This HR-tech startup says AI boosted revenue per employee by 50% without layoffs

Remote, an Amsterdam-based HR and payroll technology startup, says artificial intelligence has helped the company increase revenue per employee by 50% while avoiding layoffs, offering one of the clearest examples yet of how AI is beginning to reshape workforce productivity inside fast-growing technology firms.

According to TechCrunch, the seven-year-old company recently crossed $300 million in annual recurring revenue and became cash-flow positive. But CEO Job van der Voort said the more significant shift has happened internally, where AI tools are now embedded across engineering, operations, payroll, workflows and employee productivity systems.

“As we are talking, on the second screen of my laptop, I have five different Claude instances running, building different things,” van der Voort told TechCrunch.

AI moves beyond engineering teams

Unlike many companies where AI adoption remains concentrated within technical departments, Remote says it has expanded AI usage across almost every function.

Employees are reportedly building tools and applications through Remote Labs, an internal AI marketplace developed using the company’s own technology infrastructure.

According to the report, AI tools are now being used for:

• Summarising Slack conversations
• Automating workflows
• Supporting payroll operations
• Running internal productivity tasks
• Building customer-facing applications
• AI-powered coding and engineering work

Van der Voort said the company’s productivity gains came from broad organisational adoption rather than isolated AI experimentation inside engineering teams.

The company also launched Remote Build, a programme where engineers work directly with customers to help them create AI-driven workflows inside their own organisations.

Hiring slows as AI productivity rises

Remote said the efficiency gains have allowed it to expand revenue without increasing overall headcount.

Van der Voort told TechCrunch that the company has not conducted layoffs because of AI adoption, but admitted that hiring plans in certain departments have slowed.

“What we’re doing now very actively is evaluating: ‘Do we actually need more people?’” he said.

The company is instead increasing investment into:

• AI tools
• Employee upskilling
• Workflow automation
• Internal productivity systems

Remote also claimed its engineers increased code contributions by more than 60% over the past year after adopting AI-powered coding tools.

According to van der Voort, more than 85% of the company’s code over the past month was written by AI systems.

Payroll automation becomes a major AI testing ground

Remote operates in one of the most operationally complex areas of enterprise software: global payroll and employment compliance.

The company helps businesses hire, manage and pay employees across multiple countries while navigating tax rules, labour regulations and compliance requirements.

Van der Voort said AI has significantly reduced repetitive operational work linked to payroll administration and compliance processing.

“Obviously we’ve been automating a lot of that; that’s what we do,” he told TechCrunch. “But with AI that became easier.”

Remote says it now serves tens of thousands of businesses globally, though several figures disclosed by the company, including growth metrics tied to AI adoption, have not been independently verified.

The CEO also claimed the company’s core payroll business grew more than 300% year-on-year, which he attributed largely to AI integration.

Company bets on AI agents and automation

Remote is also positioning itself around the rise of AI agents capable of directly interacting with enterprise systems.

The company recently launched Remote MCP, an interface based on the Model Context Protocol standard that allows AI agents and external software systems to securely interact with payroll and compliance data.

According to the report, the system allows platforms such as BambooHR and Workday to use Remote’s infrastructure underneath their own services.

Van der Voort said he expects AI agents to eventually handle many tasks that currently require direct interaction with software platforms.

“If you use ChatGPT or Claude, you can control all of Remote,” he told TechCrunch.

The company is also experimenting internally with secure AI agents capable of accessing payroll systems while operating within restricted permissions and compliance safeguards.

AI efficiency becomes a new workforce model

Remote’s approach reflects a broader shift taking shape across the technology sector, where companies are increasingly measuring AI success not just through automation, but through revenue efficiency and workforce productivity.

The startup’s model combines:

• Slower hiring growth
• Increased employee productivity
• Greater automation
• Expanded AI spending
• Stable workforce levels

Industry observers note that many technology firms are now attempting to scale revenue without proportionally increasing employee numbers, particularly as generative AI tools become more integrated into coding, operations and business workflows.

For Remote, the company says AI is no longer an experimental productivity layer. Instead, it is becoming part of how the organisation fundamentally operates, scales and allocates talent.