- Singapore’s leading banks, UOB and DBS, reaffirm that AI will augment not replace human roles, even as automation reshapes banking operations.
- UOB ramps up large-scale AI upskilling, training over 20,000 staff in GenAI literacy, while DBS freezes roles likely to be automated and commits to retraining employees.
- Bank leaders say AI will take over routine tasks, enabling workers to focus on creative, relationship-driven, and higher-value responsibilities in the evolving financial sector.
The accelerating rise of artificial intelligence has engendered both excitement and anxiety within the banking sector, where the technology is reshaping operations while raising concerns about the future of traditional roles. Banks have rapidly integrated AI into core functions such as fraud detection, risk management, and personalised customer services, fuelling fears that automation could eventually make certain jobs obsolete.
However, senior leaders from two of Singapore's largest banks, UOB and DBS, suggested on Thursday, Nov 13, 2024, that their focus remains firmly on helping employees adapt to new technologies rather than replace them. Speaking to CNA at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025, they reiterated that the purpose of AI is to enhance human capability, not eliminate it.
At UOB, the approach is all about empowering the staff with the necessary competencies to work confidently alongside AI systems. According to Alvin Eng, the bank's head of enterprise AI at its innovation group, UOB is focusing on repurposing roles and upskilling staff to thrive in an AI-enabled environment. He highlighted that the organization looks at this transformation as a journey together with its people.
Thus, he said the transformation is supported by training programmes and platforms designed to bring its people along as technology evolves. However, while Eng estimates that probably 10 to 15 per cent of roles may be repurposed in the initial phase, he says exact figures are still in evaluation and will depend on how specific use cases evolve. UOB has ramped up its AI literacy efforts, with its most recent programme equipping employees with basic knowledge of Generative AI and automation.
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The bank added that basic GenAI training has already been given to over 20,000 employees, and around 30,000 staff across the organization have also been enabled access to GenAI tools.
During his keynote address at the festival, UOB deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong said that to the bank, AI is a technology to extend human capabilities, not to replace people. He said that as data and the capabilities of AI continue to expand in the next few decades, the financial sector will become even more intelligent, predictive, and inclusive.
DBS has also been tweaking its manpower strategy in anticipation of AI playing a bigger role. The bank recently froze hiring for positions that are expected to be automated, while pledging to retrain and redeploy employees holding such positions. Earlier this year, DBS announced that it would phase out 4,000 temporary positions over three years as part of its shift towards automation.
For Nimish Panchmatia, the bank's chief data and transformation officer, the bigger consequence of AI will not be the loss of jobs but rather changes in the nature of work. AI, he said, will take over routine, repetitive tasks, leaving workers to focus on creative, relationship-driven and higher-value responsibilities.
While some roles may diminish, said Panchmatia, technological disruption has created new opportunities throughout history. He points to concerns about email, the internet, and industrial robots-fears that gave way to new forms of employment. He says the banking sector enters another such cycle, where human creativity remains at its core. Though short-term adjustments might be hard, he called it a big opportunity for workers to channel their strengths into more meaningful and innovative work.
