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Cloudflare says AI made 1,100 jobs obsolete, even as revenue hit a record high
Cloudflare on Thursday joined a growing list of tech companies — including Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon — that have reported increased revenue alongside massive layoffs, attributing both trends to their use of AI.
Cloudflare, which provides internet security and performance services to millions of websites worldwide, announced it was cutting its workforce by approximately 20%, which equates to 1,100 people, it said as part of its first quarter 2026 earnings report on Thursday.
“We’ve never done something like this in Cloudflare’s history,” co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince said Thursday on the quarterly conference call, marking the first mass layoff in the company’s 16-year history. The company is cutting people from all teams and geographies except for salespeople who carry revenue quotas, CFO Thomas Seifert detailed on the call.
The news of the workforce cuts came as the company reported quarterly revenues of $639.8 million, a 34% year-over-year increase and the highest single quarter in the company’s history. However, this was coupled with a loss of $62.0 million compared with losing $53.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
That widening loss, even as revenue surged, highlights a familiar paradox in Cloudflare’s story: the company is growing fast but has yet to turn a consistent profit. But the loss was a smaller percentage of revenue, and the quarter was coupled with a lot of other positive indicators. For instance, Cloudflare reported that it had over $2.5 billion in “remaining performance obligations,” a year-over-year growth of 34%. RPO is the favorite metric these days to indicate revenue under contract but not yet delivered.
Hence, Prince insisted, the 20% cuts were not to reduce expenses but were strictly because of its use of AI.
“Today’s actions are not a cost-cutting exercise or an assessment of individuals’ performance; they are about Cloudflare defining how a world-class, high-growth company operates and creates value in the agentic AI era,” Prince and Cloudflare co-founder and president, Michelle Zatlyn, wrote in a related blog post about the layoffs.
Prince acknowledged on the call that even though Cloudflare has been selling AI-powered products, it was at first cautious about adopting AI itself.
“Internally, the tipping point was last November. At that point, across our teams, we began to see massive productivity gains, team members who were two, 10, even 100 times more productive than they had been before. It was like going from a manual to an electric screwdriver,” he described.
“Cloudflare’s usage of AI has increased by more than 600% in the last three months alone,” he added.
Prince highlighted the internal use of AI coding, saying that virtually the entire R&D team is now using the company’s own Workers platform — a tool that lets developers build and run software directly on Cloudflare’s global network — including its vibe coding feature. He also noted that 100% of the code produced this way and deployed for use in Cloudflare’s products is “now reviewed by autonomous AI agents.”
But it’s not just developers who are using AI internally, he said. “Employees across the company, from engineering to HR to finance to marketing, run thousands of AI agent sessions each day to get their work done.”
As a result, these highly productive, AI-powered employees require fewer support staff, he argued.
“A lot of the support people that provide support behind them, those roles aren’t going to be the roles that, you know, drive companies going forward,” Prince said.
Interestingly, Prince says that Cloudflare “will continue to hire people, and we’ll continue to invest in them because the people that are embracing these tools are just so much more productive than we’ve ever seen before. I would guess that in 2027 we’ll have more employees than we did at any point in 2026.”
Cloudflare said it ended its first quarter before layoffs with a headcount of about 5,500.
The pattern Prince described — deploying AI gains as justification for workforce reductions even during a period of strong revenue growth — is fast becoming a familiar script across the tech industry. Whether it reflects true structural transformation or acts as a convenient cover for cost discipline is a question that investors and employees will be wrestling with for some time to come.
When asked by an analyst on the call why the company needed to cut so deeply after such a good quarter, Prince said, “Just because you’re fit doesn’t mean you can’t get fitter.”
A new report by eHealth Africa has revealed that more than 23 million children were reached and vaccinated against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases across more than 205,000 settlements in Nigeria between January and June 2026.
The report, titled “Expanding Reach, Readiness and Resilience: Data-Driven Health Systems Across Africa,” indicates that the vaccination figure was part of a broader set of interventions implemented during the first half of 2026.
Digital tools support vaccination campaigns
In partnership with its immunisation partners, eHealth Africa said it expanded the deployment of its in-house PlanFeld digital tool across 253 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 10 northern states.
Through the tool, 33,837 vaccination teams were provided with digitised microplans and catchment-area maps, the report stated.
The technology was also deployed across four LGAs in Lagos State during the Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign, with 1,980 digitised maps produced and distributed to vaccination teams.
The report further highlighted efforts to strengthen the last-mile vaccine supply chain in Sokoto State.
Through the Vaccine Direct Delivery (VDD) intervention, the number of health facilities served increased from 351 to 407 during the period.
Approximately 3.41 million vaccine antigens were delivered to the facilities to support immunisation services in underserved communities, according to the report.
Solar power for primary healthcare centres
Beyond immunisation, the report documented eHealth Africa’s investment in renewable energy for primary healthcare.
