Visa cuts 2,600 jobs globally as AI strategy reshapes technology and product teams

Global payments giant Visa is cutting around 2,600 jobs worldwide, equivalent to approximately 7% of its workforce, as the company accelerates its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and reorganises teams around future growth priorities.

The workforce reduction is affecting employees across multiple markets, and extends from engineering and technology roles to senior management positions. Visa announced the global headcount reduction on July 28, with the latest cuts coming as the company expands its use of AI and moves towards what CEO Ryan McInerney described as the era of “agentic AI”.

“Today, we announced that we are eliminating roles, with the majority being in our technology and product teams, to ensure that we are continuing to position Visa for future growth,” McInerney reportedly told employees.

He added that Visa was moving beyond AI assistance towards systems capable of executing work and tasks under human supervision.

“Now, as we enter the era of agentic AI, we are going beyond AI assistance and harnessing the power of AI to execute work and tasks with our supervision,” McInerney said.

He also said agentic commerce could expand Visa’s addressable market and contribute to the company’s future growth.

Visa layoffs reach senior executives and engineers

The restructuring is not limited to junior and mid-level positions. A workforce reduction notice filed in California shows that Visa is eliminating 320 positions at its Foster City headquarters.

The filing indicates that the affected roles include six vice presidents, 37 senior directors and 16 chief engineering and architect positions. Senior software engineers, researchers and other experienced technical employees are also among those affected.

The cuts therefore extend across leadership, engineering and research functions as Visa restructures its workforce around its technology priorities.

The affected positions include some of the company’s highest-paid roles. Reports citing LinkedIn job listings indicated that vice president positions at Visa’s Foster City office had salary ranges of between $235,700 and $458,000 before bonuses or sales incentives.

Visa has not publicly disclosed the full breakdown of employees affected by the global restructuring by country or function.

AI reshapes jobs across fintech

Visa’s workforce reduction comes amid a broader push by financial and technology companies to integrate AI into operations, product development and customer services.

The company has been investing heavily in AI and has identified agentic commerce as a potential growth area, where AI systems can perform tasks on behalf of consumers under defined controls.

The latest layoffs highlight how AI-driven transformation can affect not only routine jobs but also experienced technical and management positions as organisations redesign structures and redirect investment towards emerging capabilities.

Visa’s move also reflects a wider shift in the fintech industry, where companies are balancing continued investment in AI with efforts to improve operational efficiency and position themselves for changing business models.