GitLab Act 2

GitLab CEO Bill Staples announces a major company restructuring called 'Act 2,' framing it as a strategic pivot toward the agentic AI era rather than a cost-cutting exercise. Key operational changes include reducing the country footprint from nearly 60 countries, flattening the organizational hierarchy (from 8 layers), and right-sizing roles with AI augmentation in mind. The company is retiring its CREDIT values framework in favor of three new operating principles: Speed with Quality, Ownership Mindset, and Customer Outcomes. GitLab is making five architectural bets including a new git system for machine-scale agents, an orchestration layer, a full-lifecycle data graph, a centralized policy service, and an autonomous software engineering experience. The restructuring uses a transparent process with a voluntary separation window open until May 18. Financial guidance for Q1 and FY27 is reaffirmed, with full restructuring scope to be disclosed on the June 2 earnings call. The company aims to reinvest the majority of savings into growth initiatives rather than reduce overall spend.