Instant karma: Employer who replaced his tech team with AI tries to hire new developers on LinkedIn. Here's what happened next

A decision to sack his development team and replace them with AI is now haunting Wes Winder. The Canadian software developer, who recently became a sensation on Reddit as well as a laughing stock for this decision, found himself at odds when he shared that he was looking to hire web developers on LinkedIn.

An old tweet from Winders, where he boasted that he had replaced his development team completely with AI tools, went viral on the popular subreddit LinkedInLunatics.

The snapshot of the tweet read, “I fired my entire dev team. Replaced them with o1, Lovable, and Cursor. Now I ship 100X faster with code that’s 10X cleaner. Open AI o3 is coming and 90% of dev jobs won’t survive.”

Reddit Reacts

The post went viral on the subreddit, gaining almost 10K likes. Many Reddit users scoffed at Winder’s hubris.

“So he is saying his company is an unnecessary middleman between his clients and Open AI!” wrote one Reddit user. Another commented, “It is humorous. I just tell AI to do everything. But can't someone else just tell AI to do everything? You don't understand. I meet with the clients! I'm a people person, damnit!" quipped another.

Another user explained that AI can’t truly be a replacement for talented engineers. AI struggles to produce coherent, larger batches of code. Even with advancements like GPT-4 or future iterations, AI remains limited in its ability to design large, complex systems or fully code even one small, intricate part of such systems. It’s great at solving problems that have already been addressed countless times, often performing as well as the top engineers in specific scenarios. However, it falls short when faced with novel challenges or intricate system designs.

“Where AI truly shines is as a tool to enhance the productivity of engineers. Tasks that might take hours—such as certain implementations—can now be streamlined, with AI generating initial drafts of code for engineers to review and refine. This increases efficiency, speeds up product delivery, and may even reduce the need for large engineering teams (though this could be a risky path to take). However, AI will never eliminate the need for engineers entirely,” they wrote.

The creative and critical thinking required in engineering cannot be fully replaced, they argued.

The commenter felt that roles like Project Manager, Product Owner, or Development Manager may be more at risk of being automated by AI than engineers. These positions often involve repetitive decision-making and coordination tasks, which AI could potentially handle more efficiently in the future.

Winders Get His Comeuppance

A few weeks ago, Winders invited applications for a web developer position on LinkedIn. The post read, “Any web developers who are good with React/Remix/Supabase looking for some extra work on the side? I might have some work for you. Reply with your portfolio/recent work and I'll reach out.”

LinkedIn users had a field day roasting Winders. One user wrote, “Did you create a tweet saying you fired all developers to replace them with AI? So what happened? Is .AI not good enough? Lol.”

Another commented, “Rethinking your decision to fire your whole dev team, are you?”

“Hi Wes, I've got loads of experience with these technologies and I'm sure could contribute greatly to your product.

However, since you wrote on Twitter a while back about firing your entire dev team and replacing it with AI, I'm just happy to sit back and laugh at your expense. I'd rather eat a wasp sandwich than work with you.”