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Cybersecurity and internet company Cloudflare is laying off more than 1,100 employees worldwide, becoming one of the latest tech firms to openly connect job cuts with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence inside offices. The company said around 20 percent of its workforce will be affected. But unlike traditional layoffs linked to poor business performance, Cloudflare says this decision is tied to a bigger change in how work itself is being done.

In a message sent to employees, CEO Matthew Prince and co-founder Michelle Zatlyn said the company’s use of AI tools has exploded in recent months. According to the company, employees across teams like engineering, finance, HR, customer support, and marketing are now using AI agents every day to complete tasks that once needed larger teams and longer hours.

The company said its AI usage has increased by more than 600 percent in just three months. Cloudflare explained that it is redesigning its internal systems for what it called the “AI agent era.” In simple words, the company believes many office tasks can now be handled faster by AI software, reducing the need for old-style workflows and large teams built around repetitive work.

The layoffs came alongside the company’s quarterly earnings report. Cloudflare posted strong numbers, with revenue jumping 34 percent from a year earlier to nearly US$640 million. Profit also came in higher than analysts expected. Still, investors were not fully impressed because the company’s forecast for the next quarter fell slightly below Wall Street expectations. Its shares reportedly dropped sharply in after-hours trading after the announcement.

Cloudflare is far from the only tech company reshaping its workforce around AI. This year alone, several major technology firms have either slowed hiring, reduced teams, or quietly restructured departments as AI tools become more powerful. Amazon has cut jobs across devices, Twitch, and cloud divisions while increasing investments in generative AI. Oracle has also reduced some teams as it shifts focus toward AI cloud services. Meta, PayPal, Block, and Coinbase have all announced layoffs or restructuring over the past year while heavily promoting AI projects.

For many workers, this is creating a new fear inside the tech industry. Earlier, automation mainly affected factory jobs. Now, AI is starting to change white-collar office work too - the kind of jobs people once believed were safe. Cloudflare said employees leaving the company will continue receiving base salary through the end of 2026 and will also get support related to stock benefits for a limited period. But the bigger message coming from Silicon Valley is becoming clearer: companies are no longer treating AI as just another product to sell. They are rebuilding workplaces around it.