Emma Grede Says She Created a Bonus System to Get Employees to Use AI

Emma Grede says she’s found a way to motivate employees to use artificial intelligence.

The woman behind the Kardashians’ booming businesses is pushing her staff to lean into the future — and that includes AI, Grede said on an episode of “The Mel Robbins Podcast” released on Monday.

She said she encourages her teams to use the technology, whether that’s in her own podcast or in the various businesses she runs.

Grede, a cofounder of Skims and Good American, said she challenged employees two years ago to use AI as a tool in their work and introduced a “bonus system” to incentivize them.

“‘Whoever can use AI in their department, here’s a bonus,” Grede said on the podcast. “We have a bonus system.”

Grede didn’t specify where she implemented this system. Skims and Good American did not respond to requests for comment.

Grede said she was surprised at the results. She said an accounts team found a way to use AI to streamline the company’s systems for chargebacks, which are payment reversals requested by customers’ banks.

“You think it would come from the marketing department or the real creative departments,” Grede said. “Absolutely not. It was the accounts team.”

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She said the AI solution saved the company “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“When you start to challenge people to find efficiencies in the way they work, it really is like the best thing that’s happened to us,” she said.

Grede said on the podcast that entrepreneurs should take a similar approach to honing their skills. She advised founders to find the areas of their businesses that would be the most disrupted by AI and build the appropriate skills around it.

Business leaders like Sam Altman and Bill Gates have similarly encouraged people to learn AI to help prepare themselves for the future job landscape.

Grede’s previous career advice also includes making sacrifices in your personal life. In May, she said that job candidates asking about work-life balance is a “red flag.” Those who make it to the top of their companies rarely spend a day without doing some type of work, she said.

For those who want to follow her advice to prioritize career growth as much as personal matters, some part of their work schedule should probably include familiarizing themselves with AI.

“We must not miss out on this AI boom,” she said on the podcast. “If you ain’t using it, use it now.”