How is AI changing American Express's workforce?
American Express is cutting about 5% of its positions while it spreads AI tools through the company. On October 23, 2026 it took a $336 million restructuring charge that Stephen Squeri said 'is expected to result in the elimination of approximately 5% of our positions globally'; a spokesperson put the cut at about 3,500 of approximately 78,000 workers, Payments Dive reported. CFO Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC the aim was to make Amex 'leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI', reducing layers 'so that we can automate and take advantage of AI'; Squeri framed it as reducing layers 'to speed decision-making'. Three months earlier, on the July 24, 2026 call, he had said the number of customer-service reps had not grown and 'Over time it will decrease from attrition'. Headcount per the 10-K was approximately 74,600 at the end of 2023, 75,100 at the end of 2024 and 76,800 at the end of 2025. On tools, 9,000 engineers used GitHub Copilot in April 2025 and about 11,000 used AI tools by March 2026, trimming coding times by more than 30%; 5,000 travel counselors use an AI companion. On October 23 Squeri said Amex has been 'deploying a broad suite of AI tools that help our colleagues' and had launched its first conversational AI voice agents. Amex has not said how many of the cut roles relate to AI or published AI training figures.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Data as of Oct 31, 2026 · Amex profile updated Oct 26, 2026 · 25 sources cited on this page · 141 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
How has American Express's headcount changed as it adopted AI?
Year-end figures are 'colleagues' from the 10-K human capital section; 2026 figures are from the earnings call and the company's spokesperson.
| As of | Headcount | What was said | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2023 | Approximately 74,600 colleagues | About 26,000 in the U.S. and 48,600 outside | 2023 Form 10-K[6] |
| December 31, 2024 | Approximately 75,100 | About 25,800 in the U.S. and 49,300 outside | 2024 Form 10-K[7] |
| December 31, 2025 | Approximately 76,800 | About 25,900 in the U.S. and 50,900 outside | 2025 Form 10-K[8] |
| July 24, 2026 | Service reps flat | A 'lack of acceleration in hiring' in customer service as volume grew; Squeri: 'Over time it will decrease from attrition' | Q2 2026 call, per American Banker[5] |
| October 23, 2026 | Approximately 5% of positions globally to go | $336 million restructuring charge ($253 million after tax; $0.37 per share), funded with part of the gain on the Global Business Travel Group stake | Q3 2026 call; Q3 2026 Form 10-Q[1][2] |
| October 23, 2026 | About 3,500 of approximately 78,000 | Company spokesperson; nearly 4.5% of the workforce, higher than the 76,800 at year-end; American Banker estimated about 3,900 from the 5% figure | Payments Dive; American Banker[3][11] |
What have American Express's leaders said about AI and jobs?
| Date | Who | What was said |
|---|---|---|
| January 30, 2025 | Stephen Squeri, memo to colleagues filed with the SEC | The Global Servicing leadership will work with Technology teams 'to further the use of new technologies, including Generative Artificial Intelligence, to help our frontline teams enhance the customer experience'[12] |
| April 2, 2025 | Hilary Packer, CTO | 9,000 engineers use GitHub Copilot, with developer productivity up 10%; the AI companion supports 5,000 travel counselors across 19 markets and more than 85% say it saves time[9] |
| March 30, 2026 | Anthony Devane, head of global support, enablement & control (September interview) | AI tools for service reps rolled out on a 'learn as we go' basis with training and employee feedback; adoption is not aimed at 'significantly reducing headcount'[10] |
| March 25, 2026 | Stephen Squeri, shareholder letter | AI is 'creating a structural shift in the way colleagues work'; about 11,000 engineers use AI tools and have trimmed coding times by more than 30%, per Payments Dive[13][10] |
| July 20, 2026 | Berta Rodriguez-Hervas, SVP Enterprise AI Platforms | Her team's remit includes 'increasing AI fluency across the workforce'; many colleagues use AI 'increasingly as a teammate'[14] |
| October 23, 2026 | Christophe Le Caillec, CFO | The restructuring makes Amex 'leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI'; it reduces layers and increases spans of control 'so that we can automate and take advantage of AI'[4][15] |
| October 23, 2026 | Stephen Squeri | Leaders were asked earlier in the year to 'reduce layers to speed decision-making'; Amex has been 'deploying a broad suite of AI tools that help our colleagues' and 'recently launched our first few conversational AI voice agents'[1] |
How does American Express train and hire for AI?
