Upwork has appointed CEO Hayden Brown as interim CFO, succeeding Erica Gessert, who is taking temporary medical leave. Gessert is expected to return during Q4. The leadership change ensures continuity in financial operations during her absence.

Leadership Transition

Hayden Brown, currently the CEO of Upwork, will assume the additional role of interim CFO. This decision follows Erica Gessert's temporary medical leave, which necessitates an interim arrangement to maintain financial oversight.

Return Timeline

Erica Gessert is expected to resume her duties as CFO during Q4. The company has not disclosed specific details regarding her medical leave but emphasized her return to the role.

Upwork Inc. announced the launch of the Upwork Claude Connector, a new application integrated into Anthropic's Claude designed to connect businesses with expert talent the moment a project takes shape. The tool aims to bridge the gap between AI-driven project planning and the human expertise required to execute those plans, addressing the growing demand for freelancer hiring tied to AI initiatives.

According to Upwork research, 74% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) plan to increase freelancer hiring in the near term, with much of this growth driven by AI-related projects. The Upwork Claude Connector allows users to describe a project and immediately receive a shortlist of recommended talent from the Upwork Marketplace's pool of more than 18 million professionals across 130 categories of work.

"AI is changing how businesses plan and kick off work. But quality outcomes still depend on human expertise," said Peter Sanborn, chief business officer at Upwork Inc. "Putting Upwork inside Claude closes the gap between where work gets started and the talent that can bring it to life."

The integration enables users to create job posts through the conversation interface and proceed to hire on Upwork, where Uma, Upwork's AI work agent, assists in managing the project to completion. The system supports prompts for various use cases, such as finding data analysts for AI systems or sourcing automation experts for finance teams.

This development follows the April launch of an Upwork app for ChatGPT and is part of the company's strategy to expand access to talent within the tools where ideas originate. All Claude users can connect the Upwork app immediately to utilize the new functionality.