DoorDash CEO warns productivity alone isn’t enough in the AI era
Xu noted that as DoorDash is rolling out features and projects more rapidly
A tech executive claims AI hasn't yet altered their workforce's structure.
"Right now, we are experiencing considerable productivity enhancements from AI, with well over half, possibly around two-thirds, of our code being written by AI today," DoorDash CEO Tony Xu mentioned during a conference call on Wednesday.
"But that alone doesn't determine how workflows and team configurations should evolve."
Xu, who cofounded the delivery application in 2013, stated that the company is currently evaluating how productivity boosts might affect team structures or staffing. However, two other priorities take precedence.
"Our main focus at the moment is to get all teams unified under a single technology stack," he explained. "Our secondary goal is to ensure everyone within the company, beyond just engineers, becomes equally proficient in AI."
Xu noted that as DoorDash is rolling out features and projects more rapidly, customers are holding the company to higher standards.
"Although we're enhancing our productivity and releasing more code, the real question remains whether we're delivering superior results for our customers," he expressed.
Xu's comments differ from those of many other industry leaders this year.
In the technology sector, executives are praising AI-led productivity improvements and claiming that between 50% to 90% of their code is now generated by AI. AI is also frequently cited as a justification for layoffs.
In March, Australian-American software company Atlassian declared it would lay off 1,600 employees, representing about 10% of its global workforce.
"It would be misleading to deny that AI changes the nature of skills required or the number of roles necessary in certain areas. It does," CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes noted in a message to staff.
On Tuesday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the firm would cut 14% of its workforce, or around 700 people.
In a post on X, Armstrong shared an email that he said he sent to employees, attributing the cuts to two factors: a fluctuating market and AI transforming work processes.
"Over the past year, I've seen engineers using AI to achieve in days what previously took weeks," Armstrong noted. He further commented: "The potential with a small, dedicated team has shifted remarkably."