Operational Excellence (OPEX) Daily Briefing – Wednesday, December 10, 2025: When AI Becomes the Banker’s “Catalyst”: Higher Productivity, Fewer Traditional Jobs.
Điểm Tin Operational Excellence (OPEX) Mỗi Ngày – Thứ Tư, Ngày 10/12/2025: Khi AI Trở Thành “Chất Xúc Tác” Của Ngân Hàng: Năng Suất Tăng, Nhưng Nhiều Công Việc Truyền Thống Có Thể Biến Mất.
Welcome to my unique weekday article for the paid subscriber-only edition.
Operational Excellence (OPEX) Daily Briefing – issued on weekdays (Monday to Friday).
Điểm tin Operational Excellence (OPEX) hằng ngày (phát hành các ngày thứ Hai đến thứ Sáu).
This is the bilingual post in English and Vietnamese. Vietnamese is below.
Đây là bài viết song ngữ Anh-Việt. Tiếng Việt ở bên dưới.
English
PART 1 – OFFICIAL INFORMATION
On December 9, 2025, major U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, PNC Financial Services Group, and Bank of America simultaneously announced that the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) is generating significant productivity gains in their operational activities, while acknowledging that this could lead to a substantial reduction in traditional jobs in the coming years. According to remarks made at a financial industry conference, Marianne Lake, head of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan Chase, stated that the AI systems implemented by the bank have helped increase the productivity of operations staff from around 3% previously to about 6%, and in many departments — especially roles involving repetitive transaction and document processing — productivity gains could reach 40%–50% thanks to automation, reduced manual errors, and shorter processing times. This is one of the clearest confirmations of the direct impact of AI on operational efficiency within one of the largest banks in the United States.
At Wells Fargo, CEO Charlie Scharf emphasized that although the bank has not yet undertaken immediate staff cuts, AI is allowing Wells Fargo to “do more with the same number of people,” while also indicating that the bank expects additional workforce adjustments in 2026 as AI systems are deployed more deeply. According to Scharf, AI is transforming the bank’s core workflows and is a crucial part of its operational restructuring roadmap aimed at improving efficiency, lowering costs, and standardizing internal processes. Not only JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, but other major banks such as Citigroup and PNC also stated that they are applying AI to key areas including risk management, data processing, customer service, fraud detection, and compliance control, enabling shorter processing times, higher accuracy, and reduced workload for employees in repetitive functions.
However, all banks acknowledged a reality that AI is both a powerful driver of productivity growth and a catalyst accelerating workforce downsizing. Reuters noted that many banking executives believe AI could allow them to maintain or increase workloads with fewer employees, particularly in traditional operational functions such as reconciliation, data entry, document processing, and compliance review. Although widespread cuts did not occur immediately in 2025, long-term trends indicate that AI is reshaping the workforce structure of the U.S. banking industry, forcing institutions to retrain or reassign tens of thousands of employees over the next decade.
The official message from U.S. banks on December 9, 2025, shows that the financial sector is entering a new phase in which AI becomes an “operational catalyst” that significantly increases productivity, reduces errors, and improves processing speed, while also posing major challenges for employment as many traditional positions face the risk of being replaced. This is considered an important turning point for the entire industry as it shifts from a labor-intensive operating model to a system-wide AI-driven operating model, creating both opportunities and risks for banks in the years ahead.