Overview

• CEO Luis von Ahn announced Duolingo's 'AI-first' strategy in a company-wide email shared on LinkedIn, emphasizing automation for scalability and efficiency.
• The company will gradually replace contractors with AI for tasks that can be automated, continuing a trend that began with content creation in 2024.
• AI proficiency will now influence hiring decisions and performance evaluations, with teams required to automate work before requesting additional headcount.
• Duolingo aims to accelerate content production, stating that manual processes would take decades to meet its goals of scaling educational resources.
• Employees will receive training, mentorship, and AI tools to adapt to the new workflows, with the company framing the shift as removing bottlenecks rather than cutting full-time jobs.