Opendoor exits India, impacting 250 employees amid AI-driven restructuring
Company says improved technology and smaller US-based teams have reduced reliance on offshore functions, raising concerns for India’s outsourcing sector
US-based real estate technology firm Opendoor has announced that it will shut down its operations in India, a move that will impact nearly 250 employees. Opendoor CEO Kaz Nejatian said the company is bringing operational roles closer to its customers in the United States as part of a broader business transformation plan.
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In a message shared with employees and later posted on X, Nejatian said the company had already started moving some roles back to the US over the past few months. The latest decision, he said, will complete that transition and result in the closure of Opendoor’s India operations.
AI cuts offshore roles
Explaining the move, Nejatian said Opendoor’s customers are based in the US and that the operational work supporting them is more effective when carried out closer to those customers. He said the company had earlier built a sizeable team in India to handle manual workflows across multiple systems, but advances in technology and the use of AI-enabled teams in the US have reduced the need for those functions to remain offshore.
Nejatian emphasised that the decision was not linked to the performance of the India team. He commended employees in India for their contributions and said they were highly capable professionals who would be strong additions to other organisations.
The company said affected employees will be provided transition support, including severance packages, outplacement assistance and other resources. A small number of employees will remain for a limited period to help with the transfer of key workstreams.
Despite the job cuts, Nejatian said Opendoor remains well positioned and that its broader business strategy remains unchanged. He added that the company is focused on simplifying operations, building a unified platform and reducing dependence on manual processes as it continues to serve homeowners across the US.
Outsourcing model under pressure
The move has fuelled concerns about AI and the threat it could pose to India’s outsourcing industry. Silicon Valley investor Sheel Mohnot believes this could be just the start. He warned that as AI becomes better at handling routine tasks, many jobs in India could eventually disappear.
Mohnot, a partner at venture capital firm Better Tomorrow Ventures and a prominent fintech investor, reacted to Opendoor’s announcement on X, writing, “As manual work gets replaced by AI, a lot of jobs will be lost in India.” He sees Opendoor’s move as a possible warning sign for the wider outsourcing industry. For years, companies have depended on India for large teams carrying out operational and support functions. But as AI grows more capable, some of that work could be handled by smaller teams equipped with AI tools.
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One of the biggest concerns for the outsourcing industry is the rise of agentic AI. These systems are capable of carrying out complex, multi-step tasks with minimal human involvement. As the technology advances, many believe it could replace work currently performed by large offshore teams, potentially lowering demand for outsourcing services.
Rather than employing hundreds of workers to manage repetitive processes, companies may increasingly turn to smaller teams supported by AI agents that can complete much of the work automatically. TCS Chairman N Chandrasekaran recently said the company could one day have as many AI agents as human employees. He also noted that the industry would not recruit at the same scale seen over the past two decades.