BMW wants AI to do its managers' jobs, plans 20% layoffs
BMW plans to reduce its management workforce by 20% by 2027 as part of a broader strategy to integrate agentic AI into its operations. The company aims to become more agile by automating tasks across development, procurement, and sales.
Why it matters
This move represents a significant shift in corporate structure where AI is directly replacing middle management roles in a major global manufacturing firm.
BMW is putting artificial intelligence at the centre of its turnaround plan, and the first thing it will reshape is its own management. The German luxury carmaker said it will cut its divisions and the management roles tied to them by 20% by mid-2027. A comparable reduction will follow at the organisational levels below. The logic, as BMW explained it to investors, is that AI will make the company more agile, so it will need fewer layers of managers.The plan was unveiled at BMW's capital markets day on Wednesday (September 30), held across its Gut Schwaerzenbach retreat in Bavaria and its Munich headquarters. It was the first big investor test for CEO Milan Nedeljkovic, a former BMW trainee and production head who took charge in May.
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