AI Norms & Values, Part 1 of 3: How We Do Business at Honeycomb

Nearly a year after adopting an AI-first mandate, Honeycomb reflects on how increased AI use has influenced its engineering practices, organizational culture, and customer-facing work. The company argues that AI is primarily an amplifier of existing strengths and weaknesses rather than a force that independently improves or damages organizations, making strong ownership, learning cultures, and clear values increasingly important. Following internal discussions about AI ethics and operational standards, Honeycomb developed several documents outlining company-wide, engineering, and go-to-market expectations, beginning with “How Honeycomb Does Business.” Its GTM principles emphasize creating customer value before extracting revenue, treating customers as individuals rather than sales pipeline, communicating honestly about product capabilities and limitations, making reciprocal and reasonable requests, competing assertively without manipulation, and respecting the cost of customers’ attention. Honeycomb encourages employees to use AI for research, analysis, preparation, and removing repetitive work, while retaining responsibility for reviewing outputs, verifying facts, and exercising judgment. The company frames these standards as a way to build durable, mutually beneficial customer relationships and preserve its reputation while using AI at greater scale.

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