New Delhi, May 20 (AHN) At a time when many companies are doubling down on workplace culture and employee wellbeing, fintech startup Bolt is taking a sharply different path.

Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow has defended his controversial decision to eliminate the company’s entire human resources department, arguing that HR teams often create unnecessary complications instead of solving problems.

Speaking at Fortune’s Workforce Innovation Summit, the 31-year-old founder said the move was part of a broader effort to restore speed and efficiency at the once high-flying fintech company.

“We had an HR team, and that HR team was creating problems that didn’t exist,” Breslow said during a conversation with Fortune editorial director Kristin Stoller. “Those problems disappeared when I let them go.”

Founded in 2014, Bolt became one of the fastest-growing fintech startups during the pandemic-era tech boom, reaching a valuation of $11 billion in 2022. However, the company’s fortunes later reversed dramatically. After Breslow stepped down as CEO that same year, Bolt’s valuation reportedly fell to nearly $300 million by 2024 -- a decline of almost 97 per cent.

Breslow returned to lead the company in 2025 and described the current phase at Bolt as “wartime,” requiring a more aggressive operational approach. Earlier this year, the company laid off nearly 30 per cent of its workforce and dismantled its HR division altogether.

According to Breslow, traditional HR structures are better suited for large, stable companies rather than startups trying to move quickly in a competitive environment.

“We’re back in startup mode again, and those HR professionals have really important insights when you’re in a peacetime and when you’re at a larger company,” he said.

Instead of a conventional HR department, Bolt has introduced a leaner “people operations” team focused on employee training and support functions.

Breslow has repeatedly voiced skepticism about traditional HR practices. In a LinkedIn post earlier this year, he wrote that “HR is the wrong energy, format, and approach,” adding that people operations teams help companies “move at lightning speed” by empowering managers and streamlining decision-making.

At the Fortune summit, Breslow further criticized what he described as a culture of inefficiency inside HR teams.

“We need a group of people who are very oriented around getting things done,” he said. “There is just a culture of not getting things done and complaining a lot.”