Livspace Cuts 5% Workforce in AI-Led Restructuring, COO Saurabh Jain Steps Down
In a move signaling the accelerating disruption of the home interiors industry, Livspace has announced a strategic realignment that includes workforce reduction and a leadership transition.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, valued at over $1.2 billion in its last funding round, confirmed on February 20, 2026, that it is laying off approximately 5% of its workforce—around 200 employees—as part of a comprehensive pivot toward AI-driven automation across its operations .
The announcement came alongside news that Co-founder & COO Saurabh Jain is stepping down from his operational role after nearly a decade with the company, though he will continue as a shareholder and advisor during the transition .
This development places Livspace among a growing cohort of Indian consumer-tech companies making difficult but forward-looking decisions to integrate AI deeply into their business models—even when it means parting ways with long-time leaders and valued team members .
The Announcement: What Livspace Communicated
In an internal communication and public statement, Livspace framed the restructuring as a deliberate strategic pivot rather than a cost-cutting exercise driven by financial distress .
Key Points from the Announcement
1. AI Integration Across the Business
Livspace has been piloting AI tools over the past 18 months across multiple functions:
- Design automation —AI-powered tools that generate design concepts, layouts, and material specifications in hours rather than weeks
- Customer experience —Personalized recommendations, virtual consultations, and AI-assisted decision-making
- Supply-chain optimization —Predictive inventory management, vendor coordination, and logistics automation
- Pricing intelligence —Dynamic pricing models that optimize margins while remaining competitive
- Project management —Automated scheduling, milestone tracking, and quality assurance
The goal: reduce execution time, improve margins, and deliver more personalized, scalable services to homeowners .
2. Affected Roles
The impacted positions span functions that are increasingly augmented or automated by AI:
- Design —Roles involving routine design tasks that can now be handled by AI tools
- Sales —Positions focused on lead qualification and initial customer engagement
- Project management —Coordination functions that AI can optimize
- Operations —Back-office and support roles where automation improves efficiency
3. Leadership Transition
Saurabh Jain, co-founder and COO, is stepping down from day-to-day operations:
- He will continue as a shareholder and advisor during the transition
- He is pursuing new entrepreneurial ventures after nearly a decade with Livspace
- Ramakant Sharma, co-founder & CEO, will lead the next phase alongside the core leadership team
4. Employee Support
The company emphasized its commitment to supporting affected employees:
- Severance packages commensurate with tenure and role
- Outplacement support to help with job transitions
- Priority rehiring consideration for future roles as the company scales its AI-led growth phase
Why This Matters: The AI Disruption of Home Interiors
Livspace’s restructuring is not an isolated event—it reflects a broader industry transformation sweeping through the home-decor and interiors sector.
The Old Model: Human-Intensive, Time-Consuming
Traditionally, home interior design and execution involved:
- Multiple in-person consultations
- Manual design iterations and revisions
- Fragmented supply-chain coordination
- Project management dependent on human oversight
- Weeks or months from concept to completion
This model was:
- Expensive due to high labor costs
- Slow due to sequential, human-dependent processes
- Inconsistent due to variability in designer skills
- Difficult to scale because it relied on scarce talent
The New Model: AI-Powered, Rapid, Scalable
AI is fundamentally changing every aspect of the business:
| Function | Traditional Approach | AI-Powered Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Manual sketches, iterations | Generative design from user inputs |
| Consultation | In-person meetings | Virtual, AI-assisted conversations |
| Pricing | Manual quotes | Dynamic, data-driven pricing |
| Supply chain | Fragmented coordination | Predictive, automated optimization |
| Project management | Human tracking | AI-powered monitoring and alerts |
| Customer support | Human response teams | AI assistants with human escalation |
The Result: Compression of Timelines
The most dramatic impact is on execution timelines:
- What once took weeks can now be accomplished in days
- End-to-end home design projects that required multiple site visits now happen through virtual collaboration
- Revisions and iterations that consumed designer hours now happen instantly through AI tools
For homeowners, this means faster delivery, lower costs, and more predictable outcomes. For companies like Livspace, it means higher margins, greater scalability, and competitive advantage .
