Good morning. An AI takeover of finance jobs does not appear imminent, experts say.
My Fortune Her colleague Emma Burleigh delves deeper into this topic in her new report: “Is AI really killing jobs in finance and banking? Experts say Wall Street layoffs may be more hype than buyout – for now.” For example, despite headline-grabbing layoffs on Wall Street this year, overall headcount in the banking and finance sector has remained relatively stable.
“I think that the general [headcount] The trend in the banking sector over the last decade is stable or even slightly declining,” Pim Hilbers, managing director working with banking and talent at BCG, told Burleigh.. “I don’t see that changing anytime soon. This doesn’t mean everyone stays in their job for life. I think we’re seeing a lot more mobility than in the past.
Burleigh writes of the banking industry: “So far, America’s largest financial institutions have not made major workforce reductions. just four fewer workers at the end of the third quarter of this year, compared to 2024. During the same period, JPMorgan saw its headcount increase by 2,000 employees, and more than a third of the new hires were integrated into the company’s operations. Even Goldman Sachs, which has made several rounds of layoffs this year, employed 48,300 people in September, about 1,800 more than the year before.
“Banks not yet ready to lay off staff, experts say Fortune they hold back their workforce growth for as long as possible, relying on AI efficiency gains until they are forced to add more humans to the payroll. They predict this slow hiring period could last for years. While AI isn’t replacing bankers yet, problems could be on the horizon for marketers and accountants. You can read the full report here.
In banking, AI is also reshaping competitive advantage, a recent report on BCG find. Predictive, generative and agentic AI are redefining the foundations of scale, efficiency and customer experience. Banks must anchor AI strategy in their business strategy. And “winning institutions” focus on areas where AI will deliver real returns, not just deploying more technology, according to BCG.
Sheryl Estrada
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Ranking
Aaron Barfoot was appointed financial director of DISCO (NYSE: LAW), a litigation technology provider, effective January 12. Barfoot brings more than two decades of experience in finance and business development. Most recently, he was CFO at Socure, a provider of AI-driven digital identity verification and fraud prevention solutions, and also held CFO and other financial leadership roles at Forter, Anaconda, ClearDATA and Rackspace.
Dana Litman was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sonata Bank. Litman most recently served as interim CFO at Sonata Bank, guiding the bank through a period of reorganization. He has over 30 years of experience in financial services. Litman was Chief Financial Officer at Community Bankshares, Inc., where he led initiatives in liquidity management, capital planning and bank sponsorship. Prior to that, he spent nearly 20 years at Quantum National Bank in the Atlanta area, where he served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief risk officer.
Big deal
“Future-Ready Finance: Investigating Technology, Productivity and Skills” published by the AICPA and CIMAnotes a gap between finance professionals’ expectations about the impact of AI and their organizations’ willingness to adopt it.
One of the key findings is that 88% of respondents believe AI will be the most transformative technology trend in accounting and finance over the next 12 to 24 months. However, only 8% believe their organization is very well prepared to handle the AI trend, while 21% believe their organization is well prepared, according to the report.
Additionally, more than half (56%) of respondents identified generative AI as the biggest skills gap. This reflects a broader shift in the skills landscape, with IT and technology capabilities moving from a secondary concern (20% in 2021) to the top priority today (46%).
The results are based on a survey of 1,446 global finance and accounting executives and managers.
“AI is here and reshaping finance, creating opportunities for finance professionals to develop future-ready skills,” Tom Hood, senior vice president of business growth and engagement at AICPA and CIMA, said in a statement. “Organizations that invest in talent and technology today can turn disruption into competitive advantage and be best positioned to lead the way tomorrow.” »
Go deeper
“The 5 tensions that leaders must manage when it comes to AI” » is an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review. Introducing AI into the workplace inherently creates tension. What tensions are most common in the workplace and how do they actually manifest? Researchers examine this topic based on information collected from more than 100 executives.
Heard
“While many companies struggled to find success early on, our AI journey over several years at Sam’s Club proved more successful. It has changed the way we operate our business, the way our associates work and the way our members shop with us.
—Chris Nicholas, president and CEO of Sam’s Club, writes in a Fortune opinion article titled “I’m the CEO of Sam’s Club and I have a reality check on AI leadership: Let the goal, not the promise, guide the investment.”
