Block cuts 40% of workforce, engineer code-review changes jump 150%

Block did not want to sprinkle AI on top of existing work. CFO Amrita Ahuja said the fintech company, parent of Square and Cash App, thought about "fundamentally refactoring how we operate as a company." Over the past few years it consolidated and simplified processes and has used AI in the business since early 2024. Earlier this year it cut its workforce by 40% and removed layers of management.

Ahuja framed the shift around which roles remain. She said you still need people in every function who are builders, goal-setters, and strategy deciders, but no longer need a person whose job is to pass information along or check work before it reaches the actual reviewer. At Block, engineers improved their code review changes by 150% between the start of the year and midyear, and even non-engineers had a 60% improvement.

Measuring the return is still evolving. Much of the industry is still weighing AI costs against personnel savings, Ahuja said, and Block is working to refine a metric it calls "timed customer value." She also predicted more companies will put AI agents on their organizational charts, where workers are responsible for training and deploying them.