Payments company Block is saying goodbye to almost half of its employees because artificial intelligence can do their jobs at least as quickly and efficiently.
At the presentation of the annual figures, CEO Jack Dorsey explained why. “We are choosing to change the way we work at a time when the company is experiencing rapid growth and we see the opportunity to work faster with smaller, highly talented teams using AI to automate more work. Product speed is our absolute priority.”
Looking back, strategists might well refer to this situation as the canary in the coal mine. The moment when it became clear that the time of scarcity in engineers, developers and software writers is really over.
Dorsey even thinks that that realisation is coming to fellow entrepreneurs sooner rather than later. Within a year, is his estimate.
“We are in an era where AI is transforming the way software products are built and changing the way we deliver value to our customers. As early developers of AI tools for agents, we are opting to change the way our business operates and focus on smaller, AI-native teams that we believe are better equipped to take advantage of this shift.”
Investors are extremely keen on companies’ exposure to and handling of AI. Those who are at risk in their eyes saw their share price fall effortlessly by double-digit percentages in recent weeks. The market rewarded Dorsey’s decision with a price jump of 20% in after-hours trading. That share price, incidentally, is not much higher or lower than it was four years ago.
Block owns digital financial services Square, Cashapp, Afterpay, Clearpay as well as music service Tidal.
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