Good morning. One way AI is affecting how businesses operate is when it comes to the finance function, and Google is no different.
A memo sent to Google finance staffers by Alphabet and Google CFO Ruth Porat and seen by CNBC said the restructuring will affect teams worldwide. “The tech sector is in the midst of a tremendous platform shift with Al,” Porat wrote. Google also plans to create “hubs” for centralized operations in Atlanta, Chicago, Mexico City, Bangalore, and Dublin. She ended the letter: “We are sad to say goodbye to some talented teammates and friends we care about, and we know this change is difficult.”
A Google spokesperson told me via email that the firm is “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.” Google didn’t confirm the amount of finance-related job cuts, with the spokesperson instead saying: “Throughout the second half of 2023 and into 2024, a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better, remove layers and align their resources to their biggest product priorities.”
But investing further into emerging technologies like AI in 2024 does mean the company will “have to make tough choices,” according to an internal memo from Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in January. That could mean some teams lose headcount. But Google isn’t the only big tech company readjusting personnel in the age of AI, which Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives said is for the better.
“This is a leaner and meaner Google that is now on the offensive around AI,” Ives told me. “There has been a lot of criticism of Google, and Sundar is taking a page out of the Meta playbook focused on efficiency and a new era of AI looking ahead. This is the right move at the right time for Google.”
In a blog post on Thursday, Pichai shared several structural changes to “improve velocity and execution across the company,” and one change is consolidating the teams that focus on building models across Research and Google DeepMind.
As Google cuts costs, “they’re going to use this money to reinvest in bringing great products to customers even faster,” said Niccolo de Masi, chair of the Futurum Group, a technology research and advisory firm. “AI is a net job creator,” he told me.
According to de Masi, also the former chairman and CEO of Glu Mobile, and the former CEO of dMY Technologies, AI’s impact will be compared to ATMs and Excel spreadsheets, which “have grown the number of people that work in finance exponentially in the past 50 years.”
AI will take care of mundane tasks, although higher-level expertise will still be required—at least in some capacity.
“Large companies may let go of bookkeepers, and consolidate higher-level expertise and supervision with machine learning,” de Masi continued.
Big tech companies like Meta and Google, and others that have close to 100,000 employees, will be “net growers,” de Masi said. “And the stock market is obviously very bullish on their ability to grow, which means they will keep hiring and acquiring.”
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
María Soledad Davila Calero curated the Leaderboard and Overheard sections of today’s newsletter.
Big deal
“Quantifying Employee Attitudes Toward AI-Powered Devices,” a survey conducted by Insight Enterprises, in partnership with The Harris Poll, finds that three out of four employees believe AI-powered devices are important to stay competitive. Employees think implementing AI-powered tools will improve their daily work life, but also express concerns over whether this will result in job insecurity.
Most employees (75%) believe AI-powered devices will help their employer stay competitive. A similar percentage (73%) expect them to improve their own productivity in the workplace. And 64% believe these devices will change the critical skills required for their jobs.
Meanwhile, 45% of respondents worry that AI will eventually make what they do less relevant to their employer. Gen Z (46%) and millennials (55%) are more apt to believe this compared to Gen X and Boomers (33%), according to the report.
The findings are based on a survey of 604 U.S. adults ages 21 and older who are employed full-time at a company with over 1,000 employees.
Leaderboard
Some notable moves:
Jay Halbert will fill the newly created position of CFO at F2 Strategy, a wealth management technology service company. Halbert’s appointment comes a month after F2 acquired Sky Marketing Consulting group. Halbert comes from serving as executive vice president at media company Alkemy X.
Marilyn Jentzen was recently appointed Interim CFO at Inspired Entertainment (Nasdaq: INSE), a B2B provider of gaming content, technology, hardware, and services. Jentzen brings over 30 years of financial and accounting experience to Inspired. Most recently, she served as the founder and CEO of Innovative Impact Consulting. Previously, Jentzen served as SVP of finance for International Game Technology, Inc. Before that, she led operations strategy for global operations centers in Asia, India, Europe, and Latin America for Thomson Reuters.
Daniel Berenbaum was named CFO at Bloom Engery (NYSE:BE), effective April 29. Berenbaum will be replacing Greg Cameron, who will stay in an advisory role to help with the transition until May 24. Before joining the energy producer, Berenhaum was the EVP and CFO at National Instruments, which produces software for testing equipment.
Michael Yung was named CFO at Phoenix Motor (Nasdaq: PEV), a manufacturer of heavy-duty vehicles. Yung has over 25 years of experience. Before joining Phoenix Motor, Yung served as CFO at PingTan Marine Enterprise. He has also served as the managing director for Asia at European American Capital and as senior vice president at UBS Paine Webber.
Debora Delaney was named CFO at Catalina Crunch, a direct-to-consumer healthy snacks company. Delaney comes from serving as CFO of the North American division of Hain Celestial, a snacks company that has brands such as Terra chips. She has experience in the food segment and has also previously worked at KIND North America, Pinnacle Foods, and Mondelez International.
Amy Campbell was named CFO of Rev Group, Inc. (NYSE: REVG), a manufacturer of specialty vehicles. Campbell spent 23 years at the construction and mining company Caterpillar Inc. Most recently, she served as CFO of ASC Engineered Solutions and CFO for BrandSafway’s commercial and industrial division.
Going deeper
Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:
“Digital marketer Ibotta prices shares higher than expected, raises $577M in public debut as IPO market heats up” by Luisa Beltran and María Soledad Davila Calero
“How 3 baby boomers are approaching phased retirement, the ‘mega-trend’ reshaping workplaces” by Alicia Adamczyk
“Jamie Dimon confronted Bill Gates after the Microsoft founder said banks were dinosaurs: ‘Obviously he was dead wrong. He’d probably agree with that’” by Eleanor Pringle
“These states and cities have the best—and worst—brain health in America” by Lindsey Leake
Overheard
“This strategy pivot is a clear net-negative for the Tesla investment thesis, as it casts significant uncertainty on the path ahead for Tesla.”
—Barclays analyst Dan Levy wrote in a note to clients. Like other analysts and investors, Barclays is concerned that if Tesla abandons their plans to reach a mass-market more affordable EV segment, like the Model 2, the company could take a hit in their growth.
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