‘It’s not about cost reduction’: This company is challenging the AI job-cutting narrative in Czechia

Early in a career, routine work is often part of learning the job. Reviewing documents, preparing reports and handling straightforward requests can help a junior employee build the knowledge to take on harder decisions. But what happens when AI starts doing those tasks, especially when companies prioritize it as a way to reduce costs?

Tech companies like Everpure, formerly Pure Storage, an American data storage and management provider with a major corporate and research and development center in Prague, are helping shape how companies can approach junior roles. Niki Armstrong, chief administrative and legal officer at Everpure, says that employees can take on meaningful responsibility earlier, but experienced colleagues still need to help them develop their judgment.

Speaking to Expats.cz, Armstrong shares how Everpure is preparing employees for work that increasingly involves AI, how it effectively requires more than technical skills, and why thinking about it only as a cost-cutting tool is the wrong direction.

The ability to interrogate data, think critically and challenge conclusions has always been vital in business. Now, though, AI is making these skills more crucial than ever.

Armstrong describes how new recruits, especially in junior roles, are “AI-fluent” yet “don’t necessarily know how to think critically.” She also values their “incredible ability to learn something new. That resonates, particularly in a technology company that’s constantly innovating.”

As this kind of AI fluency becomes standard, “what differentiates people is judgement, curiosity, critical thinking, empathy, and knowing when to bring in the human element.”

“People talk about AI weakening critical thinking,” Armstrong continues. “It can – if you let it. If you ask AI a question, copy and paste the answer, and move on, you’ve outsourced your thinking. But there’s another way. I like to put a statement or idea into AI and ask it to tell me all the reasons I’m wrong. I like to be challenged and told what I’ve missed.”

Part of the job of more seasoned employees, Armstrong says, is to help their younger colleagues think critically. “It’s a win-win situation,” she says. “We get their expertise. They get our expertise.”

On the other hand, training more experienced workers to adopt new technologies is just as crucial. Everpure’s AI governance council focuses on “how to deploy AI tools in a responsible, ethical and safe way,” and provides training through an “AI-ready workforce initiative.”

“We’ve created different tracks, from people using AI to refine emails, to people using it to code, create dashboards, or generate data that drives velocity and innovation,” Armstrong says.

Stories about AI automating entry-level roles have become commonplace. Armstrong explains that Everpure’s approach is to change junior roles as it implements AI, rather than eliminate them.

“Some of the tasks traditionally given to junior roles are disappearing, but that's very different to claiming that junior roles are no longer valuable. People sometimes assume that’s becoming the case, but it’s not true at all,” she says.

The aim is to redesign early careers roles, not eliminate them. As Armstrong puts it: "AI can handle repetitive work, so now, we can give more responsibility and strategic work to junior workers at an earlier stage; meeting customers, exercising their own judgment, or working collaboratively.”

“After all, if nobody gets to be junior, eventually, nobody will get to be senior,” she points out.

AI is also helping to level out hierarchies. Everpure, she explains, is “very non-hierarchical” by nature, meaning “an intern could reach out to our founder and have a great conversation any day of the week. AI might help them to do so by suggesting ways to phrase this approach. It opens doors.”

As roles change, so do candidate assessment processes. But the fundamentals remain the same: expertise, qualifications, critical thinking skills, adaptability, and being a good team worker.

Education remains vital, Armstrong says, “because you need to learn how your field works. Education builds intellectual discipline and networks that become very important as you progress in your career.”

When it comes to developing new AI skills, Armstrong points out the wealth of online learning materials. “You want to learn to code using Claude? There are classes for that. Want to know how to use better prompts for ChatGPT? There are classes for that too.”

Everpure’s early careers and internship programs are designed to create a strong talent pipeline across various functions, from engineers to HR, legal and more.

Referencing her own varied responsibilities across legal, HR, sustainability and corporate governance, Armstrong warns against thinking of careers as a “ladder,” instead seeing them as a “jungle gym” in which movement in all directions can be useful.

“The safest career strategy is not to compete with the things that AI does well, but to become exceptionally good at the things that grow more valuable as AI becomes embedded.”

Armstrong says the “innovation mindset is alive and well” in Everpure’s Prague center in bustling Karlín. The Czech capital is home to whole product teams, reflecting its role in the company’s research and development.

Armstrong acknowledges that Europe takes “a more conservative approach to AI, putting trust, privacy, security and responsible use at the forefront.”

Armstrong says this approach is delivering results across Everpure. “We have fantastic examples of AI impact throughout the company. Old workflows are being automated, but this hasn’t put people out of jobs; it has freed up thousands of hours for work on high-value projects.”

For Everpure, she says, the priority is using AI to improve how people work.

“It’s not about cost reduction,” Armstrong explains. “It’s about velocity, speed to innovate, quicker time to market, faster deal-closing, contract reviews, and resolution of employee issues.”

“It’s about making the work of tomorrow possible,” she concludes.