Three philosophies, one format
Reading these memos side by side, a pattern emerges. They all use the same format (CEO writes to all employees about AI transformation) but contain three fundamentally different philosophies about what "AI-first" means.
AI as gate. Shopify, Duolingo, and Fiverr share a version of this: before you get resources (headcount, budget, tools), demonstrate that AI can't do the work. The human must justify their role relative to AI. This is the most provocative framing, and it generates the most press.
AI as ladder. Box takes this approach. AI doesn't replace people, it makes them more productive, and the productivity gains get reinvested. Teams that adopt AI get more resources, not fewer. Levie specifically contrasted his approach with Duolingo's "prove AI can't do it" framing.
AI as fait accompli. Klarna didn't write a forward-looking memo. It reported what had already happened. This framing is the riskiest. When Klarna's numbers turned out to tell a simpler story than reality allowed, the reversal was public and awkward.
The memo is the strategy
The CEO AI memo isn't a communication about strategy. It is strategy. Writing it and publishing it under your own name does several things at once that no Slack message or quiet policy change could.
It creates accountability. Every manager now has cover to enforce it and no room to ignore it. It sets the narrative externally. Investors, analysts, and potential hires all read these memos. Lutke didn't just tell Shopify employees to use AI. He told the market that Shopify is an AI company. And it creates peer pressure. Not having a memo started to look like not having a strategy.
Nobody defines it
The most revealing thing about these memos is what's absent: a definition. None of them define what "AI-first" actually means. Lutke says it's a "baseline expectation" but doesn't specify what that looks like for a designer vs. a supply chain manager. Von Ahn says Duolingo is "AI-first" but has to walk it back months later because people filled in their own definition.
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