Block's Mini-AGI Revolution: Middle Management Who? Just 4,000 Fewer Reasons to Ask Permission

Jack Dorsey's Block is going all-in on AI, with the CEO and lead independent director Roelof Botha laying out a vision to rebuild the fintech as a mini-AGI. In a fresh essay dropped Tuesday, the duo argued AI should do more than boost worker productivity—it should replace traditional coordination layers inside big organizations entirely. The timing? Just weeks after Block announced it would slash more than 4,000 jobs, nearly half its workforce, as part of a broad AI overhaul. Dorsey previously said intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company, and that a much leaner team could actually do more, better. The essay posits that the traditional corporate ladder exists mainly to route information through large organizations, but AI can now handle much of that coordination itself. They're describing a future Block organized around capabilities, world models, an intelligence layer, and customer-facing interfaces—with fewer permanent management layers and more decision-making pushed to individuals closest to the work. Block's February restructuring was already one of the most explicit examples of a public company tying major job cuts directly to AI adoption. Investors loved it initially, sending the stock sharply higher after Block said it would embed AI across operations and take one deep round of cuts rather than smaller waves over time.