Hiring in the Age of AI: What Shopify Understands That Others Don’t

Why Tobi Lütke’s internal memo deserves your attention — especially if you run a business

Shopify’s CEO, Tobi Lütke (@tobi), recently issued a memo that sent a clear message across his company:

Before requesting new headcount, demonstrate why AI can’t do the job.

It’s a striking policy — not because it’s flashy or futuristic, but because it’s grounded in something every business leader understands: constraints.

Shopify’s not alone in feeling the pressure to do more with less. But their response is bold, structured, and unapologetically forward-looking. This isn’t about replacing people with machines. It’s about rewriting the default approach to work. And it raises a serious question for the rest of us:

Are we still hiring for tasks that AI is already capable of doing?

What the Memo Actually Says

The internal note lays out a few key points:

• AI-first is the default. Teams must consider AI before requesting human resources.

• No carve-outs. This applies to every team, including leadership and engineering.

• AI fluency is part of performance. How employees adopt and integrate AI will factor into reviews and evaluations.

The underlying philosophy is simple: In a world with AI, you shouldn’t solve yesterday’s problems with yesterday’s headcount.

It’s an operational lens and playbook that he’s broadcasting to the world (sure, the memo got leaked but he immediately owned it and engaged in discussion on X).

Why This Should Matter to Business Leaders

You’re not Shopify. You don’t have thousands of engineers or a dedicated AI R&D team. But that’s exactly why this matters more to you, not less. Because the pressure is the same. The opportunity is the same. But the margin for error? Tighter.

Here’s how to translate Shopify’s policy into action for your business:

1. Adopt AI as a first lens — not a last resort.

Too many teams still treat AI like a “maybe.” A thing you play with on the side. Lütke is saying the opposite: start with AI. Assume it can help. Then prove it can’t.

For your business, this might look like:

• Testing AI for sales outreach, sales qualification, and funnel management before hiring another SDR

• Using GPT to draft job descriptions or SOPs before outsourcing (don’t stop at job descriptions, have it review resumes, draft interview questions, and challenge your thought process)

• Leveraging AI analysis before just kicking a vague request to your finance department

You don’t need full automation. But you do need intentional evaluation.

2. Train your team to experiment, not wait for permission.

Shopify is making AI fluency part of performance. That’s not just a tech requirement — it’s a cultural one.

If your team is waiting for someone else to tell them how to use AI, you’re moving too slow. Give them room to test. Share wins. Build an internal culture of "show and tell." This isn’t about mastering prompts. It’s about making AI a habit.

Heck, this is how I started helping other businesses - I took the deep dive courses I built for our team at Loftwall and adapted them for CEO’s I knew. Before I knew it, we were training entire companies to go from tinkering to transforming (and it felt like overnight).

3. Redefine what hiring means in this new era.

Hiring in the age of AI isn’t about adding headcount. It’s about adding capability. Sometimes, that will still mean hiring a human. But other times, it may mean investing in:

• AI-powered workflows

• Custom GPTs trained on your processes

• Zapier automations that free up hours per week

The best companies won’t just hire better people. They’ll build better systems around them. And what did James Clear (on my Mount Rushmore of authors who have influenced my life) say? You don’t rise to the level of your habits, you fall to the level of your systems.

This Isn’t Just Shopify’s Bet — It’s a Signal

Tobi Lütke didn’t write that memo to make headlines. He wrote it to align his teams around a new reality. And whether or not you ever implement a formal AI policy, the shift is already underway.

AI is now part of the hiring conversation. Not because it replaces humans — but because it forces us to ask better questions about how we work, what creates value, and where we spend our time.

Curious where to start?

Here’s a simple version of Shopify’s approach, adapted for small and midsize teams:

• Before filling a gap, test it with AI.

• When in doubt, assign it to a pilot, not a person.

• Make AI progress a regular part of team conversations.

You don’t need a memo. You need a mindset shift. The companies who get this right won’t just save time.
They’ll build the kind of culture that can adapt — again and again.

And in this new era, that might be the most valuable hire of all.

🛠 Want to train your team to think like this? Believe it or not that’s what I do. Send me an email and we’ll get started.