Case C: AI Is Not Optional

Resit Dossier: Digital Leadership (DL)

Author

Andy Weeger

Published

Sep 24, 2026

Modified

Sep 25, 2026

Overview

Leader Tobi Lütke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify
Organization Shopify, e-commerce platform (about 8,100 employees in 2024)
Period April 2025
Situation type Top-down mandate for AI adoption within a transformation
NoteAssigned Theoretical Lens

Self-Determination Theory

Background

Shopify grew strongly during the pandemic. In 2022 and 2023, the company cut its workforce significantly (about 20% in 2023) and refocused on its core business; further reductions in customer support followed in early 2025. Lütke is known for a direct, written leadership communication and for positioning Shopify as a technology-driven company.

The Memo

In early April 2025, Lütke sent an internal memo titled “Reflexive AI usage is now a baseline expectation at Shopify.” Because it was being leaked, he published it himself on X on April 7, 2025. Its key points:

Lütke describes AI as a multiplier of productivity and warns that “stagnation is slow-motion failure.” The memo then sets out six expectations:

  1. “Using AI effectively is now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify.”
  2. “AI must be part of your GSD Prototype phase” (GSD is Shopify’s internal project process).
  3. “We will add AI usage questions to our performance and peer review questionnaire.”
  4. “Learning is self-directed but share what you learned.” Using AI well is described as a skill that has to be learned by using it a lot.
  5. “Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI.” Teams are asked: “What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?”
  6. “Everyone means everyone. This applies to all of us, including me and the executive team.”

Reactions

  • The memo was widely discussed as one of the most explicit corporate AI mandates to date and was followed by similar memos from other CEOs.
  • Commentators praised its clarity and the fact that the leadership team is held to the same standard.
  • Critics pointed to the link with performance reviews and headcount decisions and to a tone perceived as lecturing, with little empathy for employees’ concerns about AI and their jobs.

Key Actors

  • Tobi Lütke: CEO and author of the memo.
  • Shopify employees and team leads: addressees; expected to change their daily work and to justify headcount requests.
  • Leadership team: explicitly included in the expectation.
  • The public / other companies: audience after the memo’s publication.

Contested Points

  • Is the memo primarily an enabling signal (tools, freedom to experiment) or a control mechanism (reviews, headcount)?
  • How strongly does the context of earlier layoffs shape how the memo is received?

Sources

This list is not exhaustive.