Proton CEO Andy Yen Pushes Staff Toward More AI-Written Code
Proton CEO Andy Yen is demanding more AI-generated code, rejecting calls for slower testing and reshaping hiring, according to internal messages and staff accounts.
Proton CEO Andy Yen is pressing developers to produce far more code with AI and has announced a shift in how the company hires engineers. The details come from internal Slack messages, meeting recordings, a company document on the move to AI, and interviews with eight current and one former employee.
In late August, an engineer suggested setting aside at least a few days to test new code before release. Yen reportedly called the idea "nonsense and loser thinking" and told staff to stop looking for ways to slow down and focus on speeding up. He urged developers to stop writing all code by hand and to use neural networks to find and fix vulnerabilities in it. Comparing AI with the arrival of the internet, he warned: "Don't become a professional fax operator in the age of the internet."
A new model for engineering and hiring
Yen predicts that by the end of the year most developers will no longer program directly. Instead, they will write requirements and tests, and AI will write and verify the code. He said this is the last year Proton hires engineers in the traditional sense; future hires should be people who can build products with AI.
Chief technology officer Bart Butler said neural networks generated 90% of the company's code in October, and employees say much of it comes from Anthropic's Claude. Monitoring software has been installed on work computers to track AI use in coding. In September, Butler circulated an internal manifesto that opens with the words "Your old job is gone" and argues that most changes should eventually be reviewed by AI rather than by hand.
Pressure inside the company
Proton plans to form a team of its most motivated staff, willing to work weekends, with a 30% pay increase and extra perks. It would include no more than 5–10% of employees. The company will also re-interview staff to gauge how well they have adopted AI, and the results could affect duties, titles and continued employment.
One employee said management overstates what current models can do and ignores the difficulty of maintaining large codebases. Others fear openly disagreeing with Yen, who is said to insult staff publicly over dissent. The push coincides with financial strain: Proton is behind its annual revenue targets and acknowledges it is growing more slowly than planned.
