GitLab cuts 350 jobs, exits 22 countries in AI-driven restructure

GitLab is cutting about 350 jobs, or roughly 14% of its workforce, while shutting down small-team operations in 22 countries and reshaping itself around AI-heavy enterprise demand. The restructure marks a sharp tradeoff: fewer people and flatter management, paired with more spending on the infrastructure needed to serve customers using compute-intensive software tools.

Chief executive Bill Staples said the company was moving into what he called the “agentic era,” with plans to reduce the number of countries where it has small teams by up to 30% and remove as many as three layers of management in some functions. GitLab also said it was reorganizing research and development into roughly 60 smaller teams with end-to-end ownership, nearly doubling the number of independent teams, while automating internal reviews, approvals and handoffs with AI agents. The company said customers in affected markets would still be served through its partner network.

The restructuring, laid out in a May 11 letter titled GitLab Act 2, comes as GitLab tries to reposition itself as a trusted enterprise platform for software creation in the AI era. Staples said the final scope and financial impact would be shared on the June 2 earnings call after board approval and any required local processes. GitLab said the savings would largely be reinvested into its highest-return growth and technology initiatives, even as it continues its share repurchase program.

Those cuts landed alongside a solid quarter. GitLab said first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue rose 23% year over year to $264.2 million, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 14%. Operating cash flow reached $149.2 million and adjusted free cash flow was $146.7 million. Customers with more than $5,000 in annual recurring revenue climbed to 10,831, up 7% from a year earlier.

The numbers show the company is not pulling back from investment so much as redirecting it. GitLab said its largest customers are asking for more security, governance and orchestration at machine scale, a demand pattern that helps explain why management is trimming headcount while pushing deeper into AI infrastructure. In fiscal 2026, the company said it crossed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue and generated $220 million in free cash flow, helped by GitLab Duo Agent Platform and hybrid pricing.