This tech CEO once laid off 80% of his staff for not doing this 1 thing fast enough — why he argues it was necessary for his business to survive

As Fortune reveals, Vaughan had launched “AI Mondays” – weekly mandates dedicating that employees spend time exclusively on AI work on Mondays, including learning and applying AI.

Marketing and sales departments dove in, experimenting with AI for drafting campaigns and streamlining workflows. But technical staff balked, expressing skepticism over AI’s accuracy and reliability.

For Vaughn, the resistance was as much about mindset as about technology and tools.

“Changing minds was harder than adding skills,” he later admitted.

If the company couldn’t move as one toward an AI-first future, he decided it would be better to cut AI resisters loose and start fresh with AI adopters.

The benefits — and costs — of a radical reset

Two years later, Vaughan points to the results as proof that his gamble paid off.

With an AI-positive workforce, IgniteTech launched multiple patent-pending AI products, executed a major acquisition, and sustained profit margins of around 75% — numbers most software companies can only dream of. By his telling, the culture shock was exactly what the business needed.

“Give people the ability to multiply themselves (with AI) and do things at a pace,” Vaughn said.

He enthusiastically promotes his company’s non-negotiable AI-first approach. Vaughn even gave a keynote speech about it — “AI or Bust: The Non-Negotiable Revolution” — at the 2024 Generative AI Expo.

But IgniteTech’s approach raises uncomfortable questions: What happens to employees who refuse to embrace AI at the pace their employer demands? And what happens to companies that bet everything on it?

The IgniteTech case suggests there can be huge short-term rewards, but for everyday workers, the lesson is clear: Resisting AI is becoming dangerous.

Why AI is now a career survival skill

People Management, an HR-focused magazine, notes that today, Microsoft factors AI usage into performance reviews, pressuring staff not just to accept AI but demonstrate they’re using it productively.

When it comes to hiring new employees, AI fluency is moving from a “nice-to-have” to a baseline expectation, as employers increasingly expect job candidates to have some competency and fluency in AI tools, workflows and concepts.

This trend is especially pronounced in fields like finance, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, marketing and design.

Autodesk, the design software company, did a study of design and make job listings in 2025 and found that mentions of AI surged more than 56% through April 2025.

In that environment, simply refusing to use AI – or waiting for it to “blow over” – is a career risk. Workers who hesitate may find themselves falling behind colleagues who can deliver faster, cheaper, or more innovative results with AI at their side.

And as companies double down on productivity, those gaps can quickly become grounds for reassignment, missed promotions, or even layoffs.

But Martin Colyer, director of innovation and AI strategy at HR Consultancy LACE Partners, told People Management that this tough approach can cost companies in other ways.

“Mandating adoption is always difficult as it can have the opposite effect and backfire … not least on performance, morale and even attrition,” he said.

Even employees who embrace AI aren’t guaranteed work.