Training is described in general terms. The 2025 10-K lists career coaching, mentoring, rotations and on-demand and classroom courses, required training on laws, regulations and policies, and annual cybersecurity awareness training, with no AI-specific figures. The 2026 proxy says the board's Risk Committee oversees the AI governance structure 'including appropriate guardrails, training and consideration of risks and benefits'.[8][16]
Hiring rules now address AI directly. The careers site's AI usage guidance lets candidates use AI for research and to format a resume, bars altering identity, image or voice with AI and using AI in interviews unless the interviewer allows it, and says some technical assessments will test 'AI literacy and usage capabilities'.[17]
Not disclosed: which functions and locations the October 2026 cut affects, how many roles AI has replaced, or AI training hours. American Banker noted the company 'did not directly attribute the move to artificial intelligence or other technology'; the Independent, via Yahoo Finance, called it the first major round of layoffs in nearly a decade.[11][4][3]
What does the Amex profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the American Express AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 26, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 43 dated moves, 24 use cases and 73 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal AI for technology delivery and servicing | Clearing the product backlog faster; AI in servicing to deliver 'empathy at scale'. | In production | [5][18] |
| AI in coding and testing | About a 30% benefit for programmers in coding and testing; further AI investment aimed at cutting coding cycle times 30% to 40%. | In production | [19][20] |
| Agentic coding tools for engineers | AI-assisted development tools for more than 11,000 engineers, with agentic coding tools being scaled to cover the software lifecycle; 9,000 engineers used GitHub Copilot in April 2025. | Rolling out | [13][9] |
| Travel counselor assist | An AI agent that combines web data with proprietary Amex and customer data to help 5,000 travel counselors in 19 markets curate recommendations; more than 85% report time saved. | In production | [9] |
| Traversal AI site-reliability engineering | Amex deploys Traversal's AI SRE platform for root-cause analysis across global infrastructure and holds a $5 million stake through Amex Ventures. | Rolling out | [21][22] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | Q2 call: AI clears the tech backlog; attrition, not cuts | Squeri on speed gains internally and externally. | [5] |
| May 6, 2026 | AI training and scholarships for small businesses | New programs for Card Member businesses. | [23] |
| Mar 25, 2026 | Letter details internal AI deployment | AI-assisted development tools reach more than 11,000 engineers (coding cycle time down over 30%); the company plans to pilot conversational AI agents for its legacy voice response systems and is piloting AI to classify fraud claims. | [13] |
| Mar 4, 2026 | Traversal partnership and $5 million investment | Amex Ventures invests in the AI site-reliability engineering start-up and Amex deploys its platform across global infrastructure; EVP Matthew Liste says AI-driven operations enable better outcomes. | [21][22] |
| Jan 30, 2026 | Q4 2025 call: a cloud data platform and GenAI tools for nearly all colleagues | The third-generation data and analytics platform already cuts key marketing and fraud process times by 90%, with all data and analytics processes to migrate by 2027; Dining Companion launched and agent-commerce standards developed with partners. | [24][25] |
| Apr 2, 2025 | Packer on Amex's enterprise generative AI | CTO Hilary Packer says a council identified 500 use cases and 70 were in implementation; 9,000 engineers use GitHub Copilot, the IT chatbot (live since October 2023) resolves 40% more queries without escalation, and a travel counselor assistant serves 5,000 counselors in 19 markets. | [9] |
How many employees does American Express have?
Approximately 76,800 colleagues at December 31, 2025, about 25,900 in the U.S. and 50,900 outside, per the 2025 10-K, up from about 74,600 at the end of 2023. A company spokesperson put the workforce at approximately 78,000 in October 2026, when Amex announced it would cut about 3,500 jobs.
Is American Express cutting jobs because of AI?
Partly, by its CFO's account. On October 23, 2026 Amex took a $336 million restructuring charge to eliminate approximately 5% of positions globally. Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC it was to make the company leaner, more agile and 'to prepare for AI', reducing layers so processes can be automated; Stephen Squeri framed it as speeding decisions. Amex has not said how many roles AI itself replaces.
How many American Express engineers use AI coding tools?
About 11,000 engineers used AI tools by March 2026 and trimmed coding times by more than 30%, per Squeri's shareholder letter as reported by Payments Dive. In April 2025 CTO Hilary Packer said 9,000 engineers used GitHub Copilot, with a 10% productivity gain, and on the July 2026 call Squeri cited 30% to 40% shorter coding cycles.
How does American Express train employees on AI?
It has not published AI training numbers. Service reps got AI tools on a 'learn as we go' basis with training and feedback, the Enterprise AI Platforms team is charged with increasing AI fluency across the workforce, and the board's Risk Committee oversees AI training as part of AI governance, per the 2026 proxy.
Is American Express hiring for AI?
Yes, even while cutting elsewhere. BankingNewsAI's weekly read of the American Express careers site on October 27, 2026 listed 12 AI and data roles, including agentic AI engineering, AI enterprise platforms, agentic identity and AI cybersecurity roles in New York, Phoenix, Sunnyvale, London, Bengaluru and Singapore. Postings change weekly, so they are not cited as sources; see /banks/ai-hiring.
- Amex (AXP) Q3 2026 earnings call transcript (The Motley Fool)
- American Express Company Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026
- Amex to shrink workforce
- Amex slashes 3,500 jobs and joins other financial companies culling staff as some leaders admit it's for AI (The Independent via Yahoo Finance)
- Amex reports earnings in line with analyst expectations
- American Express Company Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2023
- American Express Company Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2024
- American Express Company Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2025
- How Amex uses AI to increase efficiency: 40% fewer IT escalations, 85% travel assistance boost
- How Amex exploits new AI tools
- American Express touts AI, plans 5% downsizing
- Executive team changes: memos from Stephen J. Squeri to colleagues (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
- 2026 Chairman’s Letter to Shareholders
- Building the Future of AI at American Express: Meet Berta Rodriguez-Hervas, SVP of Enterprise AI Platforms
- American Express is cutting 5% of its workforce to 'prepare for AI'
- American Express 2026 Proxy Statement (Schedule 14A)
- AI Guidelines at American Express: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Guidance for Candidates (undated page, retrieved 2026-10-31)
- How American Express Will Drive Innovation Through An AI Mindset
- American Express Company Q1 2026 Earnings Call Summary
- American Express Company Q2 2026 Earnings Call Summary
- Traversal Announces Strategic Investment from Amex Ventures
- Exclusive: American Express partners with and invests in AI operations startup Traversal
- American Express Launches New AI Training and Scholarship Programs for Small Businesses
- American Express (AXP) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
- American Express Fourth-Quarter 2025 Earnings Release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
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