AI’s biggest champions have long argued that the technology would usher in an era of unprecedented productivity gains and richly reward workers who use it.
Zeb Evans, CEO of collaboration software ClickUp, argues that change is inevitable. Last Thursday, Evans Announced in X The company was last evaluated in 2021 for $4 billionhad cut 22% of its workforce, but described the layoff as less a cost-cutting measure and more a radical adoption of artificial intelligence that will take the company to the next level.
“Most of the savings from this change will go directly back to the people who stay. We’ll introduce million-dollar pay bands. If you make a big impact using AI, you’ll get paid outside of traditional bands,” Evans wrote.
ClickUp recently introduced nearly 3,000 internal AI agents to handle a wide range of complex tasks on behalf of its employees. Fortune article published a few days ago. Instead of doing the work themselves, staff members are now expected to guide these agents and ultimately review the product to ensure it meets the company’s standards.
Evans’ goal, according to X’s post, is to turbocharge ClickUp to “100x org” for AI.
ClickUp isn’t alone in its hope that AI agents will make big productivity gains.
In fact, according to a recent Gartner survey, nearly 80% of companies using autonomous technology have cut jobs. However, the study showed a reduction in the workforce they don’t necessarily translate translates into meaningful financial returns.
While Gartner’s findings suggest that some companies are using unproven AI as an excuse for layoffs, ClickUp argues that this is not one of them.
Evans told TechCrunch via email that the startup is actually gaining productivity from AI agents. Not only does ClickUp measure these efficiencies internally, but it is likely to incorporate them into a future product for its customers.
“Instead of gamifying token value, we gamify created value and save time,” Evans wrote.
In recent months, more and more companies have started tracking employee token consumption, using it as a metric to see who is adopting AI tools. But critics argue that “tokenmaxxing” – as the concept is known – is the wrong metric because it simply increases AI costs.
“People who automate their jobs with AI will always have a job,” Evans wrote in his post. But if artificial intelligence continues to take over more jobs, ClickUp will eventually need fewer and fewer people, eliminating those that can’t automate their functions well.
Tech circles have long theorized about this scenario.
One extreme example of a high-profile startup making the most of AI automation already exists. Polsia, a year-old startup that claims to handle all software operations for solopreneurs, is run by just one person: its founder and CEO, Ben Broca. That efficiency is apparently paying off: Poland just got promoted 30 million dollars worth 250 million dollars.
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