The adtech unicorn is undergoing a comprehensive overhaul in various business areas, including technology, organisational structure, personnel, and skills, through the implementation of AI.
InMobi, India’s first unicorn and one of the leading advertising technology companies in the world, has announced that it will lay off 125 employees from its global workforce of 2,500. The move will impact roughly 5% of the total headcount and is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Why is InMobi laying off employees?
According to a source quoted by CNBC-TV18, InMobi is undergoing a comprehensive overhaul in various business areas, including technology, organisational structure, personnel, and skills, through the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI). The company said that AI has been sweeping the world and that the market needs and the expectations that its customers – brands, agencies and developers – have from it are changing rapidly.
The company said that it will let go of some of its legacy processes and introduce automation to streamline its operations. It also said that this may lead to a workforce realignment across different geographical locations.
InMobi’s spokesperson said: “The changes that we are bringing in at the organisation level are a proactive step for us to address the above needs, stay competitive and win globally in this decade and beyond.”
How does InMobi compare with other adtech companies?
InMobi is not the only adtech company that has been laying off employees recently. Last month, Paytm also said that it is “rightsizing” its operations and that AI is leading to rationalising of the workforce. Paytm had fired over 1,000 employees last year as part of its restructuring plan.
Other adtech companies such as Dukaan and Glance have also replaced some of their support staff with AI chatbots or virtual assistants. Dukaan replaced 90% of its support staff with an AI chatbot in July 2023. Glance replaced some of its content-providing vertical employees with an AI chatbot in January 2023.
AI has been gaining popularity among adtech companies as it can help them improve their efficiency, accuracy, personalisation, and customer engagement. However, AI also poses some challenges such as ethical issues, data privacy concerns, skill gaps, and human resistance.
What are InMobi’s financial performance?
InMobi reported a net profit of Rs 113.2 crore for 2022-23, up from Rs 24.5 crore in the previous fiscal year. Revenue increased 41.7% to Rs 589.57 crore from Rs 415.93 crore during this period.
InMobi has two subsidiaries under its umbrella: InMobi Ads (a business-to-business company focused on advertising technology) and Glance (a consumer technology business-to-consumer company which offers a smart lock screen technology platform designed for android-based smartphones). In addition to these entities, InMobi also owns two more subsidiaries: UMC (advertising technology under InMobi) and TruFactor (data business).
In July 2019, InMobi created a separate entity called Glance which also turned unicorn in December 2020. Along with Glance, InMobi holds two more subsidiaries under UMC: Adform (a global leader in mobile advertising) and Media.net (a contextual advertising platform).
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