Ford and Australia's Commonwealth Bank rehire staff after automation failures
Ford and Australia's Commonwealth Bank (CBA) both increased reliance on automated systems, and quickly realized it wasn't so simple.
Ford ended up rehiring 350 engineers over three years after automated systems left quality issues unsolved.
Meanwhile, CBA replaced dozens of customer service staff with a voice bot in late 2025, but customer calls actually went up, forcing the bank to bring people back.
Engineers help Ford top J.D. Power
Ford credits its returning engineers for fixing key problems and helping it top JD Power's quality rankings.
CBA admitted it didn't think through the impact of its AI rollout and apologized, offering laid-off staff a chance to stay or move within the bank.
Australia's finance union pointed out how stressful these changes were for workers and urged companies to be more careful before making big AI decisions.