Upwork has been rolling out new instruments as synthetic intelligence (AI) reshapes work and the methods purchasers and expertise use the corporate’s work market, President and CEO Hayden Brown mentioned Monday (Nov. 2) in the course of the firm’s third quarter earnings call.
The work market’s gross service quantity (GSV) from AI-skilled expertise elevated 55% 12 months over 12 months to $112 million within the third quarter, Brown mentioned.
“As clients put AI to work, they’re increasingly turning to Upwork for the expertise to implement it, integrate it into their operations and get more value from AI,” Brown mentioned.
To help an rising mannequin through which folks and AI collaborate, Upwork developed a brand new function that connects any AI agent or consumer with Upwork freelancers who’re on-line and able to begin work instantly. The firm launched this function, Upwork Now, in public beta Monday, Brown mentioned.
The launch of Upwork Now follows the August debut of Upwork’s MCP server, which allows AI brokers, purchasers and expertise to faucet into the corporate’s market with out leaving their AI instrument, reminiscent of Claude or ChatGPT, Brown mentioned. The MCP server’s variety of weekly common customers has elevated by 20 instances since its launch in August, based on an investor presentation launched Monday.
“Customers can now access the human expert they need, the moment they need them, within Upwork or from within their own AI tools,” Brown mentioned. “In early testing and release, customer feedback has been enthusiastic about the ease, speed and value of our MCP and Upwork Now.”
Upwork additionally introduced Monday that its enterprise subsidiary, Lifted, acquired Berlin-based, tech-enabled employer of record (EOR) WorkMotion. Lifted mentioned in a Monday announcement that it will broaden direct employment choices for its purchasers to greater than 30 nations.
Brown mentioned in the course of the earnings name that Lifted’s direct employment/EOR providing is seeing robust uptake within the United States and Canada, that the corporate has all the time deliberate to offer an answer for employment in each market, and that the acquisition of WorkMotion “dramatically accelerates” the corporate’s roadmap.
“Lifted’s growth strategy was already delivering results, and adding WorkMotion to the portfolio allows us to further improve win rates and lower Lifted’s cost-to-serve,” Brown mentioned.
Upwork continued its shift towards higher-value work and bigger purchasers in the course of the third quarter, Brown mentioned. The agency’s GSV per energetic consumer elevated 8% 12 months over 12 months to $5,418, whereas its GSV declined 10% to $914.1 million, based on a Monday press launch outlining its third quarter financial results.
“We have built a strong, durable profitability engine, which will be critical to our ongoing value creation in 2027 and beyond,” Brown mentioned.
