CBA chief calls for honesty about AI's toll on jobs
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has warned that pretending artificial intelligence will not cost jobs would be unfair to workers, stressing the responsibility of employers to avoid false reassurance as the technology reshapes the workforce.
"Pretending every role can be preserved would not be fair either," Comyn wrote in a contributed piece for the Australian Financial Review.
"An employer of our scale has a responsibility to avoid false reassurance and give people the best possible chance to adapt."
The comments came as CBA hosted its first Accelerate AI conference in Sydney, bringing together 800 customers, technologists, policymakers, and global AI builders to assess how organisations can deploy AI to serve customers and build stronger businesses.
Comyn's remarks carry particular weight given CBA's recent history with AI adoption. Last year, the bank reversed a decision to cut 45 customer service roles after admitting its initial assessment that the positions were no longer needed "did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations."
Comyn, in the AFR article, acknowledged AI would have "workforce consequences throughout the economy," and said those consequences should be confronted directly rather than minimised.
He said some tasks would be automated, some roles reduced in number, and others would grow, while many positions may look broadly similar even as the underlying tasks and skills shift considerably.
"It is easier to foresee which parts of today's work may disappear than to imagine all the new work that may be created," he said.
At CBA specifically, Comyn said some work would be carried out by smaller teams, while other career paths would accelerate as employees use AI to take on more complex responsibilities sooner.
"This will create opportunities for many people, but it will be demanding for everyone," he said. "Pretending otherwise does not protect workers. It only ensures they are surprised later."
Strengthening firms vs. cutting costs
Meanwhile, the CEO also drew a distinction between AI being used to build organisational strength and AI being deployed simply to cut costs.
"There is a crucial distinction between building a stronger organisation and simply making it smaller," Comyn said.
He cautioned that reducing headcount as a lever for faster change risked weakening institutional capability if workers were not brought along in the process.
"The better question is whether AI is being used to make an organisation stronger, or merely to strip out costs," he said.
At CBA, Comyn assured that the company's commitment to its people is "practical."
It had committed to a $90 million Future Workforce Programme, offering workers early visibility into how roles are changing, reskilling pathways, and internal mobility opportunities.
Earlier this year, the bank also reported that over 27,600 employees have engaged with its internal AI learning series since its launch.
Comyn said learning new skills and doing more valuable work will be "one of the most important opportunities of their careers."
"People who combine customer understanding, risk judgment, curiosity, and the ability to direct AI systems will become more valuable, not less. Our job is to help more people get there," he said.
CBA currently invests $2.4 billion annually in technology and capability, which Comyn said was at least $500 million more per year than other major Australian banks.
