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A startup founder from a tier-2 city has gone viral after reportedly replacing several employee roles with artificial intelligence tools, citing challenges in managing a rapidly expanding team. The account, shared by product leader Badri Parthasarathy on X, points to operational strain following rapid scale-up.
Parthasarathy wrote on X, “True story from a founder friend of an AI based services firm in tier 2 city. He had a huge scale up from 5 to 25 employees in a short time due to crazy growth.”
He further added, “But he got so vexed with rampant casual attitude and unprofessionalism of freshers and young (<5 yrs) employees. 1/n”
The founder, who runs an AI services firm, scaled the firm from 5 to 25 employees in a short period. The growth brought new pressures, particularly around coordination, accountability, and day-to-day work discipline.
As per the blog, the founder experienced several problems with his new employees, including late submissions, sudden work-from-home requirements, and long breaks. These problems indicated inconsistencies in behavior but not a lack of capability.
The recruitment process further complicated the situation. Over 20 offers resulted in only 10 joiners, and after some time, only three employees stayed on. It is said that the founder found the issue to be an ownership and attitude problem, and not one of payment or workload.
Instead of continuously hiring, the owner decided to automate the process. The owner spent around 72 hours creating AI processes with the help of AI assistants like Claude. Approximately 24 processes were created to perform various activities, from technical to sales-related operations.
Currently, these systems run for executing different types of tasks that were initially assigned to different departments. With this development, he reduced the need for manpower and increased his involvement by taking on multiple jobs and spending more hours on them, according to available information.
This case study has shown a shift in job requirements in offices. The unreliability and lack of accountability pose dangers when AI technology is used in repetitive work processes. Employees who lack other skills beyond executing tasks properly have fewer chances due to automation.
However, employees who are disciplined and demonstrate teamwork skills in using AI technology can continue to hold their positions in the business world.
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This change reflects a broader industry trend of businesses reassessing their teams. Other entrepreneurs, like Eric Vaughan, have also reduced their employee numbers since implementing AI.
LimeChat and other startups are pushing automation technologies that can deal with customers en masse. Big firms such as Amazon and Salesforce have also said that AI would affect their hiring process in the future.
The viral account has refocused attention on balancing business growth, hiring talent, and automating processes in a changing work environment.
