“AI is coming for our jobs.” This is the conventional wisdom which fills the airwaves and my inbox on a daily basis. These foreboding premonitions aren’t totally misplaced–after all, over 150,000 Americans were laid off over the past 30 days, the highest monthly total in over 20 years, and tech employers including Meta and SAP cited AI as a major reason why. Is this the beginning of the end? Is AI about to obliviate the need for software engineers, accountants, lawyers, marketers? 

At Button, we’re more optimistic. AI is an exceptionally powerful technology which has unleashed a torrent of efficiencies, solutions, and even new businesses. But AI is not a person, and just as the telephone, fax machine, and personal computer gave businesses firepower to move faster and smarter, AI is revolutionizing the way that people work.

How Button Has Integrated AI Across Teams

At Button, we’re big fans of AI. After all, back in 2014, we introduced AI technology to the mobile commerce space to drive smarter dynamic linking, and , 8.5+ billion AI-optimized journeys later, the rest is history. And that’s why we are proud to lean into AI as we hire people who leverage AI to work smarter, not replacing human power but augmenting and optimizing it.  

When we formally introduced a “ChatGPT Test” to our employees over the summer, we challenged the team to report back weekly on how it impacted their productivity and their work product. The results blew us away, and very quickly, this proof of concept became a core pillar of how we work. Among the (really cool) use cases our employees have presented:

• Creating complex Excel formulas to shortcut hours of manual data entry/refinement;
• Drawing (really professional looking) logos for company events, which were then subsequently printed on t-shirts, creating quick and cost-effective swag which employees love.
• Providing interviewers with refined interview questions to vet potential candidates, tailored to individual resumes;
• Writing comprehensive summaries of interviewer feedback to present to our leadership team when vetting potential hires.
• Optimizing editorial processes with polished narratives and faster summarization.
• And, of course, helping to refine/proofread emails, presentation decks, lines of code, and just about anything else before being sent/launched. 

The Future of Work with AI

Of course, we’ve counseled our team that they are still responsible for each word on a document, number on a spreadsheet, piece of research, that AI spits out, and, as always, to approach information with a critical eye to ensure veracity. With that in mind, it’s not just speed to execution which has drastically improved–the quality of output has as well. Which is why for Button, hiring more people and empowering them with the ability to be their best selves with the aid of AI technology- is a complete no brainer. We’re even hiring an AI Intern to help us create new workflows to help us optimize for speed and quality! Know a great student who is passionate about finding new, creative use cases to leverage AI? Let us know! We’d love to meet them.