TLDR: DraftKings CEO Jason Robins announced a near-total hiring freeze, excluding AI engineers, as the company shifts towards an ‘AI-first mindset.’ This strategic move, driven by ‘tremendous momentum’ in agentic AI, aims to enhance efficiency, reduce fixed costs, and replace human roles with AI agents across various business operations. The company’s product and technology expenses had previously increased due to headcount growth, making AI a key focus for future cost savings.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins has announced a comprehensive hiring freeze across most departments, a strategic decision underpinned by the company’s ‘tremendous momentum’ in agentic artificial intelligence. Speaking at the Bank of America Securities 2025 Gaming and Lodging Conference on September 4, Robins revealed a significant shift towards an ‘AI-first mindset’ within the organization. This approach is expected to drive substantial efficiency gains and reshape the company’s cost outlook.
Robins emphasized that the hiring freeze would apply to all roles unless departments could conclusively demonstrate that a position could not be managed by an AI agent. The only exception to this freeze is the recruitment of AI engineers, indicating a focused investment in the technology that is enabling this transformation. This move comes after DraftKings experienced a 16.6% increase in product and technology expenses, reaching $211.7 million in the first half of 2025, primarily attributed to increased headcount in these departments.
The CEO expressed considerable enthusiasm for the potential cost savings, stating, ‘It’s rare that I feel as excited as I am about the cost outlook right now. And the reason why is I think AI is transforming the way we may or may not need to grow our fixed costs going forward.’ He elaborated on the vision, noting, ‘The amount of efficiency we are going to generate on headcount—being able to basically replace what would have been human hires with AI agents, and also reduce in certain areas as well—I think over the next few years is going to be a big thing for us.’
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DraftKings co-founder and president of global product and technology, Paul Liberman, echoed this sentiment, warning that ‘companies treating AI as optional or secondary risk falling behind.’ The shift in mentality extends to management, with department heads now tasked with overseeing AI agents rather than traditional employees. This fundamental change is already occurring across the entire business, with manual processes being rapidly converted to agent-driven operations. Robins anticipates that this transformation will accelerate as AI technology continues to advance.
