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Good morning. Why would a profitable, fast-growing fintech cut nearly half its staff?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the question swirling around Block after CEO Jack Dorsey announced plans to lay off 4,000 employees, about 40% of the company, just as the parent of Square and Cash App reported Q4 gross profit of $2.9 billion, up 24% year over year. I sat down with Block CFO and COO Amrita Ahuja, who said the move isn\u2019t about trouble or \u201cbloat,\u201d but about how far the company has gone in reshaping its workforce around artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a two-year journey for us,\u201d she says. \u201cThis was not an overnight decision.\u201d Ahuja walks through how Block built and deployed its own AI agent\u2014code-named goose\u2014to sit on top of large language models, automate workflows, and accelerate software development. She explains why Block raised its 2026 guidance even as it cut thousands of roles, how she thinks about employee morale and \u201creskilling\u201d the remaining workforce for an AI-driven future.<\/p>\n
Ahuja\u00a0also responds to skeptics who say AI is just a convenient label for old-fashioned cost-cutting. You can read\u00a0more about my conversation with Ahuja here.<\/p>\n
In the age of AI, companies like Block are navigating a new tension: the promise of massive productivity gains alongside the need to rethink how work is organized. Research from McKinsey & Company on generative AI and the future of work finds the technology\u2019s largest potential in knowledge-heavy fields such as financial services and software engineering. Many core tasks in those jobs\u2014coding, document synthesis, customer communication, and data analysis\u2014can be automated or dramatically accelerated, creating large productivity gains if companies redesign workflows and retrain workers.<\/p>\n
At the same time, research connected to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and highlighted by MIT Sloan School of Management finds that when highly skilled workers use generative AI within its \u201csweet spot,\u201d performance can improve by roughly 40%. But when the tools are misapplied, performance can actually decline\u2014underscoring that AI tends to work best when paired with human judgment.<\/p>\n
Adopting AI may be the easy part. Reorganizing work around it is the real challenge.
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Have a good weekend.<\/p>\n
Sheryl<\/strong>\u00a0Estrada<\/strong> Dan Janki<\/b>, EVP and CFO of Delta Air Lines (<\/span>No. 70<\/span>), will become chief operating officer. John Laughter will retire as Delta\u2019s EVP, chief of operations and president of Delta TechOps, effective April 30. Before joining Delta in 2021, Janki had a long tenure with General Electric, most recently serving as president and CEO of GE Power Portfolio and SVP of GE<\/span><\/p>\n Erik Snell<\/b> will become Delta\u2019s new CFO. Snell, who joined Delta 20 years ago in finance, has led teams across the company\u2019s operating groups and most recently served as chief customer experience officer.<\/span><\/p>\n Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts\u2014<\/i>see the most recent edition<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n Amit Sripathi<\/b>\u00a0was promoted to CFO of\u00a0Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc.\u00a0(NYSE: WH), effective immediately. Sripathi succeeds Kurt Albert, who has served as interim CFO since November. Sripathi joined Wyndham in 2021 and has served in a variety of leadership roles at the company, most recently as chief development officer of North America. Before Wyndham, Sripathi was with RLJ Lodging Trust, responsible for capital markets and corporate finance.<\/p>\n Aziz Megji<\/b>\u00a0was promoted to CFO at\u00a0Asana, Inc.\u00a0(NYSE: ASAN), a work management platform, effective March 24. Megji will succeed Sonalee Parekh, who has served as Asana\u2019s CFO since 2024 and tendered her resignation effective March 23. Megji brings his experience from his head of financial planning and analysis role. Before joining Asana in 2024, Megji held senior finance leadership roles at RingCentral, Nvidia, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neha Krishnamohan\u00a0<\/b>was appointed CFO and chief business officer at\u00a0Latigo Biotherapeutics, Inc.