"In early 2023, convinced generative AI was an "existential" transformation, Vaughan looked at his team and saw a workforce not fully on board. His ultimate response: He ripped the company down to the studs, replacing nearly 80% of staffwithin a year, according to headcount figures reviewed by Fortune. Over the course of 2023 and into the first quarter of 2024, Vaughan told Fortune, IgniteTech replaced hundreds of employees, declining to disclose a specific number. "That was not our goal," he told Fortune. "It was extremely difficult ... But changing minds was harder than adding skills.""
"For Vaughan, the writing on the wall was clear and dramatic. "In early 2023, we saw the light," he told Fortune in an August 2025 interview, adding he believed every tech company was facing a crucial inflection point around adoption of artificial intelligence. "Now I've certainly morphed to believe that this is every company, and I mean that literally every company, is facing an existential threat by this transformation.""
Eric Vaughan, CEO of IgniteTech, concluded generative AI represented an existential transformation and enacted an aggressive workforce overhaul. The company replaced nearly 80% of staff over roughly a year and replaced hundreds of employees through 2023 into early 2024. Corporate priorities shifted to make AI central, instituting weekly "AI Monday" sessions, reimbursing AI tools, offering prompt-engineering classes, and hiring outside experts. Leadership framed the transition as extremely difficult and emphasized that changing cultural mindsets proved harder than adding technical skills. The CEO maintained the workforce reset was necessary and would be repeated if required.
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