Business software company Freshworks said it will cut 11 percent of its workforce and about 500 jobs to deal with the impact of rapid advances in artificial intelligence, Reuters reported. Shares in the company, which provides customer service and technical support management software, fell more than 8 per cent in after-hours trading.
The cuts are the latest wave of ai-related activity in the software industry, the report said. Companies are racing to automate work and reshape products around AI technology, while trying to offset its high costs. Atlassian, a peer, said last month it would cut about 10 per cent of its workforce.
Dan Dennis Woodside, the company’s chief executive, told Reuters the decision was driven in part by the use of artificial intelligence in products and engineering, as well as the automation of routine tasks across the business.
“More than half of our code is written by Ai,” Woodside added, automation reduces“The mechanical work that technology can handle.” Money saved by consolidating sales teams, reducing layers of management, and automating work, will be reinvested in Freshworks’ employee experience business, which includes its IT services management software, Freshservice. (Wen Hui)