Short answer: HubSpot says no. The company is cutting about 660 jobs, roughly 7% of its workforce, and its CEO wrote that the cuts are “not driven by AI-related efficiencies.” But the restructuring exists to reorganize HubSpot around selling AI-powered results, so AI is the reason for the new strategy even if software is not directly doing the departing workers’ jobs.
Key takeaways
- HubSpot told the SEC its board approved a plan on October 1 that affects about 7% of its workforce, with $65 million to $75 million in expected charges, mostly severance.
- The CEO said the cuts are not about AI doing people’s work. They are about a flatter company built around a new AI-driven strategy.
- Companies describe AI’s role very differently. FICO named AI in its filing. Amazon did not. HubSpot named it and then said it was not the driver.
- The clearest research so far shows AI hitting jobs mostly through slower hiring of young workers, not mass layoffs.
What happened at HubSpot?
What happened: HubSpot, the Cambridge, Massachusetts maker of marketing and sales software, filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 6. It said its board authorized a restructuring plan on October 1 “impacting approximately 7% of the Company’s workforce.” News reports put that at nearly 660 roles. HubSpot expects about $65 million to $75 million in charges, mostly cash for severance, with most of it booked in the fourth quarter of 2026. It expects the job eliminations to be substantially complete by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
The filing says the company wants to “create a flatter, faster organization” aligned with a “deeper focus on delivering customer outcomes.” In a memo to staff, CEO Yamini Rangan wrote: “We need to move faster, stay closer to our customers and focus our resources on our highest priorities.” Product teams will be organized around goals such as winning deals and keeping customers, instead of around individual products. Management layers will be cut.
Why it matters: HubSpot is a well-known software company, and software firms are where AI is changing work fastest. How it explains this cut is a useful test case for how to read every layoff headline that mentions AI.
Are HubSpot’s layoffs caused by AI?
It depends on what you mean by “caused.” There are two different ways AI can be behind a layoff:
- AI efficiency cuts: software now does tasks that people used to do, so fewer people are needed. Salesforce’s earlier reduction of about 4,000 customer support roles, as AI agents took on more of that work, is the common example.
- AI strategy cuts: a company changes what it sells or how it is organized because of AI, and some roles no longer fit the new plan, even if no chatbot replaced them.
HubSpot says it is the second kind. Rangan wrote that “this is not driven by AI-related efficiencies” and that the move is “not simply a cost-cutting exercise.” She said leaders scored every role against six criteria, including strategic need and management layers, and that “the reduction was the outcome of that work, not the starting point.” She also described the company’s shift as moving from “building software that helps customers grow to delivering outcomes for them with AI.”
The other side: For the people losing their jobs, the label may not matter much. As CX Today noted, AI may not have directly replaced 660 people, but it has changed which skills and priorities HubSpot wants. It is also fair to note that HubSpot is not under financial pressure: it reaffirmed its 2026 revenue guidance in the same filing, and CX Today reported second quarter revenue of $911.7 million, up 20% from a year earlier. This is a growing company reshaping itself, not a struggling one cutting to survive.
How are other companies describing AI in their layoffs?
The wording varies a lot, even among recent cuts. Here is how four companies described AI’s role, based on their own filings and statements.
| Company | Announced | Size | What the company said about AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Oct. 6, 2026 | About 7% (nearly 660 roles) | Named AI as the new strategy, but said the cuts are “not driven by AI-related efficiencies.” |
| FICO | Oct. 6, 2026 | About 15% of positions | Listed “integrating AI-driven product development” among the reasons, alongside fewer management layers. |
| Amazon | Oct. 8, 2026 | Fewer than 1,000, per a person familiar with the matter | Did not cite AI. Founder Jeff Bezos pointed to pandemic overhiring. |
| Monday.com | July 2026 | About 20% (just over 600) | A co-founder said the move “was not made to reduce costs or replace people with AI.” |
Notice the pattern: “flatter,” “fewer layers” and “faster” show up again and again. Many of these restructurings are as much about removing middle management as about technology. AI often sits next to that goal in the explanation, not in place of it.
How common are AI-related job cuts in 2026?
According to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as reported by Outsource Accelerator, U.S. employers cited AI for 120,136 announced job cuts from January through September 2026, about 21% of the total. But total announced cuts, 573,195 so far this year, were down 39% from the same period of 2025. In September alone, AI was cited for 3,961 of 43,281 cuts.
