add AI usage questions to its performance and peer review questionnaire.
‘Demonstrate why’ it can’t be done using AI
The Shopify CEO also clarified that he would not approve requests for additional headcount and resources until teams “demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.”
He concluded his memo with: “AI will totally change Shopify, our work, and the rest of our lives.”
