Exclusive: SharkNinja is paying employees $1 million to experiment with AI

CEO Mark Barrocas believes workers, not outside consultants, can turn AI into business value.

[Images: Adobe Stock]

AI poses an infuriating dilemma: On the one hand, it promises to reduce the grunt work present in every job. On the other hand, between the creation of AI slop, and employee fears around job loss, figuring out how to actually reap those benefits creates another job in and of itself.

Companies are resorting to a variety of strategies to solve this problem. Amazon tracks how often employees use AI, Microsoft has an internal bootcamp where teams brainstorm how to redesign their workflows to include AI, and Boston Consulting Group has made AI use part of employee performance evaluations.  

Other companies are taking a different approach: paying employees to experiment with the disruptive technology. 

Last week, design and tech company SharkNinja—best known for its viral home appliances such as a slushie maker or an LED face mask—unrolled a program to reward employees for AI innovations. In an exclusive interview with Fast Company, CEO Mark Barrocas said the company is setting aside $1 million for the program.

Under its new program, which the company calls “Jailbreak”, a small panel of judges made up of executive and senior leaders from different teams will evaluate AI projects every week. They’ll award the winning SharkNinja employees between $2,500 and $25,000. At the end of the year, the projects will all be considered for a $100,000 grand prize.

SharkNinja isn’t the only company that’s handing out cash for innovation. Brex, a San Francisco fintech company, hands out spot bonuses for AI innovations, while companies like IBM and French pharma company Sanofi award points that employees trade in for merchandise and gift cards. Earlier this month, KPMG said it will hand out cash prizes to its North American employees for AI innovation. Since KPMG’s employees are used to thinking about billable hours, the firm hopes that the cash prizes will encourage them to set aside time to think about how to use AI.  

Barrocas said the inspiration for Jailbreak came from a similar program SharkNinja used in 2025 when the Trump administration set tariffs: During an eight-day sprint, employees came up with over 1,500 ideas to mitigate the cost of tariffs, such as how to source more materials locally and re-engineer packaging to make it more efficient. (SharkNinja saw its revenue grow by 16% last year.) Barrocas hopes the Jailbreak program will set off a similar flurry of innovation.

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