Adtech unicorn InMobi to fire 125 employees as it is adopting an AI-first approach

Indian adtech unicorn InMobi has announced a fresh round of layoffs, impacting around 5% of its global staff or approximately 125 employees out of a total of around 2,500. 

The company is shifting towards an AI-first approach, leading to these changes. An InMobi spokesperson stated, “As artificial intelligence (AI) has been sweeping the world, the market needs and the expectations that our customers — brands, agencies, and developers — have of us, are changing rapidly."

"The products for addressing the market needs and customer expectations, the skill sets for delivering those products and the go-to-market strategies are going to be significantly different from those of the past decade," the spokesperson added.

The reason behind the move

The adoption of AI is not just a trend but a necessity for InMobi. The spokesperson elaborated that the evolving market needs and customer expectations demand a different set of products, skill sets, and go-to-market strategies.

According to the company, the shift is a proactive step to stay competitive and succeed globally in the current decade and beyond. The move is seen as a strategic overhaul in various business areas, including technology, organizational structure, personnel, and skills.

Industry-wide trend

InMobi's decision mirrors actions taken by other major Indian companies, including Paytm's parent company, One97 Communications, which also reduced its workforce, citing AI-led transformations aimed at saving employee costs. 

InMobi's layoffs

This is not the first layoff for InMobi; the company had previously let go of nearly 70 employees in January 2023. InMobi, backed by notable investors like Google, Jio Platforms, and Mithril Capital, operates two companies: InMobi Ads and Glance. The latter, a consumer technology business, became a unicorn in December 2020.

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