Will AI Take Over Banking Jobs? HDFC CIO Offers Insight At Rising Bharat Summit

Published 24 July 2026 · finance

Will AI Take Over Banking Jobs? HDFC CIO Offers Insight At Rising Bharat Summit Published By, Last Updated: July 24, 2026, 19:55 IST HDFC Bank

Will AI Take Over Banking Jobs? HDFC CIO Offers Insight At Rising Bharat Summit Published By, Last Updated: July 24, 2026, 19:55 IST HDFC Bank flags AI gains in trading but signals gradual workforce shift via attrition, not layoffs—while admitting tech adoption hasn’t solved all operational bottlenecks yet. Rapid Read HDFC CIO said during the Rising Bharat Summit that AI will not take jobs but rather help companies redeploy staff. (Source: X/ "CNNNews18) HDFC Bank is seeing early gains from its artificial intelligence (AI) push, particularly in trading operations, even as it prepares for a gradual shift in workforce composition driven by automation. The Bank’s Chief Information Officer also said that they won’t be cutting jobs while adopting AI but rather use it to enhance processes.

Speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit, the bank’s Group Head of IT and Chief Information Officer Ramesh Lakshminarayanan said AI adoption has already delivered tangible results in select areas. “Trading process has been one our biggest successes in AI adoption," he noted, pointing to improved efficiency and faster decision-support systems in the bank’s trading functions. On the broader impact of AI, Lakshminarayanan underlined that the bank is not looking at outright job cuts, but rather a steady transition in roles. He emphasised that reskilling and redeployment will be central to this shift. “Redeployment of skills is more important. After attrition we are not backfiling," he said, indicating that roles vacated over time may not be replaced as automation takes on a larger share of routine tasks.

Addressing concerns around job losses, he clarified that any reduction in headcount would be gradual and organic. “Numbers are going to go down, but they will go down in the natural condition and not an artificially forced," he said. The approach signals a long-term restructuring strategy, where workforce changes are aligned with evolving technological needs rather than abrupt cost-cutting measures. Lakshminarayanan’s comments come amid a wider push across the banking sector to integrate AI into core operations, from customer service to risk management and back-end processing. While the technology promises efficiency gains, it also raises questions about the future of jobs in the industry. He acknowledged that the transition is not without challenges. Despite increased AI adoption, some operational bottlenecks remain. “JIRA tickets still have a massive backlog despite AI adoption," he said, highlighting that technology alone cannot immediately resolve legacy inefficiencies.