DBS, UOB will focus on reskilling staff in AI instead of cutting jobs, say top execs
This is despite fears that automation could make certain roles redundant, they told CNA’s Elizabeth Neo at the Singapore FinTech Festival.
A man uses a DBS automated teller machine next to a UOB teller in Singapore. (File photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)
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SINGAPORE: The artificial intelligence boom has been lauded for its innovation and productivity gains – but it is also stirring fears that the technology could displace banking jobs.
Banks have increasingly embedded AI in key areas of their business, from risk management and fraud detection to delivering more tailored customer experiences.
Top executives from two of Singapore’s largest banks, UOB and DBS, said on Thursday (Nov 13) that their priority is to help staff adapt instead of replacing them, despite fears that automation could make certain job roles redundant.
They were speaking to CNA at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, which is being held at the Singapore Expo from Wednesday to Friday.
AUGMENTING HUMAN CAPABILITIES
Mr Alvin Eng, UOB’s head of enterprise AI at its innovation group, said the bank is focused on repurposing roles and equipping employees with the skills to work with AI.
“It’s a two-way thing. That's why we provide the training and the platforms,” noted Mr Eng.
“We tell our staff, you need to be with us on this journey - you need to embrace this technology and learn with us. We'll provide you with the tools.”
When asked how many of these jobs are being repurposed, he said the bank is looking at “roughly 10 to 15 per cent potentially for this initial stage”, but added a caveat that UOB does not have the actual numbers.
He said the situation would evolve depending on the use cases, and that the bank has been “very active” in training employees in the use of AI.
Singapore’s third-largest bank by assets introduced an initiative last month to equip staff with foundational Generative AI (Gen AI) and automation skills.
“For example, just in Gen AI alone, we have trained over 20,000 people already,” Mr Eng revealed.
“We have enabled Gen AI across the whole bank – in fact, 30,000 of our staff, they all have Gen AI at their fingertips … they can play with it every day.”
In a keynote speech at the festival on Wednesday, UOB deputy chairman and chief executive Wee Ee Cheong said AI should augment human capabilities and not replace jobs.
Mr Wee also said that over the next decades, data and AI will make finance more intelligent, predictive and inclusive.
AI WILL DO ‘MUNDANE, REPETITIVE’ TASKS
Similarly, DBS has been adapting its workforce strategy as AI becomes more prevalent.
The country’s largest lender announced last week that it would halt hiring for roles likely to be replaced by automation, with employees in affected roles to be reassigned and trained for new positions.
It said in February that it plans to cut 4,000 temporary jobs over the next three years in anticipation of AI increasingly taking on roles carried out by humans.
On Thursday, DBS chief data and transformation officer Nimish Panchmatia told CNA that while AI may replace some jobs entirely, the greater impact will come from transforming how work is done.
“Let's start with the premise that AI will replace jobs in its entirety. It may happen in a few pockets, but what AI will do is fundamentally change the way work gets done,” he said.
“That will mean that there are certain things that you're doing today that AI will be able to do on your behalf tomorrow, which means your role will change. And I think that's where most of the change and transformation will happen, as opposed to many roles suddenly disappearing.”
Mr Panchmatia said automation will likely handle “mundane, repetitive tasks”, allowing humans to focus on more creative and empathetic work and “create experiences for our clients that are far ahead of anything else”.
When asked about the broader impact of AI across the industry, Mr Panchmatia said it is still early days.
Still, he noted that history suggests technological disruption tends to create new roles even as some disappear.
“For example, when email and Outlook and the internet turned up, a lot of people thought jobs would disappear … if you go 20 years before that, when robots turned up, people thought that manufacturing jobs and factory jobs were going to disappear. They didn’t,” Mr Panchmatia said.
“So, I think it's another cycle. What is important is that human creativity has always been ahead of the game.
“My belief is that we'll make the adjustments that may be painful – a little bit – in the beginning, but it's a massive opportunity to allow humans to focus on what they're best at – being creative,” he added.
