Last year’s U.S. technology graduates received a large number of job offers from Wall Street’s largest banks before they had even finished their degree caps. It’s fair to say that peers across the Atlantic have taken a more relaxed approach to acquiring the talent needed to manage the AI boom.
However, Europe’s financial centers appear to be starting to understand the need for AI talent.
British banks have accelerated recruitment ahead of rivals, a new review of the banking industry’s artificial intelligence capabilities shows.
The number of artificial intelligence jobs listed by British banks increased by 12% in the first three months of 2024, growing faster than other countries in Europe and the United States, according to consultancy Evident.
Deutsche Bank and Santander are driving demand for AI-savvy workers in Europe, with Barclays, HSBC and BNP Paribas also investing in AI talent. Between October 2023 and April 2024, HSBC announced 30% more AI job openings than any other European bank.
Evident’s AI Index tracks banks’ success in using the technology through measures of talent, innovation, leadership and transparency. Its latest index shows that only one European bank, UBS Group AG, ranks among the world’s top 10 banks in terms of AI readiness.
Critics will point out that the placement was the result of a merger of resources following the bank’s emergency acquisition of Credit Suisse.
Alexandra Mousavizadeh, co-founder and chief executive of Evident, said in a statement: “After a brutal wave of layoffs, investments in artificial intelligence are seen by banks as a panacea that will allow them to achieve the productivity gains they need from their remaining workforce.
America leads
That U.S. banks are ahead of their British and European peers is a familiar story, as is U.S. tech companies’ lead over transatlantic rivals in the artificial intelligence boom.
talking wealth At an AI symposium in June, Evident’s Mousavizadeh said Bank of America made a conscious decision to be “AI first” early on in the technology’s major breakthroughs. Out of this came the creation of labs, the publication of research, and a dedicated AI recruitment team.
It also sparked an arms race among U.S. banks for the best talent. Goldman Sachs proved to be a big early loser in the fight, with 60 of its employees leaving for firms including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.
Moussa Vizad said there is also a strong push to recruit talent directly from universities.
Europe, on the other hand, has historically not been as comfortable with the intersection of technology and finance as the U.S., said Nigel Moden, EY MEIA financial services banking and capital markets leader.
It’s also challenging to convince computer science majors to jump into finance and avoid the path of the likes of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.
However, the latest data suggests this is changing, with the UK slowly closing the early gap with the US.
Ernst & Young’s Moden predicts that large-scale AI deployments in Europe will arrive around the end of 2025, after banks have established the regulatory environment.
Ultimately, it might not be such a bad thing that the UK is lagging behind the US in the early days of the AI boom.
Moden has yet to find a big gap in the AI proficiency of US banks, suggesting they are simply conducting large-scale experiments that could provide British companies with poaching opportunities in the future.
“If you’re HSBC, Barclays or ING, it’s probably not a bad strategy to try and find someone who has worked at a big U.S. bank for a few years to learn their trade,” EY’s Morden said.
