The CEO sounds like .. a loser. :) I'm kidding! He sounds very smart!

If the company isn't going to hit revenue targets they might actually need to fire people and this can be a good way to provide cover that devs aren't meeting requirements so they can be fired with cause.

A past company CEO sounded very similar to this internally before they fired 30% of the staff because they didn't have enough money.

My current vibe reading on CEOs who think every job can be done with AI today is the athlete who starts celebrating before crossing the finish line, to be passed bysomeone who takes the win. My guys, it's not that good yet!