This Company Gives Raises for AI Use—Here’s How Workers Can Qualify

(SeaPRwire) –   Good morning!

A major challenge for leaders in the AI era is motivating employees to adopt technology that could potentially displace their roles. A London-based firm believes it has a solution, providing staff with an additional “AI salary increase” alongside their yearly raise.

Beginning in April, managers at the marketing automation platform Omnisend will grant a 2% to 4% pay increase to top performers in AI utilization, according to Bernard Meyer, the company’s head of AI operations. He noted that the company has allocated funds so all 250 employees can eventually receive this raise, though not everyone will qualify in April.

To earn the increase, staff will be assessed against three key metrics: demonstrated time and cost savings from AI; a clear, results-driven impact of their AI workflow on the business; and broad implementation of the AI process they created. Meyer stated that an employee’s manager will determine if they have met these criteria and thus qualify for the raise.

“Previously, the emphasis for employees using AI was on individual productivity, but now the focus is on tangible impact,” Meyer says. “People are genuinely putting in the effort.”

He anticipates no more than 60% of Omnisend’s workforce will receive the raise initially, adding that evaluations will recur every quarter. A significant benefit of the program, he notes, is that it will establish internal benchmarks for AI skill, which can be used to assess new candidates. Future hires will be expected to show AI proficiency at or above the level of current employees who earned the salary boost.

When asked how he measures the expected return on investment for this initiative, Meyer admits he lacks a precise answer currently. However, he highlights recent AI achievements at Omnisend as examples of the desired outcome: for instance, the sales team aims to contact leads within 24 hours. Prior to AI adoption, their success rate was 20%, but it has now surged to nearly 100%, he reports.

One point he is certain about: this method of offering a salary increase is more concrete than attempting to vaguely assess AI’s effect on productivity.

“I believe people are feeling overwhelmed by the rapid spread of AI,” Meyer says. “Leadership at many companies often gives vague instructions to use AI for greater productivity, without clarifying what that looks like in practice… The salary bump provides that additional layer of motivation.”

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Kristin Stoller
Editorial Director, Live Media
kristin.stoller@.com