Block's Jennings Says Spending Seems Resilient Right Now

Owen Jennings, Business Lead at Block, discusses the company's 40% staff cut driven by the AI paradigm shift and adoption of coding tools. He highlights that consumer spending remains resilient based on Block's real-time data, and outlines the firm's focus on proactive intelligence and natural language interfaces for future payment innovations. - Block reduced staff by ~40% in February 2025 due to AI-driven productivity gains in software development. - 100% of Block employees now use AI tools in daily workflows, with non-engineers contributing code. - Middle management layers at tech companies are expected to compress as AI enables flatter organizations. - Block's real-time data shows US consumer spending is resilient despite low sentiment and higher gas prices. - The company is investing in applied AI engineering, sales, and account management teams. - Future payment innovations will focus on proactive intelligence and natural language/voice interfaces.