The Talent Litmus Test of the AI Era
Welcome back to Founder Mode!
I’ve changed my mind on something pretty fundamental.
AI is no longer optional.
For a long time, I thought of it as a skill. Something nice to have. Something you could layer on top of a strong team.
Now I see it differently.
If someone is not using AI, they are not operating at the level the business needs.
And as a founder, that forces a hard decision.
The Gap Is Too Big to Ignore
At Pretty Good AI, we see the output gap every day.
Two people. Same role. Same experience.
One uses AI aggressively. The other doesn’t.
The difference is not 10 percent.
It is often 2x or more.
I’ve said this internally a few times now.
“If we can double output or cut effort in half, we have to take that seriously.”
That is the reality. AI is not a small optimization. It changes what “normal” performance looks like.
And once you see that, it becomes hard to ignore.
The Adoption Problem Nobody Talks About
Here is the uncomfortable truth.
Not everyone will adopt AI.
You can provide tools.
You can run training.
You can explain the upside.
And still, some people will not change how they work.
I’ve seen this pattern enough times that I now expect it.
We ran a simple experiment. Give everyone access to the same tools. Give them time. Watch what happens.
Some people lean in immediately. They experiment. They push boundaries.
Others stay exactly where they are.
I remember saying to the team,
“We gave everyone the same tools. The difference now is choice.”
That is the moment it becomes a hiring and retention decision, not a tooling problem.
The Talent Litmus Test
This has become a simple filter for me.
Does this person use AI to amplify their work?
If the answer is no, I don’t see a path forward.
That might sound harsh. But the alternative is worse.
You end up with a team where part of the group is moving at a completely different speed. That creates friction. It slows everything down. It drags performance toward the middle.
At Pretty Good AI, we are building a system where a small group of high-leverage operators can outperform much larger teams.
That only works if everyone is playing the same game.
I’ve told people directly,
“AI is part of the job now. Not using it is like refusing to use a computer.”
Spend on Tokens, Not Headcount
This shift also changes how I think about cost.
Instead of asking how many people we need, I ask how much work we can remove.
If we can replace repetitive tasks with AI, we should.
If we can spend more on tokens and less on manual effort, we should.
The goal is not to cut people for the sake of it. The goal is to remove low-leverage work.
I’ve said this out loud before.
“I’d rather have a high AI bill and a small team than a large team doing manual work.”
That mindset changes how you build.
You design for leverage from the start.
The Hard Part
None of this is easy.
Letting go of people who don’t adapt is one of the hardest parts of building a company.
There is history. There is loyalty. There are good intentions.
But there is also reality.
The market is not waiting.
Competitors are not slowing down.
The tools are improving every week.
As a founder, you are responsible for the system, not just the individuals inside it.
If the system falls behind, everyone loses.
What This Means Going Forward
At Pretty Good AI, we are leaning into this fully.
We expect everyone to use AI.
We expect experimentation.
We expect people to find better ways to do their work.
This is not about perfection. It is about direction.
Are you moving with the shift, or against it?
That question matters more than almost anything else right now.
5 Key Takeaways
- AI is no longer optional. It defines baseline performance.
- The output gap between users and non-users is massive.
- Not everyone will adopt AI, even with training.
- Hiring now includes AI usage as a core signal.
- Spending on AI leverage beats scaling headcount.
Final Thoughts
Building Pretty Good AI has forced me to confront something simple.
The tools have changed.
And when the tools change, the definition of talent changes with them.
This is not about being harsh. It is about being honest.
If you are not using AI, you are choosing to operate below the level that is now possible.
And in a competitive environment, that choice has consequences.
My job as a founder is to build a team that moves forward together.
Not one that holds onto the past.
See you on Friday!
-kevin
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