A Dark Day Is Coming for Disney Employees, Company Executive Warns

Disney workers are learning that AI may soon be used to job cuts as the company telegraphs its plans to reduce staff.

A recent memo from Disney Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer Horacio Gutierrez indicates that artificial intelligence may be Disney’s answer to cutting costs, according to Deadline.

Deadline said the Sept. 18 memo came as workers throughout Disney are waiting for the axe to fall.

Gutierrez wrote that Disney’s “legal, government relations, operations, and others, are going through their own reinvention as technology reshapes how work gets done, and the operating models that underpin those professions.”

He said that he is “taking a dispassionate look at every aspect of how we do our work, so we can do it in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.”

“Obviously, this will require hard choices about where and how we deploy our resources and investments, including our staffing investments and how we work will look different in the months and years ahead,” the memo said.

The memo also said that the Legal and Global Affairs department “will be a much smaller organization than it is today, and some of you will personally be affected by decisions we make in this process.”

“As a result, we’ll have to consider a whole range of new models for different workloads, including automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies, moving to self-service models where appropriate, engaging alternative legal providers and others, and new expanded services, even outsourcing,” the memo said.

The memo came as Disney announced Karandeep Anand has been appointed as Disney’s first chief technology officer.

That is not the only upper-level change, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Disney has posted that is it seeking a director of AI enablement and legal engineering.

Disney layoffs are about to be one of the most painful in history, and executives say they plan to do so dispassionately to provide efficient and cost effective returns (holder value). $DIS

A memo sent by a Disney legal executive said the company is overhauling “how work… https://t.co/2CLzaT8ELY

— Roger (@rdd147) September 26, 2026

That individual will develop internal work processes using AI and determine the extent to which Disney develops AI processes internally or contracts with outside vendors.

Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has said he wants to use AI to improve efficiency.

“We’re using technology to fundamentally change how work gets done,” Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said during a May earnings call after the company laid off 1,000 people.

“We have been and will continue to look for these types of opportunities to redeploy capital, both financial and human, to areas we see driving the highest returns for holders,” he said.

Disney’s stock is down 5 percent so far this year, and has fallen almost 40 percent since 2021.

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