The efficiency storm brought by artificial intelligence is deeply reshaping the software industry. Australian freight software giant WiseTech Global has recently announced an aggressive business restructuring plan: the company will cut about 2000 employees, nearly 30% of its total staff, in order to fully transition to an AI-driven enterprise.

CEO Zubin Appoo made a shocking statement during a conference call, stating bluntly, "The era of engineering centered on manually written code has ended." WiseTech believes that AI is unlocking unprecedented efficiency gains, meaning the company can achieve higher productivity with fewer people and shorter time frames.

AIbase learned that this restructuring will completely streamline the company's cost structure. The software development and customer service departments will be most affected, with some positions seeing layoff rates as high as 50%. Although the scale of layoffs is massive, the capital market reacted positively, with WiseTech's stock rising 11% immediately after the announcement. Investors believe this move will help the company recover from the previous period of low stock prices caused by concerns over AI replacing the value of software.

Currently, WiseTech is at one of the most critical turning points in its over 30-year history. Appoo emphasized that the company is not shrinking after the layoffs but rather embedding its products deeper into the core processes of global trade and logistics through the combination of AI agents and human expertise. This large-scale transformation is not just an isolated case for WiseTech, but also reflects the accelerating trend of global software development models shifting from "labor-intensive" to "AI collaboration."

Summary:

  • 📉 Massive Staff Restructuring: WiseTech plans to cut around 2000 positions, accounting for 30%, making it the largest layoff in Australia triggered by AI transformation.

  • 💻 Complete Shift in Programming Paradigm: The CEO declared the era of manual coding is over, and future core development will be handled by AI agents under human supervision, aiming for maximum production efficiency.

  • 📈 Rapid Recovery of Market Confidence: After the restructuring plan was announced, the stock price rebounded against the trend, indicating that the capital market recognizes the long-term value of AI transformation in cost reduction and business model reshaping.