AI will ‘destroy and create jobs,’ says HSBC boss
The boss of Europe’s largest bank has warned that the growth of AI will both “destroy” and “create” new jobs as the banking industry continues to be reshaped in the face of new technology.
Georges Elhedery, chief executive of HSBC, warned that the bank’s staff must avoid “fighting us” as it unveiled its latest AI adoption plans at an investor day event.
Staff must not be “disenfranchised, not anxious, overwhelmed, and resisting the change,” he told those in attendance.
Elhedery said getting the bank “future ready” was his top priority as it recognised the “enormous opportunity” in AI.
“We all know generative AI will destroy certain jobs and will create new jobs,” the blue-chip bank’s chief said.
“But my initial mission is: I need 200,000 colleagues with us on this journey – however many will be left at the end of the journey isn’t the problem.”
HSBC and Standard Chartered turn to AI
Elhedery – who has steered HSBC since September 2024 – said the “problem” now was ensuring staff were given all the “capabilities, the training, the tools to… be more productive versions of themselves”.
The remarks come after peer Standard Chartered revealed plans to slash almost 8,000 back-office roles, stoking more fears of the consequences of AI on the financial services industry.
The lender’s boss, Bill Winters – one of the longest-serving FTSE 100 chiefs – pushed back against claims of “cost-cutting” and instead said it was “replacing, in some cases, lower-value human capital with the financial capital and investment capital we’re putting in”.
Elhedery, too, attempted to re-frame the argument away from cost-cutting. “This is where it’s not anymore about productivity or cost gains. It’s going to be about the acquisition of more customers and more revenue,” he insisted.
The global banking industry is racing to leverage AI to streamline its balance sheet amid mounting pressure from digital-native rivals. Japanese lender Mizuho announced in March plans to axe up to 5,000 jobs over a decade.
David Rice, who was appointed as HSBC’s first chief AI officer in March, has doubled down on using tech to increase returns through savings on automation.
HSBC has deployed generative AI as coding assistants for over 20,000 developers in a bid to boost efficiency in time spent coding. Among the FTSE 100 banks, the firm has the highest ranking on the Evident AI index, which serves as a global benchmark for AI integration in the banking sector, at eighth place. Lloyds Banking Group comes in at 15 and Natwest at 16.