Proton To ‘Re-Interview’ Staff About AI To See Who Gets To Keep Their Job

I’m really pleased with proton’s service. This is, however, very troubling.

Typical Proton L

I used to be curious about switching to proton

The more proton news i read, the less I want to renew my subscription when it expires.

To save people from diving into the Reddit swamp. Here is Proton’s response from a similar post over there:

Just to clarify, Proton is not doing layoffs and using AI as an excuse. We actually have a big shortage of talent and are actively hiring across the org: https://proton.me/careers#jobslist

AI is changing the tech industry and we, like everyone else, need to evolve our ways of working to remain effective in our industry, and to deliver features faster to users.

Proton exists to protect privacy and give people control over their digital lives. That commitment guides how we evaluate and use AI, including the tools we use internally. We see opportunities to build better products and work more effectively, but using AI requires judgment about privacy, security, accuracy, and where it adds actual value.

We are assessing how colleagues are adapting to these tools, what support they need, and who can help lead this work. We’re looking for concrete improvements in their work and thoughtful decisions about when to use AI - and when not to.

To do this, we’re in the process of figuring out who among our existing colleagues are the best future leaders, assessing whether everyone has the skills they need to take a step forward in a post-AI world, and making sure we are offering the support that is necessary, to those who need it, to succeed.

In the interest of transparency, the full email that was sent to some of our staff can be found below:

Dear,

AI is fundamentally changing how we build products and how we work. The capabilities Proton needs are evolving, and we must accelerate our transformation to remain competitive and deliver on our mission.

Getting this right is critical to Proton’s future. We need people who can translate AI’s capabilities into better products, stronger execution, and new ways of working—and who approach this change with curiosity, judgment, and urgency.

Last week, Andy interviewed more than 40 senior leaders across Engineering and Product to begin this process. We are now extending re-interviews more broadly to assess how people are adapting to AI and whether they have the capabilities and approach needed for Proton’s next phase.

This is also an opportunity to identify people who can lead the transformation. Those who demonstrate the ability to rethink their work, put AI into practice, and help others adapt may have opportunities to take on greater responsibility, accelerate their development as leaders, and shape Proton’s future.

What does this mean for you?
• Not everyone may be invited to a re-interview.
Given the scale and timeframe, interviews will be prioritized based on the organization’s assessment needs. Whether you receive an invitation should not, on its own, be interpreted as an individual outcome. Any decisions affecting your employment will be communicated separately.
• For those that get invited, re-interviews will take place November 4–11.
Further details about scheduling, format, and preparation will be shared centrally.
• Your interviewer will be outside your team and reporting line.
Interviewers will be selected from a pool of leaders who demonstrate strong AI capability and have aligned on the assessment criteria.
• Expect a discussion about how you think and work.
We want to understand how you apply AI to real problems, how it has changed your approach, where you see opportunities to improve, and how you expect your role to evolve.
• Come prepared with concrete examples.
Be ready to discuss what you have changed in your work, the results, what you have learned, what has not worked, and what you would do differently. A list of tools alone will not demonstrate this.
• Your ability to adapt matters alongside your current capabilities.
We will explore how you learn, challenge established ways of working, exercise judgment, and act on the opportunities AI creates.

What are the consequences?
These re-interviews are consequential. Interviewers will document their assessments, which will inform the broader review of our organization and talent. That review may lead to changes in roles, responsibilities, and continued employment. Individual outcomes will be communicated directly once decisions are finalized.
The process will also help us identify people ready to take on broader scope and leadership responsibilities as Proton evolves.

We recognize that this process creates uncertainty. We will be clear about what has been decided and what remains open, and communicate individual outcomes as soon as we can.
Please take the re-interview seriously and come prepared to discuss your actual work, your experience with AI, and how you can contribute to Proton’s next phase.

Today at 4pm CET, there will be a call for recipients of this email to answer a few more logistical questions.

The meeting will be taking place on this Proton Meet Link

Best,

So if I’m reading this right, Proton is re-interviewing their entire staff, focusing on how they’ve integrated AI into their workflow, and if they aren’t using AI as much as management wants they’re likely to lose their jobs?

That is extremely disappointing.

Posteo is suddenly looking very shiny.

The bubble can’t pop fast enough

I’m sorry, WHAT??? I use Proton!!! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DESTROY THEM, NOT JOIN THEM!

I truly hope we’re being overly dramatic here because Proton has been a good service for me. I do not feel like moving everything to another service. At least I have my own domains, though.

Oh c’mon. Enshittification this fast.

I don’t wanna move all that shit.

“We need people who can translate AI’s capabilities into better products, stronger execution, and new ways of working — and who approach this change with curiosity, judgment, and urgency,” the email reads.

What a flaming pile of shit.

• How to effectively use AI is still being figured out. This is akin to “We only hire lucky people”.
• Management clearly is fucking stupid.
• Isn’t the CEO fascist?

Really? Is nothing safe these days? I just switched my email to Proton recently from Gmail. It’s been a long time coming, and I still can’t ditch it completely bcz I have had it for over 10 years and some stuff still uses it.

https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.404media.co%2Fproton-to-re-interview-staff-about-ai-to-see-who-gets-to-keep-their-job%2F

Proton, the company behind ProtonMail and other privacy-focused products, told staff on Monday it would be ‘re-interviewing’ staff across the company about how they use AI in their jobs, with the implication that the interviews may decide whether staffers have “continued employment,” according to an internal Proton email obtained by 404 Media.

“These re-interviews are consequential,” a part of the email reads. “Interviewers will document their assessments, which will inform the broader review of our organization and talent. That review may lead to changes in roles, responsibilities, and continued employment. Individual outcomes will be communicated directly once decisions are finalized.”

Proton’s CEO Andy Yen has steadily pushed the company towards more AI use, including launching AI centered products like Lumo, a privacy-focused chatbot. The leaked email says Yen “interviewed more than 40 senior leaders across Engineering and Product to begin this process.” Now, those interviews are extending across the company.

“We need people who can translate AI’s capabilities into better products, stronger execution, and new ways of working — and who approach this change with curiosity, judgment, and urgency,” the email reads.

The email says that not everyone in the company will be re-interviewed, and “any decisions affecting your employment will be communicated separately.” The interviewer will be outside the staff member’s team and reporting line; instead, people may be interviewed by someone from “a pool of leaders who demonstrate strong AI capability and have aligned on the assessment criteria.”

“We recognize that this process creates uncertainty. We will be clear about what has been decided and what remains open, and communicate individual outcomes as soon as we can,” the email adds. It says the re-interviews will take place between November 4 and 11.

Proton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Speaking of alternatives to Proton, i mostly read tuta. Why do people not mention posteo? is there a reason that I am not aware of?

That blows. I was genuinely looking into proton after the news that Google will use their shitty AI to scan Gmail. Fuck that.

Like is nothing private anymore? Soon in Europe all your chats will be monitored, email monitored, ID verification, age verification.

Fuck this new internet.

Not a bad idea, only they are going to keep the wrong ones, the cheerleaders instead of the skeptics.