we don't need to grow our headcount. at levels that we did in the past because we're getting so much more output and speed from our existing workforce
Ellie MertzChief Financial Officer · Executive, 
Airbnb
Earnings call: earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), August 6, 2026.
Ellie Mertz, Chief Financial Officer. CFO, responsible for financial planning and analysis, accounting and investor relations, so Mertz owns the reported financial numbers; Mertz also has an interest in presenting results favorably to investors.
Checked against the source by a first reader, then confirmed independently by a second reader who fetched the source without seeing the first reader's notes (Independent review agent (Claude Sonnet), blind second pass from passage text and citation only, no repository access, 2026-10-31).
Exact match, including the transcript's odd 'headcount. at levels'. The nearest preceding speaker header is 'Ellie Mertz — Chief Financial Officer'.
Ellie Mertz (Airbnb), “earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site)”, earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), 2026-08-06. https://transcripts.platformaeronaut.com/transcripts/ABNB-2Q26-transcript Archived at https://the-ai-record.com/passages/airbnb-dont-need-grow-headcount-levels-did-past-2026
Our AI assistant is now available in more than 50 languages.
Brian CheskyCo-founder and Chief Executive Officer · Executive, Airbnb
Earnings call: earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), August 6, 2026.
For example, groceries took eight months, nine months, and airport pickups took about six weeks to develop.
Brian CheskyCo-founder and Chief Executive Officer · Executive, Airbnb
Earnings call: earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), August 6, 2026.
it's not about how many tokens you use, it's about the throughput of your product and the quality of your product designs and how much you're shipping.
Brian CheskyCo-founder and Chief Executive Officer · Executive, Airbnb
Earnings call: earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), August 6, 2026.
Nearly 45% of issues that start with our AI assistant are now resolved without a human agent while delivering much faster resolution times.
Brian CheskyCo-founder and Chief Executive Officer · Executive, Airbnb
Earnings call: earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), August 6, 2026.
it obviously does assume a material increase in terms of the AI spend over the course of the year
Ellie MertzChief Financial Officer · Executive, Airbnb
Earnings call: earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), August 6, 2026.
we've increased the number of features and improvements we shipped this year by nearly 80%.
Brian CheskyCo-founder and Chief Executive Officer · Executive, Airbnb
Earnings call: earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), earnings call transcript via Platform Aeronaut (third-party transcript site), August 6, 2026.
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