HSBC chief makes workforce 'future readiness' a top priority
HSBC chief executive Georges Elhedery has weighed in on the impact of artificial intelligence tools on employment as he signalled that getting his staff "future ready" was the bank's next priority.
"We all know generative AI will destroy certain jobs and will create new jobs," Elhedery said as quoted by Reuters.
"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.
"The problem is how can we make sure that those 200,000 colleagues have been given all the capabilities, the training, the tools to make themselves future ready, be more productive versions of themselves."
According to the CEO, staff needed to make sure they were "not fighting us, not disenfranchised, not anxious, overwhelmed, and resisting the change."
HSBC's AI direction
Elhedery's remarks, which he made during an HSBC investor day event, further shed light on the bank's direction when it comes to AI adoption.
Earlier this year, it named David Rice as the company's first Chief AI Officer, who will provide clear enterprise leadership for AI adoption within HSBC.
"Our ambition here is simple – we will empower our colleagues to use AI to create a personalised experience for each customer, deliver it safely, in real time and at scale, while keeping human judgement, decision-making and accountability at the core," Elhedery said in a statement during Rice's appointment.
HSBC has been accelerating the deployment of AI tools in its operations as it recognises the "enormous opportunity" it offers in serving its customers.
AI use cases in the bank include fraud detection, cybersecurity, transaction monitoring, customer service, and risk assessment.
"Colleagues across the Group have access to an LLM-based productivity tool to support their day-to-day tasks, including translation, document analysis and text assistance," it said on its website.
The bank has also deployed generative AI as coding assistants for more than 20,000 developers to enable a 15 improvement in efficiency in time spent coding.
Generative AI is also being used by the bank's servicing teams to reduce turnaround times and improve customer experience, and by its customer support agents to get chat summaries.
"Responsible AI is central to our approach, and our governance frameworks ensure that we have effective oversight of AI across different stages of experimentation, development and production," it said on its website.
Elhedery's latest remarks also come as its rival, Standard Chartered, announced that it will cut approximately 7,800 back-office employees by 2030. The layoffs are a part of an AI-driven restructure, with "lower-value human capital" targeted in the cuts.
