Record revenue, 1,100 jobs gone: Cloudflare's CEO says AI ended the 'measurers'

Cloudflare announced more than 1,100 job cuts on 7 May 2026, about 20% of its workforce, on the same day it reported record quarterly revenue of $639.8 million, up 34% year on year. CEO Matthew Prince was unusually specific about who was let go: 'the vast majority of those we laid off last week were measurers' - a category he defined as middle management, finance, legal, internal auditing and revenue recognition. The company said agentic AI had 'fundamentally changed' how it operates, with internal AI usage up 600% in three months. Severance covered full base pay through the end of 2026, with US healthcare continuing to year-end. Most AI layoffs so far have hit entry-level and support roles; this one names the oversight functions instead - the people who count, check and report on work rather than perform it. If your job is largely measuring someone else's output, Prince has said plainly what he thinks comes next.