New York : Mark Zuckerberg had envisioned transforming Meta into an AI-first company, with AI agents taking over a significant share of tasks traditionally handled by employees. The ambitious plan involved creating smaller teams where humans and AI would work alongside each other. However, Meta was forced to put the plan on hold after it became clear that the AI technology was not yet capable of handling the work effectively.
Meta explored cutting the size of several teams by as much as 60 per cent as part of an internal plan called Project OT, short for Organisational Transformation. The plan, which was developed earlier this year, was meant to make Meta an “AI-native” company, but employee backlash, falling morale and disappointing results from its AI agents eventually forced the company to pull back.
Smaller teams, more automation and AI doing the boring stuff while humans focus on the important work. But things started getting messy. Internal plans reportedly considered reducing some teams by up to 60 per cent in two waves. Meta went ahead with a round of layoffs in May, but the company later abandoned a second wave that had been planned for November. Employees had pushed back hard, while internal data suggested that the AI agents at the centre of the strategy were not delivering the productivity gains Meta had expected.
Meta has now apparently shifted the messaging. Zuckerberg has moved away from the idea of AI simply replacing people and is instead talking about AI as a tool that can empower smaller, more productive teams. He has also acknowledged that AI agents have not progressed as quickly as he expected, although he believes they could become more useful over the next three to six months.
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