Employees who fail to adopt AI-assisted coding tools may struggle to keep up with colleagues, according to the product chief of fintech startup Ramp, valued at $32 billion.
Speaking on the Behind the Craft podcast, Geoff Charles, the company's chief product officer, said employees across roles are expected to become “AI-native.”
“If you're not using Claude code this year, no matter what your role is, you're probably underperforming compared to others in the company,” Charles said.
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Ramp, which develops AI tools to help businesses manage and pay bills, categorises employees based on their AI proficiency. At the lowest tier,level zero (L0), are those who “sometimes use ChatGPT.”
“The people who are still in L0, they will most likely not be at the company,” Charles said.
Employees who have created custom GPTs or experimented with Claude Code fall under level one, while those who can build apps that automate parts of their work — often referred to as “vibe coding” — are considered level two. At the top, level three employees are “systems builders.”
“Our job is to get everyone in the organization up the ladder,” Charles said. “If you're not a self-starter and you don't have that growth mindset, it's going to be very, very hard to train.”
Charles added that around 50% of Ramp's code is already generated by AI, and the share could rise to about 80% by March.
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Ramp raised $300 million in funding in November, bringing its valuation to $32 billion. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Founders Fund, Coatue, GIC, Thrive Capital, and Khosla Ventures.
Charles' remarks come as companies increasingly reshape their workforce around AI capabilities. Software firm Atlassian recently announced plans to cut about 1,600 roles, roughly 10% of its global workforce, as it reorganises to prioritise AI development and enterprise growth.
“It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas. It does,” Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes wrote in a message to employees.
Other firms are also encouraging staff to adopt AI tools. Managers at Google have reportedly asked some non-technical employees to integrate AI into daily workflows, with usage potentially affecting performance reviews.
Similarly, Daniel Yanisse, CEO of Checkr, said the company has promoted AI adoption across departments, noting that after a year of initiatives, 95% of employees now use prompting daily.
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