(SeaPRwire) – When fintech firm Block recently announced it was reducing its workforce by nearly half, many wondered if it was just another tech company tidying up a pandemic-era hiring spree. But CFO and COO Amrita Ahuja presented a key data point to consider.
In 2019, Block generated approximately $500,000 in gross profit per employee—a figure that saw little change even as headcount surged from a few thousand to around 13,000 during the hyper-growth years, Ahuja noted in a recent interview. Then a shift occurred.
As AI tools became more deeply integrated into the company’s workflows, this metric started to rise: $750,000 per employee in 2024, $1 million in 2025. And if Block meets the targets outlined in its 2026 outlook—now projecting 18% annual growth in gross profit and a 54% increase in profits—gross profit per employee is set to reach roughly $2 million in 2026, double the level from the previous year.
“I don’t view this as about excess,” Ahuja stated. “It’s about equipping our teams with the most advanced and powerful tools available.”
At the heart of this shift is Block’s in-house AI agent, codenamed Goose, which has been in operational use for 18 months. Since September, developer productivity has increased by 40% per engineer. One risk underwriting model that once took an entire quarter to develop was completed in a fraction of that time. These productivity gains gave leadership the confidence to cut 4,000 jobs from a position of strength, Ahuja said. The decision was part of a longer-term transformation. “This has been a two-year journey for us,” she added. “It wasn’t a sudden choice.”
Even with potential productivity boosts from AI, research shows that adopting AI alone doesn’t automatically lead to higher profits per employee—it requires rethinking how work is executed. Additionally, broader market conditions, product expansion, and strategic cost management all factor in. Yet Block’s example demonstrates how focused AI implementation can significantly enhance human productivity.
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