AI won't lead to job cuts at HDFC Bank
What's the story
Sashidhar Jagdishan, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of HDFC Bank, has said that the bank's use of artificial intelligence (AI) will not result in any job losses. The bank, which had 220,000 employees as of September-end, is conducting "lighthouse experiments" with new technologies such as generative AI. These are expected to yield benefits over the next 18-24 months.
Workforce transition
AI to shift employee roles, not reduce headcount
Jagdishan emphasized that AI is not going to cause any layoffs at HDFC Bank. He sees it as a major opportunity to shift employees from backend roles to more customer-facing or tech-oriented positions. "It's only going to change the mix of where our people are going to be positioned," he said, adding that it won't reduce headcount apart from normal attrition.
Industry perspective
HDFC Bank's workforce continues to grow
Despite industry-wide concerns about AI's impact on jobs, HDFC Bank has continued to grow its workforce. In the last six months alone, the bank has added some 5,000 employees, taking its total employee count to over 220,000 by September-end.
Strategic approach
Bank's tech initiatives and investment strategy
Jagdishan also spoke about HDFC Bank's investment strategy, which is focused on future profitability. The bank is working to re-engineer processes, cut turnaround times, and improve customer experience. He said that the bank is "silently" working on tech initiatives and will reveal its work at an appropriate time. He stressed that the bank has put necessary guardrails in place and isn't delegating any decision-making tasks to AI tools.