CEO Fires 80% of Staff Over AI Resistance, Reaffirms Decision
IgniteTech’s CEO, Eric Vaughan, made a spectacularly bold decision in early 2023: a near-total overhaul of his enterprise software powerhouse. Driven by a conviction that generative AI represented an “existential” transformation, Vaughan initiated a radical restructuring, replacing nearly 80% of his workforce within a year, according to headcount figures reviewed by Fortune. Over the course of 2023 and into the first quarter of 2024, Vaughan disclosed to Fortune that IgniteTech undertook the significant reduction, declining to disclose the exact number of affected employees. “That was not our goal,” Vaughan stated, “It was extremely difficult … But changing minds was harder than adding skills.” It was a deeply challenging undertaking, yet Vaughan remains convinced of its necessity and maintains that he would repeat the process.
The driving force behind Vaughan’s dramatic actions was his firm belief in the urgency of adopting artificial intelligence. He held an all-hands meeting with his global, remote team, effectively dismantling established routines and quarterly goals. His message was stark: the company’s entire operations would now revolve around AI. “We’re going to give a gift to each of you. And that gift is tremendous investment of time, tools, education, projects … to give you a new skill,” he explained. The company began reimbursing for AI tools and prompt-engineering classes, and brought in external experts to evangelize the technology. Designated “AI Mondays” became a firm fixture, with staff dedicated solely to AI projects, foregoing customer calls and budget work. This culture building was, Vaughan insisted, the key.
This ambitious investment—representing 20% of payroll—proved fraught with difficulty, eventually succumbing to resistance, even sabotage. Belief, Vaughan discovered, was a surprisingly elusive commodity. Early on, resistance emerged, with outright denials— “Yeah, I’m not going to do this” – leading to the departure of significant numbers of employees. The primary resistance came from technical staff, rather than marketing or sales, who demonstrated a genuine enthusiasm for the possibilities, while the former group primarily focused on what the AI could not do. This friction is mirrored in broader research. According to a 2025 enterprise AI adoption report by Writer, an agentic AI platform for enterprises, one in three workers has “actively sabotaged” their company’s AI rollout—a number climbing to 41% among millennial and Gen Z employees. This sabotage can manifest as refusing to use AI tools, generating low-quality outputs, or outright avoidance of training. Many cite fears of job displacement, while others are frustrated by lackluster AI tools or unclear leadership strategies. Writer’s chief strategy officer, Kevin Chung, highlighted a crucial insight: “This sabotage isn’t because they’re afraid of the technology,” he said. “It’s more like there’s so much pressure to get it right, and then when you’re handed something that doesn’t work, you get frustrated.” Chung added that Writer’s research shows workers often don’t trust where their organizations are headed: “When you’re handed something that isn’t quite what you want, it’s very frustrating, so the sabotage kicks in, because then people are like, ‘Okay, I’m going to run my own thing. I’m going to go figure it out myself.’” Avoiding “shadow IT”—where employees independently pursue solutions—is a key concern.
Vaughan’s approach prompted a significant reorganization. Recognizing the need for a formalized strategy, he launched a massive recruitment effort focused on “AI innovation specialists,” applied across all divisions, including sales, finance, marketing, and engineering. This process was challenging, described by Vaughan as “somewhat unusual,” leading to the centralization of efforts under the leadership of Thibault Bridel-Bertomeu, who became IgniteTech’s chief AI officer. Vaughan acknowledged that his decision to replace nearly 80% of his staff wasn’t his original intention, stating, “That was not our goal. It was extremely difficult.” Nevertheless, he believes that a company must adapt to change, asserting that “Everybody’s got to be in the same boat, rowing in the same direction. Otherwise, we don’t get where we’re going.”
Looking back in early 2026, Vaughan reflected on the evolution of his all-hands meetings, which have completely abandoned their previous format. He noted that teams now primarily demo their work, rather than focusing on quarterly reviews and metrics. He stressed that the company remains focused on adapting to the relentless pace of AI change: “We’re just not getting run over from behind yet,” he said. “The pace of change in AI is relentless. If we don’t keep pushing, keep learning every single day, we’re toast.”
Several companies are grappling with similar challenges. Joshua Wöhle, CEO of Mindstone, a firm that provides AI upskilling services to businesses, including Lufthansa, Hyatt, and NBA teams, contrasts approaches he has seen—emphasizing either “reskilling” existing employees or mass replacement. He refers to the different outcomes seen at Klarna and Ikea. At Ikea, the company’s “people-first AI approach focuses on augmentation, not automation,” the company stated, in order to reduce workload with AI. While at Klarna, the firm’s transition to AI led to a workforce reduction from 3,000 to 2,300 customer service agents, as the AI agent took care of more complex queries than when it was launched. Ultimately, this represents a shift from 700 full-time agents to 2,200. Wöhle attributes resistance to AI in the overall workforce to a “boy who cried wolf” phenomenon, stating many workers “get stuck because they think from their work flow first,” and conclude that AI is overstated. In comparison, Wöhle has seen success in companies that have implemented formal AI strategies and invested heavily in the technology.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
