On October 11 I went to a friend’s company near Zhongshan Station to run an AI training.
The first thing they said when I walked in: “We’re down again. Only four of us left now.” Then they pointed at the dozen or so empty computers filling the office. But their faces looked happy and relaxed, which is quite the contrast.
Once we got talking, I found out they’ve made fast progress lately. They’ve already turned a lot of their workflows into SKILLs and routines. With a no-backfill policy, when someone leaves, Claude covers. They’ve pushed subtraction thinking about as far as it goes. “When something could go either way, it can go.” All the business is running well.
I really want to say they’re the role models in my circle.
There’s another company besides them. It shrank naturally from 11 people to 2, with the same workload and the same revenue. The CEO is moving the company toward AI the same way.
Small companies and small teams facing a labor shortage: bringing in agents in moderation is actually a pretty good fix.