Friday, March 6, 2026

How Block’s CFO became convinced the company needed only 60% of its staff

Good morning. Why would a profitable, fast-growing fintech cut nearly half its staff?

That’s 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’t about trouble or “bloat,” but about how far the company has gone in reshaping its workforce around artificial intelligence.

“This is a two-year journey for us,” she says. “This was not an overnight decision.” Ahuja walks through how Block built and deployed its own AI agent—code-named goose—to 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 “reskilling” the remaining workforce for an AI-driven future.

Ahuja also responds to skeptics who say AI is just a convenient label for old-fashioned cost-cutting. You can read more about my conversation with Ahuja here.

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’s largest potential in knowledge-heavy fields such as financial services and software engineering. Many core tasks in those jobs—coding, document synthesis, customer communication, and data analysis—can be automated or dramatically accelerated, creating large productivity gains if companies redesign workflows and retrain workers.

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 “sweet spot,” performance can improve by roughly 40%. But when the tools are misapplied, performance can actually decline—underscoring that AI tends to work best when paired with human judgment.

Adopting AI may be the easy part. Reorganizing work around it is the real challenge.

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Fortune 500 Power Moves:
Dan Janki, EVP and CFO of Delta Air Lines (No. 70), will become chief operating officer. John Laughter will retire as Delta’s 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

Erik Snell will become Delta’s new CFO. Snell, who joined Delta 20 years ago in finance, has led teams across the company’s operating groups and most recently served as chief customer experience officer.

Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.

More notable moves this week:
Amit Sripathi was promoted to CFO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (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.

Aziz Megji was promoted to CFO at Asana, Inc. (NYSE: ASAN), a work management platform, effective March 24. Megji will succeed Sonalee Parekh, who has served as Asana’s 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.

Neha Krishnamohan was appointed CFO and chief business officer at Latigo Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Latigo), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Krishnamohan brings more than 15 years of experience. Until recently, she was the audit committee chair on Latigo’s 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.

Kenneth (Ken) Sharp was appointed SVP and CFO of L3Harris Technologies (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’s Defense Systems business.

Sonalee Parekh was appointed CFO of SentinelOne (NYSE: S), a cybersecurity company, effective March 24. Barry Padgett will continue to serve as interim CFO until Parekh’s 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.

Brad Hill was appointed CFO and EVP of transformation at Red 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.

Big Deal

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.

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.

Across income levels, shoppers are seeking value. Even high-income consumers are paying close attention to prices — 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.