The Leadership Transition: Saurabh Jain’s Decade of Impact
The departure of Saurabh Jain from his operational role marks the end of an era for Livspace.
Who Is Saurabh Jain?
As co-founder and COO, Jain played a pivotal role in:
- Building Livspace’s operations infrastructure from the ground up
- Scaling the company to over $1.2 billion valuation
- Establishing partnerships with thousands of designers and vendors
- Creating the supply-chain and logistics backbone that enabled nationwide expansion
- Shaping the company’s culture and values over nearly a decade
Why Now?
According to the company statement, Jain is stepping down to pursue new entrepreneurial ventures after a decade of building Livspace. This is not unusual in high-growth startups, where founding team members often move on to new challenges after helping scale a company through its initial phases.
What His Continued Involvement Means
Jain will remain:
- A shareholder with ongoing financial interest in Livspace’s success
- An advisor during the transition period
- A supporter of the company he helped build
His continued involvement ensures institutional knowledge and strategic guidance remain available to the leadership team .
The Tough Reality: Balancing Progress and People
Livspace’s announcement highlights a tension that will only intensify as AI adoption accelerates across industries: how do companies balance technological progress with human impact?
The Business Imperative
From Livspace’s perspective, this restructuring is about:
- Staying competitive in a rapidly digitizing market
- Delivering better value to customers through AI-powered efficiency
- Protecting margins in an increasingly price-sensitive environment
- Positioning for the future against pure-play AI-native competitors
As Ramakant Sharma, co-founder & CEO, emphasized: “This is not a cost-cutting exercise driven by financial distress but a deliberate pivot to stay competitive in a rapidly digitizing home-interiors market, where speed, accuracy, and cost-efficiency are becoming table stakes” .
The Human Cost
For the approximately 200 employees losing their jobs, the news is undoubtedly difficult. These are individuals who contributed to Livspace’s growth, believed in its mission, and now face an uncertain job market.
Livspace’s commitment to:
- Severance packages
- Outplacement support
- Priority rehiring consideration
reflects an attempt to handle the transition with empathy. But for those affected, the immediate challenge of finding new roles remains real.
The Industry Context
Livspace is not alone. Across consumer-tech and design startups, similar transitions are underway:
| Company | Action | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Urban Company | Invested heavily in AI for service matching | Reduce friction, improve customer experience |
| Fabriclore | Launched AI design tools | Automate custom fabric creation |
| Homelane | Integrated AR/VR for virtual consultations | Reduce need for physical site visits |
| Pepperfry | AI-powered personalization | Improve conversion and customer retention |
The trend is clear: AI disruption is not coming—it’s already here .
The Bigger Picture: AI Disruption Across Consumer Tech
Livspace’s move reflects a pattern playing out across the Indian startup ecosystem:
1. Design and Creative Industries
AI tools can now generate design concepts, write copy, create images, and even compose music. Companies that once employed large creative teams are reevaluating their staffing needs.
2. Customer Service
Chatbots and AI assistants handle an increasing percentage of customer interactions. Human agents are reserved for complex escalations.
3. Sales and Marketing
Lead qualification, personalized recommendations, and campaign optimization are increasingly automated. Sales teams are becoming smaller but more specialized.
4. Operations and Supply Chain
Predictive algorithms optimize inventory, logistics, and resource allocation. Fewer human coordinators are needed.
5. Project Management
AI tools track progress, flag issues, and suggest optimizations. Project managers focus on exceptions rather than routine monitoring.
6. Finance and Accounting
Automated systems handle invoicing, reconciliation, and reporting. Finance teams shift from transaction processing to strategic analysis.
The Common Thread
In every case, AI is not eliminating the need for human expertise—it’s changing where that expertise is applied. Routine, repetitive tasks are automated. Humans focus on higher-value activities: strategy, creativity, relationship-building, and complex problem-solving.
