Zeb Evans, CEO of cloud-based productivity platform ClickUp, announced on Thursday that the company has laid off 22% of its workforce as it accelerates the adoption of artificial intelligence across its operations.
In a post shared on X, Evans said the decision was not driven by financial pressure but by a larger shift in how the company plans to function in the AI era.
“This wasn’t about cutting costs,” Evans wrote on X. “Most savings from this change will flow directly back into the people who stay. We’ll be introducing million-dollar salary bands.”
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He also suggested that employees who deliver exceptional results using AI tools could receive significantly higher compensation in the future.
“If you create outsized impact using AI, you’ll be paid outside of traditional bands,” Evans added further.
The layoffs follow months of rapid AI integration within the company. ClickUp has increasingly relied on artificial intelligence to streamline workflows, automate tasks, and improve productivity across teams.
The announcement highlights a broader trend across the tech industry, where companies are restructuring their workforce while investing heavily in AI-driven operations. Several firms have recently indicated that employees who effectively use AI to increase output could take on larger responsibilities and earn higher pay, even as companies reduce overall headcount.
Evans’ remarks quickly sparked debate online. Some users praised the company’s aggressive AI-focused strategy, while others questioned the impact of the layoffs on employees amid promises of higher salaries for remaining staff.
As ClickUp continues expanding its AI-first approach, Evans said the transformation will go far beyond layoffs and compensation changes. According to him, entire job functions within tech companies are already being reshaped by artificial intelligence.
He pointed to product management as one of the areas undergoing the biggest changes. Evans said the traditional divide between product and design teams is beginning to fade, with future product managers expected to work directly in sandboxed environments to test and refine ideas instead of pushing updates straight into production systems.
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Evans argued that this model could eliminate what he described as the long-standing bottleneck between design and product execution, allowing teams to move faster with the support of AI tools.
At the same time, he said one area remains difficult to automate: direct human interaction with customers.
Evans noted that frontline employees will become even more valuable as AI-generated communication becomes more widespread across industries. In his view, genuine human engagement will become a premium that companies cannot afford to fully replace with automated agents.
To retain high-performing employees during this transition, ClickUp plans to move away from traditional compensation structures. Evans said the company is introducing annual salary bands of up to $1 million for employees who demonstrate exceptional impact through AI, regardless of department or role.
He ended his message with a broader prediction about the future of the tech industry.
“Nearly every company will make changes like these. The ones that do it proactively will define what comes next.”