(May 20): HSBC Holdings plc chief executive officer Georges Elhedery warned that artificial intelligence (AI) will “destroy” certain roles while creating others, urging employees to adapt rather than resist the technological shift.
“We all know generative AI will destroy certain jobs and will create new jobs,” Elhedery said on Wednesday during an investor and analyst session in Hong Kong. He emphasised the importance of keeping staff engaged, adding that employees should be “on the journey with us, not fighting us, not disenfranchised, not anxious, overwhelmed and resisting the change”.
The measured tone contrasts with that of Standard Chartered plc CEO Bill Winters. A day earlier, Winters delivered a blunter assessment of automation’s impact, warning that an AI push would eliminate thousands of roles as the bank replaces what he termed “lower-value human capital” with technology.
Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs Group Inc president and chief operating officer John Waldron described his firm’s traditional operations as a “human assembly line” ripe for automation.
Winters’ remarks triggered a backlash on social media and in one of the bank’s biggest markets. Former Singapore president Halimah Yacob criticised the language in a Facebook post, calling it “disturbing” to describe workers in such terms.
While Elhedery acknowledged the impending disruption, he said that HSBC is providing staff with training and coding assistance. The bank is currently deploying AI to accelerate client onboarding and enhance financial crime risk monitoring.
See also: StanChart CEO says AI to replace ‘lower-value human capital’
Elhedery’s remarks kicked off a two-day Asia seminar showcasing the London-based lender’s growth strategy. Elhedery has spent the early months of this year working out of Hong Kong, HSBC’s largest and most lucrative market.
Even so, the technological pivot points to a leaner workforce. Bloomberg reported in March that HSBC is weighing deep job cuts over the coming years, with Elhedery betting on AI to shrink the lender’s middle and back offices. The changes could ultimately impact around 20,000 roles — or about 10% of its total workforce, a person familiar with the considerations said in March.
Roughly 30% of work hours in finance and insurance could be automated by 2030, McKinsey & Co estimates. And more than half of jobs across banking have a high potential to be replaced by technology, according to research from Citigroup Inc.
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