Upwork (UPWK) Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026 summary

Strategic priorities and business evolution

• Focus on expanding upmarket with Business Plus for larger SMBs and Lifted for enterprise clients, both showing strong growth and traction.

• Business Plus offers AI recruitment tools, collaborative hiring, and net 30 payment terms, growing 174% YoY and surpassing GSV targets.

• Lifted enables access to $650B in enterprise spend, supporting various engagement types like staff augmentation and managed services.

• AI is a central theme, driving both demand for talent and transformation of the platform into an AI-native infrastructure.

• Shift from volume-based to value-based customer acquisition, targeting larger clients and increasing GSV per client.

AI integration and platform transformation

• AI-related categories are the fastest-growing, with over 300,000 AI practitioners active on the platform.

• Launched MCP, allowing clients to access talent and workflows directly within AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT.

• Platform is evolving to serve human, agentic, and hybrid workflows, supporting both human and AI agent collaboration.

• Data asset from millions of jobs and transactions is leveraged to improve matching algorithms and inform product development.

• AI infrastructure ambitions position the platform as a real-time, on-demand work provider within digital ecosystems.

Product innovation and customer impact

• Business Plus customers benefit from curated talent, AI-driven candidate shortlisting, and multiplayer collaboration features.

• Lifted opens new enterprise opportunities, enabling contracting for previously inaccessible work types and winning large multinational clients.

• Discovery and matching are enhanced by integrating AI-native search capabilities from recent acquisitions.

• Data monetization opportunities are being explored, leveraging unique, real-time work data for AI training and ecosystem needs.

• Continued investment in high-margin products and operational efficiency, including a 24% workforce reduction to focus on growth areas.