Cloud-based productivity platform ClickUp laid off 22% of its workforce, but CEO Zeb Evans says the move is not about cost-cutting. Instead, the company is channeling savings into a radical AI-first strategy that includes million-dollar salary bands for top performers.
In a more than 1000-word post on X this week, Evans said ClickUp’s business is “the strongest it’s ever been” and argued that companies must redesign themselves around AI rather than simply layering the technology onto existing workflows.
Employees who create “outsized impact” through AI systems could earn compensation beyond traditional pay structures, including salaries of $1 million a year, he added.
The Rise Of The ‘100x Organization’
Evans said ClickUp is restructuring around what he calls a “100x organization” to achieve 100 times more output. Under the model, AI is expected to automate large portions of traditional work while elevating employees who can orchestrate, manage and review AI-generated output.
He argued that top engineers are evolving into “100x engineers,” spending less time writing code and more time directing AI agents and exercising judgment over their work. Product managers, designers and other knowledge workers are also expected to increasingly operate as AI system architects.
Founded in 2017, ClickUp offers an all-in-one productivity platform to its customers which includes features such as project management, document collaboration, and spreadsheets.
Fewer Employees, Bigger Rewards
The announcement reflects a broader shift across the tech industry, where companies are embracing AI-driven productivity gains while trimming headcount. Meanwhile, a small pool of top AI talent is rewarded with eye-watering paychecks.
Evans said ClickUp’s future workforce will center on three groups: builders, agent managers and customer-facing “front-liners,” with human interaction remaining critical despite rapid advances in automation.
“Compensation bands of today should be thrown out the door,” Evans wrote, arguing that workers who generate “100x impact” should share directly in the gains.
“In a world where companies are able to do so much more with less, where does that excess money go?” Evans added.
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