{"id":202923,"date":"2026-03-23T20:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T20:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/202923\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T20:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T20:46:07","slug":"tampa-startups-say-ai-is-changing-how-they-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/202923\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa startups say AI is changing how they hire"},"content":{"rendered":"

A report that Meta<\/a> is weighing cuts of more than 20% of its workforce has landed at a moment when many startups are already building with fewer people.<\/p>\n

The company, which employed nearly 79,000 workers at the end of 2025, is pouring tens of billions into artificial intelligence<\/a> infrastructure this year. It called the layoff report \u201cspeculative,\u201d but the dynamic is already shaping how younger companies operate: investing in systems that reduce the need to hire.<\/p>\n

At Eskuad, a Tampa-based software company, work that once required multiple employees is now handled by a smaller team supported by AI agents. Customer support inquiries are handled by bots trained on company data. Planning cycles that once stretched across teams now take hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t been hiring so far because of that,\u201d said Max Echeverr\u00eda<\/a>, the company\u2019s founder and chief executive. \u201cYou\u2019re not replacing one-to-one. You\u2019re replacing one-to-many.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said AI now handles about 50% to 60% of the workload traditionally assigned to customer success teams. Sales outreach that once depended on dedicated representatives now runs through automated systems that tailor messages. Development planning that once required meetings and estimates is now generated by AI.<\/p>\n

READ: TAMPA BAY BUSINESS NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to plan six months of work,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we can generate that roadmap in a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eskuad reduced monthly operating expenses from about $46,000 to $16,000 after shifting more work to AI. Output increased at the same time, he said, reaching roughly six times prior levels.<\/p>\n

The changes are concentrated in repetitive roles, including sales development, customer support and early-stage coding. More complex work remains tied to human review. Code is checked by AI systems and then reviewed before release. Customer interactions that carry risk still pass through a person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always keep a human in the loop for the most relevant decisions,\u201d Echeverr\u00eda said.<\/p>\n

Training those systems now resembles onboarding employees. At Eskuad, building an agent to a usable level took about two months of feedback and iteration.<\/p>\n

At Clarky.AI, the shift shows up in how companies handle incoming customers.<\/p>\n

Tyler Clark, the company\u2019s founder and chief executive, developed a system that answers questions across chat, phone, text and email using information pulled from a company\u2019s website. Businesses can deploy it quickly and respond to inquiries without adding staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of companies, it\u2019s about not missing opportunities,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t answer the phone or respond right away, AI can step in.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dental office can use the system to take calls after hours, schedule appointments and sort urgent cases from routine ones. A contractor can respond to inquiries while crews are in the field. The system can also hand control back to a person when needed.<\/p>\n

READ: TAMPA BAY REAL ESTATE NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to know when to use AI and when not to,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIf there\u2019s any question that it doesn\u2019t have, that might stop me from signing up with that company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarky.AI has signed up more than 300 businesses since launching last year. Many use it to manage communication, booking and customer data in one place, replacing a mix of tools that would otherwise require additional staff to operate.<\/p>\n

Startups have traditionally expanded by adding roles across sales, support and operations. That structure is shifting as more of that work becomes programmable. One employee, supported by AI, can handle tasks that once required several people. Entry-level roles are often the first to be affected because the work can be defined and repeated.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, you needed to hire people for each vertical or role,\u201d Echeverr\u00eda said. \u201cNow you can train agents to handle those tasks across multiple industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a small business, you don\u2019t want five different systems to run everything,\u201d Clark said. \u201cYou want one platform that can handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the technology<\/a> sector, companies have announced layoffs tied in part to AI investment while committing record levels of capital to build out infrastructure. For startups, the shift is happening earlier, as companies adopt the tools early in their development.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re either building with this or competing against someone who is,\u201d Echeverr\u00eda said. \u201cIt\u2019s like using a boat while someone else is using a plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stay Informed<\/p>\n

\n Stay up to date on Tampa Bay business news, executive profiles and the companies shaping the region.\n <\/p>\n

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