\u00a0(Latigo), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Krishnamohan brings more than 15 years of experience. Until recently, she was the audit committee chair on Latigo\u2019s board of directors. Before her appointment at Latigo, Krishnamohan most recently served as CFO and EVP of corporate development at Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. She also previously served as CFO and EVP of corporate development at Kinnate Biopharma Inc.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kenneth (Ken) Sharp\u00a0<\/b>was appointed SVP and CFO of\u00a0L3Harris Technologies\u00a0(NYSE: LHX), a defense contractor, effective March 16. Sharp, 55, brings more than 30 years of financial leadership in defense and technology. He succeeds Ken Bedingfield, who will focus on leading the Missile Solutions segment as its president. Sharp joins L3Harris from Peraton Inc., where he served as EVP and CFO. Before that, Sharp was CFO of DXC Technology, and CFO of Northrop Grumman\u2019s Defense Systems business.<\/p>\n Sonalee Parekh<\/b>\u00a0was appointed CFO of\u00a0SentinelOne\u00a0(NYSE: S), a cybersecurity company, effective March 24. Barry Padgett will continue to serve as interim CFO until Parekh\u2019s start date. She brings more than 25 years of experience. Parekh most recently served as CFO of Asana. Previously, she served as CFO of RingCentral. She also held senior finance leadership roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, including divisional CFO and head of corporate development and investor relations.<\/p>\n Brad Hill<\/b>\u00a0was appointed CFO and EVP of transformation at\u00a0Red Lobster, the seafood restaurant brand. Hill will lead Red Lobster’s finance organization, along with leading the company’s strategic real estate efforts. He previously held multiple executive roles at P.F. Chang’s. Hill succeeds Bob Baker, who has departed the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n EY-Parthenon has released the latest edition of its U.S. Consumer Sentiment Survey, based on responses from more than 2,000 U.S. consumers. The findings show that a growing share of consumers say their personal finances are deteriorating, with one in four indicating they feel worse off than just a month ago.<\/p>\n Consumers are prioritizing essentials as discretionary spending declines. Cost-of-living concerns remain elevated, particularly around groceries, which nearly 70% of respondents cite as a moderate or major concern. Discretionary categories such as restaurants, entertainment, travel, and apparel are seeing broad pullbacks as consumers look for quick ways to cut spending.<\/p>\n Across income levels, shoppers are seeking value. Even high-income consumers are paying close attention to prices \u2014 primarily by shopping sales, comparing prices, and switching to private labels. In fact, 15% of respondents say they have switched personal care brands to save money.<\/p>\n “LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault is now 77. Thanks to a shareholder change to company bylaws, he can continue as boss until he\u2019s 85” \u2014Sasha Rogelberg<\/p>\n “McDonald\u2019s CEO did a burger taste test that became a cautionary tale for execs. But there\u2019s a silver lining” \u2014Rachel Ventresca<\/p>\n “A shiny new Fed chair will be keen to start with an interest rate cut\u2014but the bank is growing more hawkish due to Iran” \u2014Eleanor Pringle<\/p>\n “Most Americans are woefully short on saving for retirement\u2014Warren Buffett\u2019s investing advice could help” \u2014 Sydney Lake<\/p>\n \u201cTechnology keeps getting more specialized while the way we group and price it hasn\u2019t changed much.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014Shlomo Kramer, a cybersecurity entrepreneur and investor, writes in a Fortune<\/em> opinion piece arguing that the cyber selloff proved Wall Street can\u2019t price tech anymore. Kramer co-founded Check Point Software Technologies and Imperva and took both companies public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Blocks #CFO #convinced #company #needed #staff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good morning. 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sheryl.estrada@fortune.com<\/p>\nLeaderboard<\/h3>\n
Fortune 500 Power Moves:<\/b><\/h3>\n
More notable moves this week:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Big Deal<\/h3>\n
Going deeper<\/h3>\n
Here are four <\/b>Fortune<\/i><\/b> weekend reads:<\/b><\/h4>\n
Overheard<\/h3>\n