Block CFO Amrita Ahuja: AI agents to appear on org charts

The comments come as companies that have poured money into AI are searching for ways to make those investments defensible. Synopsys CFO Shelagh Glaser likened AI spending to snacks in the break room, some customers needing premium tiers and others internal models, and noted the cost for AI was reasonable until it wasn't. Block itself has been an early mover: earlier this year, CEO Jack Dorsey laid off 40% of the entire staff as the company increased its use of AI to automate workflows, which underscores how far-reaching the structural changes can be.

Beyond job cuts, executives at the summit described other ways AI is reshaping company operations. Cloudflare cofounder Michelle Zatlyn said AI agents have become an extension of the team, with thousands of employees now able to become builders and discover new AI use cases. Amazon VP Heather Zorn said the company measures ROI by looking at adoption, then engagement, then efficiency such as time saved, though she called revenue growth the ultimate KPI.

The thread connecting these views is workforce practices, not just deployment. If agents become standard entries on org charts, businesses may need to figure out who trains them, who sets their goals, and how their output is managed, a shift in organizational design that CFOs and HR teams could face sooner than expected.