Robots are not a threat to bankers, say tech firms

Banks have made large headcount cuts over the last five to 10 years, driven by the financial crash and regulatory changes, says Grant Goodband, client manager at Thoughtonomy.

Thoughtonomy is a technology company developing robotic workers for robotic process automation (RPA). 

While these external factors cannot be controlled, banks can decide how they react to such external factors, says Goodband: “The efficiency and flexibility of intelligent automation enables bank employees to react faster and in a more compliant manner.” 

While this may sound great from a corporate profitability perspective, it will worry people in corporate treasury. But RPA vendors insist human workers have nothing to fear. 

“While there is a fear that emerging technologies will pose a threat to existing roles, the reality is very different,” says Goodband. “The Future of Jobs Report finds that 85% of companies plan to retrain existing employees to extract the potential benefit from initiatives such as intelligent automation. Equally, 82% expect to hire new employees with relevant technological experience in areas such as IA.”

Indeed, intelligent automation can be seen as an opportunity for existing employees to upskill and progress their careers, says Goodband.