HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery said people will remain central to banks even as artificial intelligence becomes widespread, offering reassurance to employees after recent CEO comments raised concerns about the industry's future.
“I need human judgment, I need human decision making, I need human accountability at the core,” Elhedery said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
While Elhedery said that AI would allow for a revolution in the way banks served their clients with the potential for productivity gains and hyper-personalized services, he insisted that people were still key and that it could even mean more hiring in the future.
Many banks have announced plans to cut jobs in recent months, as they prepare to implement AI to make tasks faster and more efficient. When Standard Chartered Plc said it planned to eliminate jobs, CEO Bill Winters sparked controversy after he said AI would lead to the replacement of what he termed “lower-value human capital.” Winters subsequently apologized for his remarks.
Bloomberg has reported that HSBC is weighing cutting as many as 20,000 roles, or about 10% of its workforce, in the coming years as a result of AI.
“The bank of the future means more capabilities,” Elhedery said. “I would like to be able to accelerate and bring forward a lot of ambitious deliverables we have for the future, and that requires investment, and that is job creation.”
HSBC is working to integrate AI across its business and is already using it for know-your-customer compliance checks, among other functions, Elhedery said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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