Visa guts executives who were paid nearly $500K in latest round of AI layoffs

In the latest round of artificial intelligence-fueled layoffs, not even Visa employees at the top of the food chain were safe from losing their job.

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A WARN filed on July 31 detailed 320 job cuts at the credit card company’s Foster City campus, which included six vice presidents. Thirty-seven senior directors, 16 chief engineering or architect roles and dozens of senior software engineering, research and technical roles were also among those affected.

The jobs include employees with remarkably high salaries. LinkedIn job postings from three months ago for vice president roles at the Foster City office paid between $235,700 and $458,000, with potentially additional sales incentives payments.

The WARN filing came days before the payment processing giant announced a massive acquisition of BioCatch, an Israeli AI fraud detection company, in a $2.4 billion cash deal. A joint news release on Monday said the company uses biometric data, like key strokes and touch gestures, to detect fraud in “real time.”

“AI, biometrics, authentication, identity, cyber defense, and fraud prevention are increasingly interconnected, and Visa is investing to stay ahead of evolving threats, both to protect its own network and to help clients do the same,” a Visa news release reads. 

The Bay Area cuts are part of a 7% overall workforce reduction, or around 2,600 jobs, thanks in part to CEO Ryan McInerney’s push to incorporate more AI into the company’s workflow, according to Bloomberg. A Visa spokesperson confirmed Bloomberg’s reporting in an email to SFGATE but declined to comment further on layoff specifics. The company did not respond to additional requests for comment about the Foster City cuts.

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The high-level cuts at Visa appear to support Block CEO Jack Dorsey’s February warning when he said tech workers should expect their employers to make room for AI after his Oakland company cut around 4,000 jobs, or nearly half his staff at his fintech startup. Other major fintech companies like Mastercard and PayPal saw massive layoffs earlier this year for largely the same reasons as Visa.

“To capture the opportunities ahead and best position Visa to lead this transformation, we must continue evolving how we work,” McInerney wrote in his memo, according to Bloomberg. “AI is also helping to accelerate this evolution and shape the way work gets done at Visa.”

Work at Visa and want to talk? Contact tech reporter Matthew Brown securely at [email protected] or matthewbrownsfgate.11 on Signal.