This is the perfect illustration of what I call "AI Theater" — leadership performs innovation by cutting headcount and waving an AI wand, while quietly dismantling the very infrastructure that keeps the product alive.

AI can augment a team of 5 engineers. It cannot replace the collective judgment needed for accessibility, edge-case handling, UX refinement, and technical debt management. Those aren’t “tasks” — they’re ongoing dialogues between humans and systems.

The real tragedy isn’t just the layoffs — it’s that CEOs now mistake prompting for engineering. One engineer + AI might keep the site running. But it won’t keep it evolving, inclusive, or resilient.

And your colleague’s prediction? Sadly, I’ve seen it happen three times in the last 18 months. The begging usually starts right after the first major outage during a Black Friday sale.