HSBC targets $100m in savings with Google Cloud AI tie-up
Europe’s biggest lender HSBC has sealed a a tech tie-up with Google where it aims to use AI to scout priority projects that could bank the firm $100m in “efficiency gains”.
The FTSE 100 giant is planning to roll out Google Cloud across its operations in a deal that the bank says will allow 200 more tasks to be completed by AI.
The bank said the initial roll-out would focus on “hyper-personalised” wealth management, stronger financial crime risk management and AI tools to “enhance” client services.
The new tech will also be leveraged to filter through ideas and prioritise the “highest value initiatives” for the firm – an endeavour HSBC claims will make or save at least $100m.
City PM revealed in April that Lloyds had entered a deal with Google to build AI agents.
Britain’s biggest mortgage lender was using the tech giant’s suite of computing services to create a new internal platform for agents that will allow teams across its group to build their own tools and publish them to a central marketplace where other divisions can find and deploy them.
Georges Elhedery, HSBC’s top boss, has told bankers to openly embrace AI. In May he said the bank’s staff must avoid “fighting us” as he unveiled AI adoption plans at an investor day.
Staff must not be “disenfranchised, not anxious, overwhelmed, and resisting the change,” he told those in attendance.
He added: “We all know generative AI will destroy certain jobs and will create new jobs.”
“But my initial mission is: I need 200,000 colleagues with us on this journey – however many will be left at the end of the journey isn’t the problem.”
Elhedery, like his banking chief peers, has looked to leverage the capabilities of AI in a bid to cut costs across operations.
Bill Winters, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, laid out plans to slash some 8,000 roles last month, but stoked controversy after saying the decision was not about cost-cutting and instead replacing “lower-value human capital”. Winters later apologised for the comments in a LinkedIn post.
Earlier this year, reports from Bloomberg suggested HSBC was weighing up to 20,000 job cuts as part of a longer-term push towards automation and AI.
Across the global banking sphere, banking bigwigs have been vocal about expecting a jobs reckoning.
JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon – often described as the world’s most influential banker – has said AI “will reduce jobs down the road”.
In March, Japanese firm Mizuho announced plans to axe up to 5,000 jobs over a decade as it pumps ¥100bn (£466m) into its AI action plan. The firm employs a 65,000 strong workforce across more than 35 countries.
Wall Street lender Citigroup has axed fifth of staff from its wealth business since 2023 as part of a sweeping overhaul of the division following the introduction of an AI-powered wealth management assistant capable of providing clients with personalised financial guidance.