AI’s biggest advocates have argued for some time that the technology will usher in an era of unprecedented productivity gains, greatly rewarding workers who leverage AI and displacing those who don’t.
Zeb Evans, CEO of collaboration software startup ClickUp, argues that this change is imminent. Last Thursday, Evans announced on X that the company, which was last valued at $4 billion in 2021, had laid off 22% of its workforce, but characterized the cuts not as a cost-cutting measure, but rather as a radical implementation of AI that would take the company to the next level.
“Most of the savings from this change will be passed directly back to those who remain. We will be introducing a $1 million pay band. If you can use AI to create a big impact, you will be rewarded above and beyond,” Evans wrote.
According to a Fortune article published a few days ago, ClickUp recently deployed approximately 3,000 in-house AI agents to handle a wide range of complex tasks on behalf of its employees. Rather than performing the work themselves, staff members are expected to direct these agents and ultimately review the output to ensure it meets company standards.
According to the X post, Evans’ goal is for AI to turbocharge ClickUp into a “100x organization.”
ClickUp isn’t the only company that expects AI agents to significantly improve productivity.
In fact, according to a recent study by Gartner, approximately 80% of companies using self-driving technology have reduced their workforce. However, the study found that layoffs do not necessarily translate into meaningful economic benefits.
Gartner’s findings suggest that some companies are using unproven AI as an excuse to downsize, but ClickUp insists that AI is not one of them.
Evans told TechCrunch via email that the startup has certainly seen productivity gains from its AI agents. Not only is ClickUp measuring these efficiencies internally, but it also appears to be preparing to incorporate them into future products for its customers.
“Rather than gamifying the cost of the token, we are gamifying the value created and the time savings,” Evans wrote.
In recent months, more and more companies have started monitoring employee token consumption and using it as a metric to see who is actually implementing AI tools. However, critics argue that “token maxing” (as the concept is known) is the wrong metric, as it simply increases AI costs.
“There will always be jobs for people who automate their jobs with AI,” Evans argued in the post. But as AI continues to take over more tasks, ClickUp will eventually need fewer and fewer people, eliminating those whose functions cannot be properly automated.
The technology industry has long theorized about this scenario.
There are already extreme examples of high-profile startups taking full advantage of AI automation. Polsia is a one-year-old startup that claims to handle all software operations for independent contractors, and is run by just one person: founder and CEO Ben Broca. That efficiency is clearly paying off, as Porcia just raised $30 million at a $250 million valuation.
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