Ripple bets on AI to drive revenue growth and institutional scale

Garlinghouse dismissed the notion that AI is the primary driver behind recent industry-wide layoffs, characterizing such claims as a convenient cover for pre-existing corporate bloat. Instead, he views the technology as a force multiplier for healthy, growing businesses. Ripple currently maintains a global workforce of approximately 1,500 employees and is actively hiring for roles explicitly focused on building "AI-native" infrastructure to scale its payout networks without linear headcount increases.

Financial infrastructure remains the core pillar of this expansion. Since acquiring Hidden Road—now rebranded as Ripple Prime—and integrating treasury software provider GTreasury, the firm has pushed deeper into brokerage and liquidity management. Ripple claims its prime brokerage division now clears over $3 trillion annually for more than 300 institutional clients. While these growth figures remain company-supplied and lack the independent audit of a public firm, they underscore a strategic shift toward becoming a comprehensive backend provider for both traditional and decentralized finance. The company’s ability to hit these ambitious revenue targets will serve as the next benchmark for its institutional strategy, even as it maintains its status as a private entity without a public IPO timeline.