Some companies give AI to everyone. This CEO is doing the opposite
- ID
- 36529
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 17 Oct 2026, 1:00 PM
- Fetched
- 17 Oct 2026, 1:17 PM
- Provider
- CNBC Technology
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/17/ai-workplace-tokenmaxxing-paysend.html
- Source URL
- https://www.cnbc.com/id/19854910/device/rss/rss.html
Summary
- Score
- 6.0
- Created
- 17 Oct 2026, 1:17 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developerssaas_startup_founders
What happened
Paysend CEO Ben Chisell limits access to general-purpose AI tools to high-performing employees who can show what the tools add, rather than giving AI to everyone. He estimates Paysend can deliver around 25% more engineering work with the same-sized team, while warning AI in the wrong hands can magnify laziness and poor judgment. The piece contrasts this with Lloyds Banking Group and Grant Thornton UK deploying AI broadly, and cites UK government research where 75% of AI-using businesses reported improved workforce productivity but 77% reported no revenue change.
Why it matters
For founders and engineering leads, the concrete decision is whether to gate AI tool access by demonstrated delivery and measure output or revenue, not token usage: Paysend claims about 25% more engineering work with the same team, while the cited UK data shows 77% of AI-using businesses saw no revenue change. Blanket AI rollout is not automatically the safer or higher-ROI choice.
Discussion angle
Would you gate AI access to top performers, or does that slow learning and create two-tier teams? Ask how you would test Paysend's claimed 25% engineering output gain in a small SaaS team that is not seeing revenue gains.