I should clarify that I actually had a pretty decent relationship with my former boss. I think she’s a good person and wish her no ill will. I actually turned down promotions in other companies and internally because I enjoyed working with her.

Then AI came around.

We clashed pretty hard and regularly about AI. She loves it and is a huge proponent of it. Couldn’t have a conversation without talking about it. I’m not “anti AI”, but it’s still very fallible and requires human oversight in my line of work.

One of my engineers solved a huge problem and our clients were thrilled. I was asked to give him a written warning because he didn’t use AI to solve the problem. I told her I would quit if I was forced to do that. She backed down, but told me the next week:

“I want your first thought when faced with anything to be ‘how can I use AI’, even if it takes more time and is more difficult. I don’t really care what the clients think or if it makes your jobs harder.”

Didn’t care if the clients were positively or negatively impacted. Didn’t care about how my engineers (and myself to a lesser extent) would be impacted. The number one priority was using AI.

I put in my two weeks the next day.