HSBC’s CEO says AI will both create and destroy financial industry jobs
Georges Elhedery says HSBC is focused on embracing future challenges, while analysts warn of 7,000 job losses at Standard Chartered by 2030
The head of HSBC, Hong Kong’s biggest lender, said artificial intelligence will both destroy and create certain jobs in the financial industry, but emphasised the bank will focus on retraining its workforce to adapt to the new and evolving environment in the sector.
“We all know generative AI will destroy certain jobs and will create new jobs,” CEO Georges Elhedery said at an investor event in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
“Our first mission is for employees to be given training capabilities and productivity tools, so that they can become future-ready, and a better, more productive, higher-performing version of themselves,” Elhedery said, referring to HSBC’s AI adoption plans.
“Our second mission is to simplify and scale how we operate. We are simplifying more than 50 work streams. We appointed a chief AI officer to review value streams, businesses, and functions, technology, and operations to help us redesign collectively with the help of AI and external partners.”
Elhedery said AI could help strengthen the customer experience as the technology speeds up background checks on clients, reducing their onboarding time by 50 per cent.