AI Software Company Says It Practices ‘Dogfooding’ and ‘Onboarding Roulette’ by Deleting Employee Accounts at Random
In the fast-paced world of artificial intelligence, companies are constantly experimenting with unconventional strategies to push boundaries and improve their products. One AI software company recently revealed a bold internal practice known as “dogfooding” and “onboarding roulette,” where employee accounts are randomly deleted to simulate real-world user challenges.
While the concept might sound chaotic, it serves a deeper purpose: to strengthen product reliability, enhance user experience, and ensure that every team member understands what real users face daily. This unique approach demonstrates how innovation often thrives on discomfort, creativity, and direct engagement with the product. This kind of bold experimentation reflects the rapid growth and high stakes of the AI industry, echoing concerns highlighted in a top banker’s AI bubble warning.
What Is Dogfooding in AI Companies?
“Dogfooding,” short for “eating your own dog food,” refers to the practice where a company uses its own products internally before releasing them to the public. In the AI industry, this means developers, engineers, and designers rely on the same tools, systems, or software that end users do.
This practice helps uncover hidden bugs, improve usability, and gain firsthand experience of the product’s strengths and weaknesses. By depending on their own tools, companies ensure authenticity in their claims and a more user-centered product development process.
Dogfooding also fosters a sense of accountability among teams. When employees encounter the same friction points as customers, they become more motivated to resolve issues quickly and efficiently. This results in better software design, smoother workflows, and a higher level of trust between the company and its users.
Understanding Onboarding Roulette
The term “onboarding roulette” takes this concept a step further. It’s an internal experiment where employee accounts are deliberately deleted or reset at random intervals. The goal? To test how easy (or difficult) it is to start fresh with the company’s tools, just like a brand-new customer would.
By going through the onboarding process repeatedly, employees experience what new users face when setting up the system. This ensures that every detail—from installation to initial setup—is intuitive and error-free.
Why It Works
- Real-World Testing: Instead of relying solely on user feedback, the company gets firsthand insights from its own staff.
- Continuous Improvement: Each deletion highlights potential bottlenecks or confusing steps in the onboarding process.
- Team Agility: Employees become adept at troubleshooting and navigating problems quickly, improving internal communication and collaboration.
This “onboarding roulette” approach may sound extreme, but it forces the entire organization to maintain high standards of usability and resilience.
The Logic Behind Deleting Employee Accounts
Deleting employee accounts might seem counterproductive, but in this context, it’s an innovative strategy to stress-test both the product and the people behind it.
When accounts are removed randomly, it prevents complacency. Teams can’t rely on stored settings or saved preferences—they must re-engage with the system as if they were new users. This method tests whether the product is robust enough to handle abrupt user changes without losing essential data or functionality.
It’s also a clever way to identify flaws in account recovery systems, data synchronization, and user experience design. If internal users face challenges restoring access, it signals that real customers might too. Fixing these problems early ensures a smoother experience for everyone.
The Benefits of Practicing Dogfooding and Onboarding Roulette
Adopting such bold internal practices brings several tangible benefits:
1. Enhanced Product Quality
Employees who regularly use the software they develop have a better understanding of its limitations. Constant exposure to real usage scenarios leads to faster detection and resolution of bugs.
2. Stronger User Empathy
By experiencing what users go through—from sign-up to troubleshooting—team members gain empathy. This results in products designed with genuine user needs in mind.
3. Improved Adaptability
When systems are disrupted through “account deletion,” employees learn to adapt quickly. This adaptability is invaluable in the AI industry, where change is constant.
4. Streamlined Onboarding
Each reset offers new insights into simplifying onboarding flows, documentation, and user guidance. Over time, this leads to smoother product adoption for customers.
5. Continuous Feedback Loop
With every internal test, developers and designers receive real-time feedback. This tight loop of iteration accelerates product refinement and innovation.
Challenges and Criticism
While innovative, this approach isn’t without its challenges. Some employees may find the constant resets frustrating, especially when it disrupts their workflow. Repeatedly losing access to accounts can slow productivity and increase stress levels.
Additionally, without proper safeguards, deleting accounts could risk accidental data loss or miscommunication. To avoid this, companies must have clear backup protocols and recovery systems in place.
However, when managed properly, these risks are outweighed by the long-term benefits of creating resilient teams and products.
Lessons for Other AI Companies
The takeaway from this experiment isn’t that every organization should start deleting employee accounts—but that innovation often requires bold thinking.
Other AI companies can learn from this mindset by:
- Encouraging teams to use their own products daily.
- Simplifying onboarding processes to minimize friction.
- Conducting internal audits that mimic real user experiences.
- Promoting a culture where experimentation and feedback are valued over comfort.
By adopting these practices, businesses can align internal workflows with user expectations—leading to more intuitive, reliable, and future-ready AI solutions.
The Psychology Behind Discomfort and Innovation
Interestingly, psychological studies suggest that moderate discomfort can lead to higher creativity and problem-solving ability. When people are pushed outside their comfort zones, they tend to question assumptions and think differently.
“Dogfooding” and “onboarding roulette” tap into this principle perfectly. By creating controlled chaos, the company ensures its teams never get too comfortable. Every challenge becomes an opportunity to innovate, improve, and grow.
This internal pressure not only sharpens technical skills but also nurtures resilience—a critical trait for any team navigating the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Conclusion
The AI industry thrives on experimentation, and practices like “dogfooding” and “onboarding roulette” reflect the bold spirit driving modern innovation. By challenging employees to experience their own product from the user’s perspective—sometimes even by deleting their own accounts—companies build stronger, more intuitive systems.
What may appear chaotic at first glance is, in reality, a disciplined method of creating empathy, improving design, and maintaining product excellence. In the end, these practices remind us that true innovation often starts by stepping into the user’s shoes—and sometimes, by hitting the reset button.
