Lieberman: Hourly billing perversely penalizes workers who use AI faster
Alex Lieberman · ⚡️ 10x AI Engineers with $1m Salaries — Alex Lieberman & Arman Hezarkhani, Tenex · Nov 19, 2025 · at 4:08
Tenex co-founder Alex Lieberman explains the economic rationale behind shifting software engineering compensation from hourly rates to output-based pay.
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“And also you're perversely incentivized because you leveraging AI in your work as you operating faster, but your incentive, just like a lawyer or just like any hour pay based knowledge worker is to rack up as many hours as possible.”
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