StanChart CEO apologises for ‘upset caused’ by AI comments

LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) – Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters apologised for the upset caused to staff by his remarks about artificial intelligence replacing “lower value” human workers, but stopped short of retracting the comments on Friday.

Bank bosses in recent weeks have been more forthright about the job cuts they expect to make as AI makes routine tasks more efficient, having previously avoided a direct link to cuts to focus on productivity gains.

In a post on LinkedIn, Winters said he was fielding questions about his choice of words, “which I know has caused upset to some colleagues. For that I am sorry.”

This is a second clarification of his remarks following an earlier post that reiterated his point and explained why the lender is cutting some 15% of its back-office support jobs.

“It’s not cost-cutting. It’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in,” Winters said on Tuesday as the bank announced it would slash nearly 8,000 jobs as it adopts AI technology.

In his latest post, Winters included a transcript of his full remarks, which he said showed that he valued his colleagues “most highly” and included preceding context that the bank was “giving every opportunity” to at-risk employees who want to learn new skills.

Hong Kong and Singapore regulators have sought clarification from the bank about Winters’ remarks,  Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

(Reporting by Lawrence White; editing by Gus Trompiz)