WiseTech Global is cutting 2,000 roles, and its own ASX release says the era of manually writing code is over

WiseTech Global, the Australian logistics-software company behind CargoWise, told the ASX on 24 February 2026 that it will cut product and development and customer-service headcount by up to 50 percent, including at its US unit e2open, a reduction it puts at "approximately 2,000 roles in FY26 and into FY27" out of a global workforce of about 7,000. The employer does the attributing itself. The release lists the programme under "the shift to becoming an AI-led organization", and chief executive Zubin Appoo is unusually direct: "Software development has experienced its most significant shift in decades. I am prepared to say this clearly: the era of manually writing code as the core act of engineering is over." He expects the AI transformation to deliver "a leaner, more efficient AI-led organization supporting a structurally lower cost base and improved scalability". The cuts start in the second half of FY26 and run into FY27, with other functions in scope from FY27, and the company says execution costs will likely offset savings this year. The same release reported first-half revenue growth, a 1 percent dividend rise and reaffirmed guidance, so this is a profitable company shrinking its engineering and support teams by half because, in its own words, AI now does the work they used to do. Investors marked the shares up 11 percent on the day.