DBS to 'shrink workforce' by 4,000 in 3 years due to AI adoption, says CEO

Global banking major DBS Group expects a 10% reduction in its workforce over the next three years as artificial intelligence adoption goes deeper into the operations, its chief executive Piyush Gupta said on Monday.

Gupta said AI is different and unlike any other technologies adopted in the past, and added that he is struggling to create new jobs for the first time in his over 15-year stint at the helm of the Singaporean bank.

"This year, my current projection is that in the next three years, we are going to shrink our workforce by 4,000 or 10%," Gupta said, speaking at the Indian IT industry lobby group Nasscom event in Mumbai.

Attributing his outlook to the advent of AI, Gupta said, "AI is very powerful. It can self-create and also mimick".

Pointing out that AI is "different", Gupta said in the last ten years, there have not been any job cuts in the group.

He reminisced that in 2016-17, the bank embarked on a digital transformation which was seen impacting 1,600 people but added that almost all of them were repurposed in consultation with unions and other representatives.

However, the current challenge in the age of AI is also revolving around how to repurpose the workforce.

In a statement issued later, DBS Bank clarified that the reduction of 4,000 employees over the next three years will primarily involve contract and temporary staff.

Natural attrition will also lead to a workforce reduction, the bank said, adding that as temporary and contract roles roll off over the coming years, the base will reduce.

Gupta said the bank has been cautious about relying fully on AI when it comes to customer outreach because of aspects like hallucinations but added that it has done its first use case on reaching customer directly and plans to broadbase it by end of the year.

DBS started implementing generative AI solutions two years back, and the entire benefits of generative AI are yet to be seen, Gupta said.

The group is using AI across the business now, including customer outreach, credit underwriting and also hiring, Gupta said, adding that its first brush with AI in 2012-13 was not very successful.