Bolt CEO: AI investment drives one-third staff cut

Fintech company Bolt is laying off approximately one-third of its workforce, according to reports from Fintech Business Weekly. 

The cuts represent the latest in a series of workforce reductions at the payments firm, which provides businesses with one-click checkout solutions alongside its finance and crypto SuperApp.

CEO and co-founder Ryan Breslow described the decision as "unavoidable" in a message posted to the company's Slack channel. 

The move could be driven by the company's strategic shift towards AI, with Ryan indicating that investments in the technology may have influenced the decision to reduce headcount.

"Going forward, Bolt will be operating as a much leaner organisation and leveraging AI at our core," he says. 

"Developing products and operating in 2026 is very different than it was in prior years and we need to adapt as an organisation to be leaner and more AI-centric than ever to keep up with competition."

A history of workforce reductions

This marks the fourth round of layoffs at Bolt since 2022. In May of that year, the company cut around 250 employees due to what it described as restructuring challenges. 

Former Chief Executive Officer Maju Kuruvilla told employees at the time: "It's no secret that the market conditions across our industry and the tech sector are changing, and against the macro challenges, we've been taking measures to adapt our business."

He continued: "To laser focus on our core business and products, we will be prioritising our roadmap and making several structural changes. 

“Unfortunately, this includes reducing the size of our workforce and parting ways with some incredibly talented people on our team as of today."

Those cuts came despite Bolt having raised US$355m in a Series E funding round. 

By January 2023, the company announced a further 10% workforce reduction, bringing its total headcount to less than half of what it had been in May 2022. The cuts were reportedly linked to key company projects that had not delivered expected results.

December 2023 saw additional layoffs, with Bolt confirming it had cut 29% of its workforce. 

The company stated it needed to "reduce layers and roles across the company – setting ourselves up with the speed and agility required for the next phase of our business".

Leadership changes at the top

The latest round of cuts comes roughly a year after Ryan returned to the CEO role at Bolt. 

In early 2022, he had stepped down after seven years as chief executive, moving into a position as Executive Chairman. 

Ryan commented on the move on X: "focus on my superpowers all day every day – like driving culture, landing deals, and thinking big. This change will allow me to be even more involved in the areas I care most about."

Maju, who had previously served as Chief Product and Technology Officer at Bolt, was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer. 

However, Ryan resumed the top job in March 2025, following a 97% valuation drop from the company's peak of US$11bn.

He shared the news at the Fintech Meetup conference, saying that the company had "learned a lot through the last three years of what doesn't work," and that he was "all in on Bolt for the long run".