Business
Upwork Updates Spring 2026: AI-Powered Innovations to Help Small Businesses Get Ambitious Work Done
Introducing new features powered by Uma™, Upwork’s AI work agent, and a redesigned Upwork Marketplace experience that let SMBs find the right talent faster, start work sooner, and stay on top of every project Upwork homepage A reimagined, AI-native homepage — surfaces emerging AI roles and in-demand skills based on marketplace trends, helping businesses and talent discover relevant opportunities. In-meeting contract generator In-meeting contract generator — captures key details from Upwork video
About this update from Upwork Inc.
Introducing new features powered by Uma™, Upwork’s AI work agent, and a redesigned Upwork Marketplace experience that let SMBs find the right talent faster, start work sooner, and stay on top of every project Upwork homepage In-meeting contract generator AI-Powered Innovations to Help Small Businesses Get Ambitious Work Done PALO ALTO, Calif., May 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ: UPWK), the world’s human and AI-powered work marketplace, today announced Upwork Updates Spring 2026, a lineup of new features and a reimagined platform experience designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) find, hire, and work with independent talent more effectively. New research from the Upwork Research Institute finds that nearly half of SMBs say finding people with the right expertise is a top concern, and that tapping into independent talent has become one of the leading ways businesses are building confidence in the current economic environment, with hiring of independent talent accelerating across companies of all sizes.1 “SMBs have always had big ambitions, but what they don’t always have is easy access to the right people to bring those ambitions to life,” said Anthony Kappus, general manager and chief operating officer of Upwork Inc. “With this release, we’re enhancing Uma, our AI work agent, to make it simpler to find great talent, start work quickly, and manage projects with full confidence.” Many of the updates are powered by Uma, built on deep insights into years of hiring and work on the platform, and interwoven into a redesigned, AI-native experience. Together, they create a more unified and intuitive platform that helps businesses move from idea to execution more seamlessly. Hiring: Finding the right talent for the job For many businesses, finding the right talent takes more time than it should, as sorting through candidates and comparing experience slows project execution. Upwork is introducing new AI-powered features that make it faster and easier to identify, evaluate, and hire: Working: Getting work started and keeping it on track Once the right person is hired, the hardest part of a project can often be getting it off the ground and maintaining momentum, especially if things don’t go to plan. Upwork is introducing new features on the Upwork Marketplace—including within Business Plus, its premium offering designed to meet the ...