Meta urges staff to integrate AI into daily work to go 5X faster

Meta is directing employees working on its metaverse projects to adopt artificial intelligence tools in order to work “five times faster,” according to an internal message obtained by 404 Media.

The directive came from Vishal Shah, Meta’s vice-president of metaverse, who told staff to think “5X, not 5%” when it comes to productivity gains from AI. “Our goal is simple yet audacious: make AI a habit, not a novelty,” Shah wrote, urging engineers, designers and product managers alike to use AI to prototype ideas, fix bugs and accelerate development cycles.

Shah said Meta expects 80% of metaverse employees to have integrated AI into their workflows by the end of this year, with training sessions and “days of AI learning” planned. “The more we push ourselves, the more we’ll unlock. A 5X leap in productivity isn’t about small incremental improvements, it’s about fundamentally rethinking how we work,” he told staff.

The push comes as Meta’s metaverse business continues to absorb billions in investment with limited adoption. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has argued that AI will reshape how Meta builds software, predicting that AI agents will write most of the company’s code within the next 12 to 18 months. Meta recently said job candidates would be allowed to use AI in coding tests during interviews, underlining its emphasis on AI as a workplace tool.

The move reflects wider industry pressure on staff to embrace AI. Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy told employees in July that AI would drive job cuts as companies adopt efficiency gains from automation. For engineers, however, the shift has raised concerns about “vibe coding,” where AI-generated code leads to errors and technical debt that humans struggle to manage.

A Meta spokesperson told 404 Media that using AI to enhance day-to-day work is “well known as a priority.” For staff in the metaverse division, the message is clear: accelerate adoption or risk being left behind as the company bets its future on AI-driven productivity.