Shopify leaning deeper into AI, reports US$581M Q1 loss

The company logo hangs on the Ottawa headquarters of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Artificial intelligence is behind well over half the coding done at Shopify Inc.

President Harley Finkelstein quantified the Ottawa-based e-commerce software firm’s reliance on the technology Tuesday, saying the number is increasing “significantly.”

“What that actually means is that our best engineers aren’t writing few lines of code or doing less. It means they’re operating at this much higher level,” he said.

“They’re directing, reviewing and making calls ... AI handles the execution and they handle the judgment.”

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Finkelstein’s remarks came on a call with analysts shortly after Shopify reported its first quarter ended with a net loss of more than US581 million -- a result that sent the company’s share price tumbling by more than seven per cent to $161 in mid-morning trading.

He devoted most of his opening remarks to talking about how “AI is now Shopify’s native language” because it’s been embedded in “everything we do.”

It’s seeped into the company partially though River, a coding tool Shopify embedded in workplace communication software Slack to give all its staff easy access to their conversations when doing engineering work.

Finkelstein said making the technology so accessible has allowed the firm to ship more than 300 new products and features last year, while keeping Shopify’s headcount flat, “which we were very proud of.”

While Shopify used some of the COVID-19 pandemic to staff up and even hired 2,021 technical workers in 2021, it has since carried out several rounds of layoffs as it veers more heavily toward using AI.

Last year, CEO Tobi Lutke declared the technology a “fundamental expectation” for all staff, saying it would be embedded into everything from performance reviews to product development.

Shopify’s also launched a suite of AI tools for its merchant customers that can write product descriptions and draft email subject lines. It also launched a partnership with OpenAI letting clients sell their products through ChatGPT.

The latest set of job cuts related to its AI era came last month.

At the time, spokesperson Ben McConaghy would not say how many workers were part of the cut but told The Canadian Press it was meant to “to sharpen focus on our highest priorities” and “give the team clearer ownership, more consistency, and set a higher bar as we build for what’s ahead.”

On the Tuesday call with Finkelstein, chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister said the company had been “disciplined” with its headcount for three years now.

“On any given year, we’re, in fact slightly down from the year before. I don’t see that changing,” he said.

“We’ve talked a few times ... in terms of how we’re using AI internally and the efficiencies, the acceleration that’s giving us and we expect that to continue.”

Hoffmeister’s remarks came on the heels of Shopify reporting a net loss of US$581 million for its latest quarter, which compared with a loss of US$682 million in the same quarter last year.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said the loss amounted to 45 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a loss of 53 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

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Revenue totalled US$3.17 billion, up from US$2.36 billion in the first quarter of 2025.

The increase came as subscription solutions revenue reached US$750 million, up from US$620 million a year ago, while merchant solutions revenue rose to US$2.42 billion, up from US$1.74 billion.

On adjusted basis, Shopify earned 36 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 25 cents US per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 33 cents US per share and US$3.09 billion in revenue, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026.