‘No more AI quotas’: Duolingo CEO scraps usage as a performance metric for employees
According to The Fortune, the shift follows concerns from employees who felt there was growing pressure to adopt AI tools “for AI’s sake.
Luis von Ahn, Duolingo CEO, has announced that the company will no longer assess employees based on how much artificial intelligence (AI) they use in their work, The Fortune reported on Tuesday.
The CEO clarified that performance reviews will prioritise results and the quality of output, rather than the extent to which AI tools are incorporated into workflows, The Fortune reported. The shift follows concerns from employees who felt there was growing pressure to adopt AI tools “for AI’s sake,” even in situations where it did not meaningfully improve outcomes, the report added.
“It felt like rather than being held accountable for the actual outcome, we were trying to push something that in some cases did not fit,” The Fortune quoted Ahn.
He also stated that the decision was driven by direct employee feedback, with staff questioning whether they were expected to use AI tools even when they added little value. That prompted the leadership to reconsider the framework and separate broader AI ambitions from individual performance metrics, the report added.
The Fortune also cited the Silicon Valley Girl podcast earlier this month, where Ahn acknowledged that the company has moved away from its earlier plan to formally include AI usage in evaluations. He had said, “The most important thing in your performance is that you are doing whatever your job is as well as possible”.
He mentioned that while AI can be beneficial, “if it can’t, I’m not going to force you to do that”.
Further, he had stated that the earlier approach risked focusing on activity rather than actual results.
Luis von Ahn, Duolingo CEO, has announced that the company will no longer assess employees based on how much artificial intelligence (AI) they use in their work, The Fortune reported on Tuesday.
The CEO clarified that performance reviews will prioritise results and the quality of output, rather than the extent to which AI tools are incorporated into workflows, The Fortune reported. The shift follows concerns from employees who felt there was growing pressure to adopt AI tools “for AI’s sake,” even in situations where it did not meaningfully improve outcomes, the report added.
“It felt like rather than being held accountable for the actual outcome, we were trying to push something that in some cases did not fit,” The Fortune quoted Ahn.
He also stated that the decision was driven by direct employee feedback, with staff questioning whether they were expected to use AI tools even when they added little value. That prompted the leadership to reconsider the framework and separate broader AI ambitions from individual performance metrics, the report added.
The Fortune also cited the Silicon Valley Girl podcast earlier this month, where Ahn acknowledged that the company has moved away from its earlier plan to formally include AI usage in evaluations. He had said, “The most important thing in your performance is that you are doing whatever your job is as well as possible”.
He mentioned that while AI can be beneficial, “if it can’t, I’m not going to force you to do that”.
Further, he had stated that the earlier approach risked focusing on activity rather than actual results.
