Why Mandating AI Tools Backfires: Lessons from Amazon and Spotify
Two stories dominated the AI-and-work conversation in early 2026. Amazon told its engineers that 80% had to use AI for coding at least weekly—and that the approved tool was Kiro, Amazon’s in-house assistant, with “no plan to support additional third-party AI development tools.” Around the same time, Spotify’s CEO said the company’s best engineers hadn’t written code by hand since December; they generate code with AI and supervise it. Both were framed as the future. Both also illustrate why mandating AI tools is a bad way to get real performance benefits, especially for teams that are already skeptical or struggling to see gains.
New How Not To Series
Welcome to the newest series on The Geek Speaks, How Not To. The focus of this series will be to highlight some of the things that should be avoided when running development teams. It is from a developer’s perspective that has spent time working extensively in support, product management, and team leadership, and will cover some of the things that I have seen companies do poorly. In addition, I will also highlight some of the things that you can do that undermine the things you can do well as seen in the How To Series.
New How To Series
Welcome to the newest series on The Geek Speaks, How To. The focus of this series will be to highlight some of the best practices for how to run development teams. It is from a developer’s perspective that has spent time working extensively in support, product management, and team leadership, and will cover some of the things that I have seen companies do well. In addition, I will also highlight some of the things that you can do to counteract those things you shouldn’t be doing, as seen in the How Not To series.
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