Hot AI startup UiPath just laid off about 400 people - only a few months after raising $568 million at a $7 billion valuation

• UiPath laid off about 400 people this week, and its chief financial officer will be leaving at the end of the year, the software-automation startup's chief marketing officer told Business Insider.
• The news was first reported by Nick Ismail of Information Age.
• The layoff comes just a few months after raising $568 million which boosted the software automation startup to a $7 billion valuation.
• Chief Marketing Officer Bobby Patrick said the company is shifting its focus to more customer-facing operations saying, "We're too slow to respond on tactical customers needs."
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

UiPath laid off about 400 people this week six months after the AI software automation startup raised $568 million boosting its valuation to $7 billion. The news was first reported by Nick Ismail of Information Age.

The company's Chief Financial Officer Marie Myers, who joined in January, is also leaving at the end of the year, UiPath Chief Marketing Officer Bobby Patrick told Business Insider.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Toni Iafrate, UiPath's vice president for global communications, said Myers is leaving "to pursue other opportunities."

Patrick said the changes were part of the company's "desire to move more investment from back-office to customer facing operations."

"We need to be more customer-focused," he said. "We're too slow to respond on tactical customer needs."

UiPath provides software that helps businesses automate repetitive tasks across a patchwork of applications, a field also known as robotic process automation. The New York-based firm is one of the top companies in this space according to a survey of IT professionals by IT Central Station.

"We're still experiencing tremendous growth as a company," Patrick said. "We grew our employee base this year alone by 60% and recognize that along the way we had created some inefficiencies in things that impacted our culture."

UiPath had 3,300 employees before the layoffs. Toni Iafrate, UiPath's vice president for global communications, said that even with the job cuts, the company's workforce was still about 50% bigger than at the beginning of the year.

UiPath was founded in Bucharest in 2005 creating automation scripts for the IT industry. It pivoted to the robotic processing automation market in 2012 after after a customer told them: "We've been using your software to automate processes. Come take a look."

Got a tip about UiPath or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at bpimentel@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @benpimentel. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.