Bird, the Amsterdam-founded communications technology company, has reduced its workforce from more than 1,000 employees to just 120 in around three years. Its chief executive, Robert Vis, says artificial intelligence is helping the smaller team take on work that once required several specialised roles.
Vis argues that employees who can work across disciplines, take initiative and use AI tools effectively are becoming more valuable than those who focus on a narrow set of tasks. His comments offer a glimpse into how AI is changing the way some technology companies organise their workforces, and the skills they expect from employees.
Speaking to Business Insider in late September, Vis said Bird had prioritised people with what he described as 'high agency,' the ability to act independently, solve problems and take responsibility for outcomes.
'If you're high agency and you're full stack, then AI leverages you to basically be your best self,' he said.
The comments came after Bird announced that it had secured $450 million in debt financing, as the company continues to reshape its operations around automation and AI.
Bird CEO Says AI Is Changing the Skills Companies Need
Vis believes AI is making it easier for employees to work across functions that businesses have traditionally kept separate.
For example, a software engineer may once have been expected to concentrate primarily on writing code. At Bird, Vis said, engineers must also understand product design and how their work fits into the wider user experience.
'If you're an engineer and you're extremely good at just code but you have no product sense, that wouldn't work at Bird,' he said.
AI tools can help workers expand beyond their core specialisms, allowing them to produce work that would previously have required support from another department.
The same approach applies to design. Vis said employees can use AI to create effective designs within frameworks established by a dedicated design team, reducing the amount of work that needs to be handled by specialists.
'It's not like you need zero designers, but you need less,' he said, adding that AI allows entire teams to produce good design within an established framework.
However, Vis did not suggest that every specialist role could disappear. Bird continues to employ specialists in areas such as revenue accounting and security engineering, where dedicated expertise remains important.
From More Than 1,000 Employees to Just 120
Bird's workforce reduction is one of the clearest examples of how the company has changed its operating model as it embraces automation.
The business, formerly known as MessageBird, built its reputation by helping companies communicate with customers through channels such as email, text messages, WhatsApp and voice calls.
Its headcount has fallen from a peak of more than 1,000 employees to 120 over approximately three years. The company has attributed the reduction to automation and a shift towards a leaner, AI-focused operation.
Vis said the decision to retain employees was not based solely on whether they were technically capable in their existing roles. The company also considered their performance, ability to work across disciplines and willingness to operate in a more autonomous environment.
'If you had very high performance but you were not multidisciplinary, you would not stay,' he said.
The figures illustrate the potential scale of workforce changes when businesses redesign operations around AI. They do not, however, establish that AI alone was responsible for every job reduction at Bird.
AI Is Helping Employees Take On More Work
Bird's approach reflects a broader debate over whether AI will make workers more productive by helping them perform a wider range of tasks or replace jobs by automating work previously carried out by people.
Vis believes AI can give employees greater capabilities without requiring them to become experts in every discipline. Routine tasks in customer support, sales and accounting can be automated, while employees can use AI to handle work outside their traditional responsibilities.
This model places greater emphasis on adaptability, judgement and the ability to manage several aspects of a project rather than performing one narrowly defined task.
Other technology executives have expressed similar views. Figma chief executive Dylan Field has argued that AI is encouraging more generalist behaviour as product development, design, research and engineering increasingly overlap. Cognizant chief executive Ravi Kumar has also highlighted the value of combining subject knowledge with technological skills.
However, the shift towards generalists is not universal. Some employers continue to prioritise deep technical or industry expertise, particularly where specialist knowledge is difficult to replace.
The skills companies value will therefore depend on the work involved, the risks associated with it and how effectively AI can perform particular tasks.
Bird Reports $165 Million in EBITDA
Bird said it generated $165 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2025, a measure commonly used to assess operating performance.
The company also announced $450 million in debt financing in September, led by JPMorgan, Capital One and Citi. The financing comprised a $400 million term loan and a $50 million revolving credit facility, according to Tech.eu.
The funding was intended to provide liquidity to existing shareholders, including current and former employees, rather than being presented as a conventional growth investment.
Bird has increasingly positioned itself around AI-powered communications and automation, seeking to operate its business with a substantially smaller workforce than it had at its peak.
Its experience offers an example of how automation can change a company's cost structure and staffing requirements. But it does not prove that every business can achieve similar results or that the same workforce model would be appropriate across other industries.
Bird CEO Warns Against Using AI Just to Cut Jobs
Despite Bird's dramatic reduction in headcount, Vis cautioned against treating AI primarily as a tool for eliminating jobs.
He argued that businesses should identify repetitive tasks that can be automated and assess whether the technology can remove unnecessary work without placing excessive pressure on the employees who remain.
'I don't think people should be looking to reduce their employee base,' Vis said.
He added that AI could be useful when employees struggled to deliver the required level of output, provided the technology could automate parts of the process.
That distinction matters as employers face pressure to demonstrate returns on AI investment. Automating tasks can improve productivity, but reducing headcount does not automatically mean a company has built a sustainable operating model.
If the remaining employees are expected to cover too many responsibilities, the gains from automation could be offset by heavier workloads, mistakes or difficulties retaining staff.
