IgniteTech CEO Eric Vaughan stands by his radical decision to replace nearly 80% of his workforce in 2023 after employees resisted the company’s aggressive artificial intelligence adoption mandate. The enterprise software executive told Fortune he would repeat the mass personnel overhaul despite describing it as “extremely difficult.”Vaughan’s dramatic restructuring began in early 2023 when he declared AI an “existential threat” to businesses and implemented “AI Mondays” – weekly workdays where employees could only focus on artificial intelligence projects. When hundreds of workers pushed back against the company-wide transformation, Vaughan chose replacement over persuasion.

Technical staff resisted AI transformation most

Surprisingly, technical staff showed the most resistance to AI adoption, according to Vaughan’s Fortune interview. These employees voiced concerns about AI limitations rather than embracing its capabilities, while marketing and sales teams proved more receptive to the new tools and training programs.The CEO invested 20% of payroll in mass AI education initiatives, including reimbursements for AI tools and prompt engineering classes. However, employee sabotage and flat refusal to participate led to the wholesale personnel changes that reshaped the company over 12 months.

CEO’s mass firing strategy delivered 75% profit margins

The painful transformation delivered substantial returns by 2024. IgniteTech launched two patent-pending AI solutions and maintained near 75% EBITDA while completing a major acquisition, demonstrating the financial viability of Vaughan’s aggressive approach.Research from AI platform WRITER reveals Vaughan’s experience reflects broader industry challenges, with one-third of workers actively sabotaging corporate AI initiatives. The study shows 41% of millennial and Gen Z employees resist AI implementation through various forms of non-compliance.Despite the success metrics, Vaughan doesn’t recommend his mass replacement strategy to other leaders, calling it an unintended consequence of cultural resistance rather than a planned approach.