For employees, this means:
- Upskilling is essential to remain relevant
- Adaptability becomes a core career skill
- Lifelong learning is no longer optional
For companies, it means:
- Workforce planning must anticipate skill shifts
- Retraining and redeployment should be part of strategy
- Cultural change is as important as technological change
Livspace’s Next Phase: AI-Led Growth
With this restructuring, Livspace is positioning itself for its next growth phase:
Strategic Priorities
1. Deepen AI Integration
The company will accelerate deployment of AI tools across all functions, building on 18 months of pilot programs.
2. Enhance Customer Experience
AI-powered virtual consultations, personalized recommendations, and predictive budgeting will become core to the customer journey.
3. Improve Margins
Automation will reduce costs, enabling competitive pricing while maintaining healthy margins.
4. Scale Efficiently
With less reliance on human-intensive processes, Livspace can scale to new cities and markets more rapidly.
5. Defend Against AI-Native Competitors
Pure-play AI startups are entering the home-interiors space. Livspace’s move ensures it competes effectively.
Leadership Under Ramakant Sharma
With Saurabh Jain’s transition, CEO Ramakant Sharma takes fuller ownership of the company’s strategic direction. Sharma, who has led Livspace through multiple funding rounds and growth phases, will now guide the AI transformation alongside a core leadership team.
The company has indicated that no further leadership changes are anticipated, and the focus is squarely on execution .
What This Means for Founders and Leaders
Livspace’s move offers lessons for every founder navigating the AI transition:
1. Don’t Wait for Disruption
Livspace began piloting AI tools 18 months ago. By the time AI-native competitors emerge, the company already has data, experience, and organizational learning.
2. Make Deliberate Choices
This restructuring is framed as a strategic pivot, not a panic reaction. Founders who approach AI adoption thoughtfully, with clear objectives, are more likely to succeed.
3. Handle Transitions with Empathy
Livspace’s commitment to severance, outplacement, and rehiring consideration reflects an understanding that how you treat departing employees affects remaining team members, future candidates, and public perception.
4. Leadership Changes Are Part of Evolution
Saurabh Jain’s departure after nearly a decade is presented as a natural transition, not a crisis. Founders should normalize that leadership teams evolve as companies mature.
5. Communicate Clearly
Livspace’s public statement explains the rationale, the impacted areas, and the support for affected employees. Clear communication reduces uncertainty and speculation.
The Road Ahead for Affected Employees
For the approximately 200 Livspace employees facing job loss, the immediate future is uncertain but not without hope:
Immediate Steps
- Leverage severance to fund job search without desperation
- Use outplacement support for resume, interview, and networking help
- Stay connected with colleagues and industry contacts
- Consider skill-building during transition period
Longer-Term Opportunities
- AI-augmented roles will emerge in design, sales, and operations
- New companies will need experienced talent
- Freelance and consulting opportunities may grow
- Entrepreneurial paths are always possible
Livspace’s commitment to priority rehiring consideration means that as the company grows its AI-led operations, some affected employees may find their way back into new roles.
Conclusion: Tough but Necessary Evolution
Livspace’s restructuring is a sign of the times. As AI transforms every industry, companies must make difficult choices to remain competitive. For Livspace—a category leader in home interiors—this means embracing automation even when it means parting ways with valued team members and a long-time leader.
For the Indian startup ecosystem, this development reinforces several truths:
- AI disruption is real and accelerating
- Category leaders must reinvent themselves to stay ahead
- Workforce transitions are inevitable and must be handled responsibly
- Leadership teams evolve as companies mature
- The human impact of technological progress requires empathy and support
The news is undoubtedly tough for those affected. But Livspace’s transparent communication and commitment to employee support set a standard for how companies should navigate such transitions.
As the company enters its next phase under Ramakant Sharma’s leadership, the bet is clear: AI-led growth will define the future of home interiors. The challenge now is execution.
For the broader ecosystem, Livspace’s move may well set a precedent—proving that even category leaders must reinvent themselves to thrive in the AI era.
