Reid Hoffman: 15 people with AI can now compete with 150 without it

“Fifteen people using AI can compete with 150 people without it. AI fundamentally changes what small teams can accomplish,” LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman wrote on the professional networking platform.

Hoffman recently discussed this in a LinkedIn post and on an episode of the “Possible” podcast hosted by AI engineer Parth Patil, which aired on Wednesday.

He explained that small teams have a clearer shared context, something that big organizations struggle to replicate. “AI amplifies this because it allows you to build systems that capture and reveal patterns within that shared context,” he added.

Hoffman stressed that instead of searching for existing AI products to address a specific issue, AI-native startups ask, “What would the perfect solution look like for my exact situation?”

“They then build it, even if it’s rough around the edges,” he stated.

Speaking with Patil, Reid Hoffman pointed to an example in which the host used a combination of Codex and Claude Code to create a French translator for the podcast. The two then experimented with the AI agent to improve the localization of the translation. Patil noted that Codex also offered the option to enable translation pipelines for 68 additional languages.

“This is like an example of our workflow, where something that was previously a massive stretch—maybe too expensive to do—then becomes something easy to start prototyping,” Hoffman expressed on the podcast.

The LinkedIn co-founder’s experience using AI for translations reflects comments made by Steven Bartlett, host of “The Diary of a CEO” podcast, at the World Economic Forum in January.

Bartlett stated at a Davos panel that, although initially an “expensive experiment,” using AI to translate his podcast into different languages turned out to be a game-changer for his business.

“There’s nothing more important than what we’ve done for our business than translations. Period,” Bartlett said.

In recent months, several business and tech leaders have indicated they are, or will be, replacing some human jobs with AI. During his company’s latest earnings call, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that AI is enabling individuals to do the work of an entire team.