Here's what big bank CEOs have said about AI's impact on head count

Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . Bank CEOs have praised the epochal efficiency changes promised by AI. But what does efficiency mean for employees? Does it mean fewer jobs? We look at the public record to see what banking's top executives are saying about head count. When bank CEOs start talking about AI, the financial world lights up - from meme accounts to markets. Their predictions about how generative AI will change work can move stocks, reshape strategy, and set the tone for the rest of corporate America. Banks' plans, and increasingly, actions, around generative AI give a glimpse into how the technology will enhance and replace human workers. But you know who else is listening? Their employees. Many of the largest bulge-bracket banks employ over 100,000 employees each, and the FDIC-insured commercial banking sector, more broadly, employs nearly 2 million people. These can range from bank tellers to dealmakers making multi-billion-dollar salaries, as well as a veritable army of software engineers who will turn this generative AI dream into a reality. In order to get a better understanding of what they're thinking, we've highlighted some of the most revealing statements about bank head count in the age of AI below. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images Jamie Dimon's penchant for straight talk means that Dimon is willing to admit that job cuts are coming. "It will eliminate jobs," Dimon said at a Fortune-hosted conference earlier this month. "People should stop sticking their heads in the sand." The comments echoed those Dimon made at a town hall for the firm's employees in Columbus, Ohio, earlier this year, where he said that AI will "change some of your jobs," whether as a "copilot," a solution for "drudgery," or by eliminating them. More immediately for JPMorgan, according to an interview on CNN earlier this month, Dimon sees head count remaining steady, or even rising, as AI continues to roll out, "if we do a good job." Core to JPMorgan's promise is increased efficiency, which Dimon explored during the 2024 Alliance Bernstein conference. "It will affect every job, every application, every database, and it will make people highly more efficient," Dimon said. "Like a lot of you clicking away, taking notes. You won't have to do that because it will - you can just summarize what Jamie said. You push a button, and you don't have to waste all that time." He also explained how increased efficiency could also create more jobs in cybersecurity. "We use it for risk and fraud recognition, and bad guys are going to use it," Dimon said. "So, we have to use it to counter the bad guys. We have to use it to get better and better in cyber." Other executives at the firm are even more explicit about how headcount at the firm is changing now. At the Goldman Sachs financial services conference in early December, she said that operations staff are on track to be...

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