Under the Renewable Energy for Primary Health Care (RE4PHC) intervention, supported by UNICEF, the organisation solarised 238 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) across 12 states.
Of the 238 facilities, 226 were remotely monitored and generated 277,800 kilowatt-hours of solar electricity between January and June, the report stated.
eHealth Africa estimated that the electricity generated saved about N166 million in fuel costs and prevented 240 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions during the period.
Since the intervention began, estimated fuel savings have exceeded N414 million, according to the report.
Strengthening laboratories and emergency response
The report also highlighted efforts to strengthen diagnostic and disease-surveillance capacity across Africa.
eHealth Africa said it supported 17 laboratories in 13 countries and expanded its Inventory Management System to 18 laboratories.
Upgrades to five laboratories in Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria and Cameroon were also completed and handed over during the period.
The organisation said the upgrades would strengthen infrastructure for diagnosis, surveillance and outbreak response.
Public health
On public health emergency preparedness, eHealth Africa said its 11 Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) in Nigeria continued to serve as coordination platforms for government agencies, surveillance teams, immunisation officials and development partners.
During the first half of 2026, the centres hosted 546 emergency coordination meetings and supported 102 meetings linked to vaccination campaigns, the report stated.
They also produced 74 public health scorecards to support planning and performance monitoring.
Monitoring medicines at the community level
The report also documented an expansion of community-level surveillance of antibiotic availability and suspected substandard and falsified medicines through the Com-WATCH initiative.
The programme covered Kano, Gombe, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and the Federal Capital Territory, with 2,512 surveillance actors enrolled.
A further 2,763 medicine vendors and other actors received training, while more than 20,500 community members were reached with sensitisation messages.
By June, 977 medicine outlets were reporting stock information through the platform, eHealth Africa reported.
Humanitarian support
In humanitarian operations, the organisation stated that it managed the World Food Programme Common Storage facility in Ngala, Borno State, which supported 16 humanitarian partners during the period.
According to the report, the warehouse handled 691 metric tons and 2,527 cubic metres of commodities, while six monthly physical inventories were completed.
READ ALSO: Yobe records 511 diphtheria cases, 13 deaths in 2026
The organisation said no stock losses were reported during the period.
‘Significance goes beyond numbers’
Commenting on the findings, eHealth Africa’s Executive Director, Atef Fawaz, said the results reflected what could be achieved when governments, communities, technology, infrastructure and local expertise worked together to strengthen healthcare delivery.
He said the organisation’s focus was not simply on deploying solutions but on building systems that institutions could own, sustain and continue to improve.
“The significance of these results goes beyond the numbers,” Mr Fawaz said.
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Nigeria’s Falconets fought out a goalless draw with China PR in their second Group F match at the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland on Thursday, keeping their hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive.
The encounter at Arena Sosnowiec saw both teams create opportunities, but neither side could find the breakthrough as the Falconets secured their first point of the tournament following their opening-day defeat to Spain. Nigeria had lost 2–0 to the former champions in their first match.
Coach Moses Aduku’s side started brightly, with Janet Akekoromowei producing Nigeria’s first clear opportunity in the 17th minute.
The Falconets gradually grew into the contest, with Kafayat Mafisere winning a corner in the 33rd minute before Akekoromowei went close again in the 38th minute and during first-half stoppage time.
China also threatened before the interval, with Huang Jiaxin, Zhou Xinyi and Song Lijuan testing the Nigerian defence, while Xue Sifan delivered dangerous set pieces.
Goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma stood firm whenever called upon, helping the Falconets maintain a clean sheet as both teams went into the break level.
China made an attacking change at the start of the second half, introducing Chen Ruilin for Xiao Yafei, and the substitution gave the Asian side additional impetus.
Chen, Xue and Huang all attempted to break the deadlock, but Nigeria continued to create opportunities of their own.
Precious Oscar, Mafisere and Queen Joseph all went close as the Falconets responded with greater urgency, but the finishing touch remained elusive.
Nigeria thought they had been handed a major opportunity to take the lead in the 74th minute after being awarded a penalty. However, the decision was overturned following a VAR review, leaving the game scoreless.
Both sides continued to push for a winner in the closing stages, but neither could find the decisive goal.
The draw leaves Nigeria with one point from two matches in Group F, while China remain in contention at the top end of the group after their opening 5–0 victory over New Caledonia.
The Falconets will now face New Caledonia on Sunday, September 13, in their final group fixture. The match is scheduled for Łódź, with Nigeria needing a positive result to strengthen their chances of advancing to the knockout rounds.
The result represents an improvement from the opening defeat to Spain, but Aduku and his players know they must finish the group stage strongly.
After being held by China, the Falconets now have their fate partly in their own hands as they prepare for their decisive final group match.
One point gained, one game left — the Falconets must now finish the job against New Caledonia.
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