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Lloyds Banking Group to hire 300 tech experts to work on AI

Exclusive: While recruits will increase headcount for now, broader adoption of AI could lead to jobs cuts in future Lloyds Banking Group has launched an AI recruitment drive for 300 tech experts, weeks before its chief executive, Charlie Nunn, unveils a strategic plan for the 261-year old lender. The bank said it intended the recruits to work on its use and development of agentic AI by September, referring to autonomous artificial intelligence models that can plan and execute tasks with minimal human oversight. While the hiring drive is will increase Lloyds’ headcount for now, the group did not rule out its broad adoption of AI leading to job cuts in the future. Trystan Davies, group head of data and AI science, said: “AI will reshape how organisations are structured. It will change roles and how we work, and we are investing in training for colleagues through that transition.” In January, Nunn acknowledged that the bank would have to “ reduce some jobs in some areas” owing to AI. Last month, Standard Chartered announced 7,000 job cuts, due in part to AI. Its chief executive, Bill Winters, later apologised for describing the move as “replacing, in some cases, lower-value human capital”. News of Lloyds’ hiring drive comes weeks before Nunn is expected to inform staff and investors of a new multi-year strategy for the banking group next month. He is closing out a current five-year strategy, which included a big push towards online banking involving hundreds of branch closures, as well as a renewed focus on pensions and wealth management. Davies said the AI cohort would be deployed to a range of projects, including identifying and preventing scams and fraud.