Shopify Plunges 4.47% Amid CEO's AI Mandate

On April 10, 2025, Shopify's stock dropped 4.47% in pre-market trading.

Shopify's CEO, Tobias Lütke, has emphasized the company's commitment to embracing artificial intelligence (AI) by issuing a memo to employees. The memo outlines six key points regarding AI usage, including the requirement for all employees to use AI in their work, the mandatory use of AI in the prototype design stage of all projects, and the integration of AI usage into performance evaluations and peer reviews. Lütke believes that AI can significantly enhance productivity and that employees should continuously learn and practice using AI tools. He also highlighted that AI usage is now a fundamental expectation for all Shopify employees, including the executive team.

Lütke's vision for Shopify includes leveraging AI to explore the best ways to start a business in an AI-driven world. He aims to use the collective skills and ambition of the team, along with AI's capabilities, to benefit merchants. Additionally, Lütke mentioned that Shopify's annual growth rate is between 20% and 40%, and employees are expected to achieve at least this level of growth to be considered satisfactory. With AI tools, Lütke believes that these performance expectations are no longer overly ambitious, and top talent is eager to work in such an environment.