Using AI at Work Isn’t Cheating. It’s the Assignment.

Still treating AI like a secret side hustle? Shopify isn’t. They just made it part of the job. Here’s why using AI isn’t cheating, it’s the new baseline.

Let’s get this out of the way:

If you still think using AI at work is cheating, you might already be losing.

This week, Shopify made it crystal clear. In a now-circulating internal memo, they laid out five bold, unfiltered expectations:

  • Use AI.
  • Talk about how you use it.
  • Build it into your workflows.
  • Measure it in performance reviews.
  • Don’t ask for more resources until you’ve tried it.

That sound you hear?

That’s the collective panic of every person still using ChatGPT like they’re sneaking snacks into a movie theater.

Meanwhile, in Most Organizations…

Over here in the land of “professional services,” the culture is often the opposite:

“Keep that AI stuff quiet.”

“We don’t want to look like we’re cutting corners.”

“What if someone finds out this deck wasn’t 100% handcrafted in PowerPoint?”

It’s like we’re in a group project where everyone’s using calculators but pretending to do long division by hand just in case the teacher walks by.

Here’s the truth:

Using AI isn’t cheating. It’s working.

What Shopify Got Right

This memo didn’t hedge. It didn’t whisper. It didn’t offer a soft “please explore AI tools at your discretion.” It went full commandment mode:

  1. AI is table stakes now.Not a side experiment. Not a secret weapon. A basic skill like Excel or email.
  2. Use AI in your prototype phase.Because the point of prototyping is to learn fast and nothing learns faster than a good prompt.
  3. AI usage will be part of your performance review.Not to punish. To scale. If you figured out how to do something better with AI, why wouldn’t you share it?
  4. Learning is self-directed, but not silent.The real win isn’t what you did with AI, it’s what you helped someone else do better.
  5. No new headcount requests without AI consideration.This isn’t about cutting jobs. It’s about not throwing people at problems that AI could already be solving.

What This Means for the Rest of Us

If you’re still treating AI like a secret side hustle, you’re playing defense.

AI is already part of your org.

  • It’s in your resumes.
  • Your meeting summaries.
  • Your roadmaps, drafts, outlines, and dashboards.

The only question is whether your culture is mature enough to talk about it.

Here’s the test:

If your team built something incredible this quarter and you suspect AI was involved, do you high-five them? Or do you start checking timestamps and revision history?

My Take? Make It Loud

  • Add AI demos to your team meetings.
  • Celebrate failed prompts.
  • Ask “how’d you make that?” and be thrilled when the answer isn’t “hours of pain.”

Because hiding progress to preserve the illusion of effort? That’s the real cheating.

One last thing:

Shopify’s memo isn’t radical. It’s just early.

In two years, this will be normal.

In five years, we’ll look back and wonder why anyone was afraid to admit a robot helped with bullet points.

So if you’re still asking, “Is it okay to use AI at work?”

Here’s your answer:

Not only is it okay, it’s expected.