Reflexive AI use isn’t optional anymore
What Shopify’s memo really signals to the rest of us.
When the CEO of one of the world’s most iconic tech companies tells their entire workforce that using AI is no longer optional, people listen.
Not because it's Shopify. But because this memo captures what thousands of leaders are thinking, but haven't yet said out loud.
Last week, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke posted a memo to his team – and yesterday he shared it with the rest of the world. It wasn’t meant to go viral. It was meant to be read honestly. And it did what very few internal emails ever do: it captured a shift in how work is done across the entire industry.
At its core was a single, unambiguous statement:
“Using AI effectively is now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify.”
Not a nice-to-have. Not a suggestion.
An expectation.
This wasn’t just a line in the sand. It was a marker of the new default. If you're not already using AI reflexively in your work – whether you're an engineer, designer, PM, or even a CEO – you're falling behind.
Let’s talk about what this memo really signals, and why every team should be paying close attention.
First, what is “reflexive AI usage”?
Reflexive AI use is the idea that using AI isn’t a deliberate task anymore.
It’s a reflex.
When you need to write, plan, summarise, brainstorm, refactor, review, explore – you turn to AI as naturally as you’d reach for your keyboard.
You don’t think, “Should I use AI here?”. You think, “What’s the fastest way to get this done?” and AI is just... there.
This is what reflexive AI use looks like:
A product manager drafts user stories with ChatGPT before writing them up in Linear.
A designer gets copy suggestions mid-Figma flow using AI autocomplete.
A founder uses agents to mock up pitch decks while they sleep.
A customer support team builds custom GPTs to handle tier-one queries – without asking for dev help.
Tobi’s point? This is no longer the future. This is now the baseline.
Why this matters
Shopify’s memo isn’t about AI hype. It’s about culture.
They’re not just adding AI tools to the stack. They are fundamentally rewiring how teams think about solving problems. Before asking for headcount, Tobi wants teams to show what they tried with AI. Before shipping a prototype, employees are expected to use AI to explore faster paths.
This mindset shift is what sets companies apart now. Not who’s building the biggest LLM wrapper or who’s raised the most money. It’s time for companies to build teams that think with AI, not just about AI.
It’s no different than when cloud-native apps replaced on-prem software. Or when “remote-first” became the new default. Now we’re seeing the rise of AI-native organisations. And this memo is one of the first clear signals from the top.
The bigger picture: Performance expectations are changing
Let’s be honest. We’re all still figuring this out.
Prompting well is a skill. Knowing how to load context, iterate quickly, and sense when to lean in or pivot – all of that takes practice.
But what’s new is this: the expectation to be learning.
Tobi’s memo spells it out:
AI usage will be part of performance reviews.
Teams are expected to share prompts, workflows, failures, and wins.
Self-directed learning is no longer optional – it’s part of the job.
This flips the traditional narrative – the dominant storyline that AI is a job eliminator. What the memo makes clear is that AI is now a core part of our jobs – and it’s making people better at what they do.
Instead of replacing people, AI is being used to upskill people:
helping junior employees level up faster
making senior team members more productive
unlocking creativity, speed, and experimentation across functions
It’s no longer just about a few power users or AI enthusiasts tinkering on the side. Companies are now expecting everyone to learn how to use these tools effectively.
And because AI tools are intuitive and powerful, the learning curve is shorter – you can go from novice to “10x” faster than with past tech shifts.
Ultimately, the people who embrace this AI shift will move faster, learn more, and stretch what they’re capable of.
This is the direction every winning company is moving
This isn’t a nice-to-have anymore.
The companies that move fast, build AI into their workflows, and upskill their teams around it will pull away from the rest.
We’re already seeing it happen – like IgniteTech, where AI is so embedded into how the company operates, they’ve actively restructured their teams to reflect it. Ben wrote about it here.
This type of culture only works in places where curiosity and change are already rewarded. If you try to force AI usage in a top-down, compliance-driven org with zero psychological safety... it’ll backfire.
Not everyone will adapt. But the ones that do? They’ll move 10x faster with half the headcount, and attract the talent that wants to build that way.
Companies like Shopify – places built around learning, tinkering, and personal growth – it works because the invitation came first. The expectation came later.
Tobi didn’t just drop this memo out of nowhere. He’d been talking about AI in podcasts, videos, internal tools, and even keynote talks. He used AI to write his own presentation at the company’s 2024 team summit.
The call to action wasn’t performative. It was lived.
So what now?
This memo isn’t the first of its kind, and certainly won’t be the last.
Expect more companies to follow with their own internal AI policies. Expect hiring managers to start asking how you use AI in your day-to-day. Expect high performers to be the ones who know how to wield AI not because they’re technical, but because they’re curious and experimental.
The bar just moved. Quietly, but permanently.
The best teams won’t wait to catch up. They’ll build this expectation into their onboarding, their reviews, their planning cycles. And they’ll talk about it openly – wins, fails, workarounds and all.
Because this next era of work?
It belongs to the ones who are already using AI… without needing to be told.
Written by Shanice.
Who else should read this? Share it with a someone you know.