HDFC Bank doesnt see AI leading to layoffs: CEO
Mumbai, Oct 19 (PTI) The country’s largest private sector lender HDFC Bank does not think its use of artificial intelligence will lead to any layoffs, a senior company official said.
HDFC Bank Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Sashidhar Jagdishan said on Saturday that the lender, which had 2.20 lakh employees as of September, is running some “lighthouse experiments” in technologies, including generative artificial intelligence, which will deliver its benefits in the next 18-24 months.
“Obviously, AI is not (resulting in) any layoffs, at least in our bank. Because I see this as a huge opportunity to move people from the backend to the frontend or the technology end,” Jagdishan told reporters on the post-earnings call, answering a specific question about the impact of AI on jobs.
“This will just change the mix of where our people will be located. But it won’t reduce people other than the normal attrition that we have,” he added, in comments that come amid growing concerns about the impact of AI on business across sectors.
Even in banking, the CEO of one of Southeast Asia’s leading powers recently noted that despite business growth, it is not adding people to its workforce for the first time in 15 years, and pointed out that there will be a 10 percent contraction in headcount due to artificial intelligence in the next 3 years.
HDFC Bank added nearly 5,000 employees in the last six months, taking its total base to over 2.20 lakh by the end of September.
Jagdishan said India is a market full of financial services opportunities and has a long runway for growth, which requires many people to take on front-end roles to engage with customers while also continuing to innovate by embracing the best that technological advancements have to offer.
HDFC Bank’s investments are aimed at helping generate profits in the future and efforts revolve around reengineering processes, reducing turnaround times and improving customer experience, he said.
The bank is currently “quietly” making efforts in the technology space and will announce its work at the right time.
He made it clear that the bank has put in place appropriate guardrails and has not outsourced any decision-making to AI tools.
He added that the “game plan” is to reduce the number of people on the backend and use the same people on the frontend.
“I hope it works. These are all lighthouse experiments; we’re putting our strength and hard work into this particular thing. Some of it will work, some of it won’t. We’re pretty optimistic that these low-hanging fruit should work,” the CEO said.
