From The Next Web · Alina Maria Stan · · 1m 20s
Amex cuts 5% of staff as it prepares for AI
American Express is laying off about 3,850 employees and taking a $336M charge to restructure for artificial intelligence, while pledging to keep AI agents under control.
In brief
American Express is laying off about 3,850 employees and taking a $336M charge to restructure for artificial intelligence, while pledging to keep AI agents under control. American Express cut 5% of its workforce and took a $336M restructuring charge to prepare for AI and become more agile, while committing to control…
Amex cuts 5% of global workforce
American Express is cutting about 5% of its global workforce and taking a $336M restructuring charge. Chief executive Stephen Squeri told analysts about the cuts on Friday.
Restructuring to prepare for AI
Chief financial officer Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC the restructuring was to prepare for AI and make Amex leaner and more agile. The company had almost 77,000 employees at the end of 2025.
“You don't want to automate processes that are not optimally structured. So what we're doing here is to reduce layers and increase spans of controls.”
AI agents must use approved channels
Squeri said Amex will not let AI assistants run rogue through its systems. The company will only allow agents to access systems through approved API or MCP channels to protect customers and merchants.
“We need to protect our customers [and] merchants, and we're only going to allow agents to access our systems that are either approved through API or MCP channels.”
Revenue rises but shares fall
Revenue rose 9% to a record $20.1bn, slightly below analyst expectations of $20.12bn. Net income rose 28% to $3.7bn. Amex shares fell roughly 4% in Friday afternoon trading.
The takeaway
American Express cut 5% of its workforce and took a $336M restructuring charge to prepare for AI and become more agile, while committing to control how AI agents access its systems.
