Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke shared an internal memo on X Monday that stressed the importance of using AI effectively in daily tasks. In fact, he wrote, using AI is now a “fundamental expectation” of Shopify employees.

Shopify product designers are now expected to use AI tools to do all platform feature prototypes. The results, Lütke says, are more exploratory and faster to produce and share. Shopify already provides employees with access to various AI coding tools from GitHub (Copilot), Cursor, and Anthropic (Claude Code).

“Our task here at Shopify is to make our software unquestionably the best canvas on which to develop the best businesses of the future,” Lütke writes in the memo, which he said he posted to X because he believed it was about to be leaked. “We do this by keeping everyone cutting edge and bringing all the best tools to bear. . . . For that we need to be absolutely ahead.”

Lütke says his company will judge employees in performance reviews on how well they know and use AI tools. Employees are expected to continue to learn about and experiment with new AI tools and share their findings within the company.

But the new focus on AI tools may not be limited to helping clients. Lütke says that before Shopify hires any more humans to work at the company, the hiring managers must explain why an AI tool couldn’t do the job.

“Teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI,” he states in the memo. “What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?”

Shopify has been a boon for merchants by providing a comprehensive, user-friendly platform that streamlines the process of establishing and managing online stores.

“Our job is to figure out what entrepreneurship looks like in a world where AI is universally available,” Lütke’s memo continues. “And I intend for us to do the best possible job of that, and to do that I need everyone’s help.”

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