Google Reportedly Told Its Staff to Use AI More or Risk Falling Behind: 'It Seems Like a No-Brainer' Google says it isn't factoring AI use into performance reviews (yet), but the tech giant is encouraging employees to utilize the technology.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Google is reportedly increasing pressure on employees to utilize AI tools in their daily work.
- This includes vibe coding, or using AI to write code through prompts.
- Some employees claim managers have asked them how they use AI.
Google employees have developed AI that wins gold medals at math competitions — but when it comes to their everyday work tasks, they might need to step it up.
Since Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated at an all-hands meeting in July that employees must use AI daily for the tech giant to move forward, the company is reportedly increasing pressure on employees to prove their productivity. Several current employees told Business Insider that their managers have been promoting an AI-first approach by asking workers to demonstrate how they use the technology.
Related: 'No Longer Optional': Microsoft Staff Mandated to Use AI at Work, According to a New Report
The employees further predicted that these demonstrations would likely be factored into performance reviews, the outlet noted.
"It's still predominantly, 'Are you hitting your sales numbers?" a sales employee told BI about the performance reviews. "But if you use AI to develop new workflows that others can use effectively, then that is rewarded."
However, a Google spokesperson refuted the report and told BI that the company was not considering AI use in performance review evaluations, though it encourages employees to use the technology.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images
To add to the urgency around AI use at Google, the company's Engineering Vice President, Megan Kacholia, sent an email to software engineers in June asking them to use AI to level up their coding. Google has urged staff to try vibe coding, or using AI to write code through prompts.
The result has been more code written by AI. Pichai said in April that engineers at the company were using AI to generate "well over 30%" of all new code at Google, up from 25% in October.
"It seems like a no-brainer that you need to be using it [AI] to get ahead," a Microsoft employee told BI.
Google has also spent billions in recent months to acquire new AI talent. Last month, the company inked a $2.4 billion deal to hire key members of AI coding startup Windsurf, including CEO Varun Mohan and co-founder Douglas Chen. Under the agreement, Google also obtained a nonexclusive license to Windsurf's AI coding technology.
AI is quickly becoming an integral part of the workforce at other tech companies, too. At Salesforce, AI is handling 30% to 50% of work, like software engineering and customer service, while 20% to 30% of new code at rival Microsoft is generated by AI.
Google's parent company, Alphabet, is the fourth-biggest company in the world, with a market value of $2.4 trillion at the time of writing.
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