Topic
19 facts from 2 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2015
Upwork was formed in 2015 through the merger of the marketplaces oDesk and Elance, according to Andrew Rabinovich.
“Upwork is a company that, as a result of a merger of two large marketplaces, oDesk and Elance, started in early 2000s and then 2015 merged to become Upwork.”
2022
Bob Safian said Upwork shut down operations in Russia and Belarus after the invasion of Ukraine.
“Ukraine invasion, which prompted you to shut down operations in Russia and Belarus”
2023
Headroom built a software development kit that could be plugged into any collaborative platform, which led to Upwork's interest in acquiring it.
“Headroom developed an SDK that you could plug it in into any collaborative platform”
2026
Hayden Brown said Upwork's AI category is growing more than 22% year over year.
“our own AI category growing over 22% year over year.”
2026
Hayden Brown said freelancing among US knowledge workers rose from 28% to 38% in a year, per an Upwork survey.
“Our most recent survey showed a ten point increase in freelancing in the US. within knowledge workers. It's at 38% of the population today. It was at 28% just a year ago.”
2026
Bob Safian said Upwork announced in May that it was cutting a quarter of its corporate staff.
“You announced i in May that you had to cut a a quarter of Upwork's corporate staff yourselves.”
2026
Hayden Brown said an Upwork survey found 23% of its clients had moved work back to humans from AI or were about to.
“a recent survey we did showed that 23% of our own clients have actually already moved work back to humans from AI or are about to do so.”
2026
Hayden Brown said adding a little human expertise to agent work raised the success rate by more than 70%.
“suddenly the success rate goes up more than 70%.”
2026
Upwork launched an MCP server capability that lets AI agents authenticate with the platform so it can identify them.
“we launched this, what's called the MCP server, but really is a capability to let agents authenticate with Upwork so we know who they are”
2026
Hayden Brown said authenticated agents on Upwork can post jobs, make hires and manage projects.
“they can go forward, help post jobs, make make hires, uh, manage projects, et cetera.”
2026
Upwork has its own AI agent, Uma, that helps users write job descriptions and prepare for interviews.
“Upwork has its own agent, Uma, that assists users writing job descriptions and prepping interviews and things like that.”
2026
Hayden Brown said Upwork had 18 million freelancers active in the last year.
“across, you know, 18 million freelancers, uh, that were active in the last year.”
2026
Hayden Brown said Upwork can get ten times savings or more in some use cases by using open source models inside its own environment.
“there are definitely use cases where we know we can get, you know, ten x savings or more by using open source models”
2026
Hayden Brown said 58% of current full-time employees are thinking about becoming freelancers.
“58% of current full-time employees are actually thinking about becoming freelancers”
2026
Hayden Brown said freelancers with AI skills earn 34% more per hour than those without.
“Uh, freelancers that have AI skills are earning 34% more hour than folks who don't have AI skills.”
2026
Upwork built an internal AI tool called Crystal Ball with access to company data, which Hayden Brown uses to query the database in natural language.
“we've set up, uh, a very powerful tool, we call it Crystal Ball, and it has access to all of our internal data.”
2026
Hayden Brown said a new generalist role called the AI orchestrator is becoming popular on Upwork.
“the AI orchestrator. This is becoming extremely popular on our platform because people are looking for someone who can orchestrate and use these AI tools”
Undated
Upwork launched an AI companion called Uma, short for Upwork's Mindful AI, on its platform.
“we've launched this AI companion on Upwork's platform called Uma, which stands for Upwork's Mindful AI.”
Undated
Rabinovich says he and his team joined Upwork the previous December to help turn it into an outcome-driven business.
“since December of last year, I've been at Upwork together with my team in the effort to transform it to be this outcome-driven business.”
Episodes