Counts like this depend on the reasons employers announce, which makes company wording important. When a firm like HubSpot says AI is not the driver, its cuts may not show up in the AI column at all, even though AI is shaping the strategy.
Where is AI actually affecting jobs?
Layoff announcements are a noisy signal. Payroll data is a better one. An August 2026 update of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab paper “Canaries in the Coal Mine?” by Erik Brynjolfsson, Bharat Chandar and Ruyu Chen used ADP payroll records covering millions of U.S. workers through June 2026. Its main findings:
- There is no economy-wide displacement of workers by AI.
- Employment for workers aged 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed jobs is 19% below where it would be if it had kept pace with less-exposed peers. That gap was 15% a year earlier.
- The decline comes mainly from less hiring of young workers, not from more layoffs.
- Declines are concentrated where AI automates tasks. Where AI helps workers rather than replacing tasks, employment is flat or rising, especially for experienced workers.
The authors describe these as descriptive patterns, not proof of cause. Still, they suggest the quieter risk is not a headline layoff. It is the entry-level job that never gets posted.
The TrustNoRobot Risk Check
| Question | What we see |
|---|---|
| Exposure | Corporate roles at software and tech companies, especially middle management and entry-level jobs where AI automates tasks. |
| Evidence | Moderate. Filings confirm the cuts, but companies rarely say how many roles AI directly replaced. Payroll research points to slower hiring for young workers. |
| Speed | Steady. Total announced cuts are down this year, while AI’s share of stated reasons has grown. |
| Cushion | Varies by employer. HubSpot offers 20 weeks of base pay plus one week per year of service, up to 30 weeks, plus health coverage support and six months of outplacement help, per its memo. |
The other side
Companies have reasons to frame layoffs carefully. Saying “AI replaced these people” can hurt morale and draw public criticism. Saying “AI made us more efficient” can impress investors. Either way, the stated reason is a choice of words. That cuts both ways: some firms may overstate AI’s role, and others may understate it. The honest answer for HubSpot is that AI is shaping the company’s direction, and the company says it did not replace these specific jobs. Both can be true.
It is also worth remembering that HubSpot is still growing and still investing in AI tools for its own staff. Restructuring at a growing company often means hiring for new skills while cutting others.
What this means for you
When you see a layoff headline, ask three questions. Did the company itself name AI, or did the headline add it? Is AI described as doing the work, or as the new strategy? And is the company shrinking, or growing while it reshuffles? The answers tell you much more about your own risk than the word “AI” in a headline.
Then look at your own tasks. Check your occupation in our Job Exposure Explorer, and use our five-step guide to measuring AI risk to your job. For last week’s FICO and Amazon news in more detail, see This Week in AI Risk (Oct. 5 to 11, 2026).
Frequently asked questions
How many jobs is HubSpot cutting?
About 7% of its workforce, or nearly 660 roles, under a plan its board approved on October 1, 2026. HubSpot expects $65 million to $75 million in related charges.
Did AI replace HubSpot employees?
HubSpot says no. CEO Yamini Rangan wrote that the cuts are “not driven by AI-related efficiencies.” The restructuring supports a new strategy of delivering customer results with AI and a flatter organization.
How can I tell if a layoff is really about AI?
Read the company’s own filing or statement. Check whether it says AI is doing the work, or only that AI is part of its strategy, and whether the company is shrinking or growing. Headlines often add AI when the company did not.
Which workers are most affected by AI so far?
Stanford research using ADP payroll data found employment for workers aged 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed jobs is 19% below its expected path, mainly through less hiring. It found no economy-wide displacement.
Sources
- HubSpot, Inc., Form 8-K, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed Oct. 6, 2026)
- HubSpot, Exhibit 99.1, CEO update to employees (Oct. 6, 2026)
- CMSWire, “HubSpot cuts 660 jobs, reorganizes product teams around customer outcomes” (Oct. 2026)
- CX Today, “HubSpot Cuts 660 Jobs as AI Strategy Reshapes Business” (Oct. 7, 2026)
- Fair Isaac Corporation, Form 8-K, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed Oct. 6, 2026)
- Reuters via GV Wire, “Amazon makes fresh job cuts, mainly in retail division” (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Yahoo Finance, “Monday.com is the latest tech company to blame AI for layoffs” (July 25, 2026)
- Outsource Accelerator, on the Challenger, Gray & Christmas September 2026 Job Cuts Report (Oct. 6, 2026)
- Brynjolfsson, Chandar and Chen, “Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence,” Stanford Digital Economy Lab (Aug. 2026)
Leave a Reply