How is AI changing Bank of America's workforce?
Bank of America is shrinking its workforce through attrition while it puts AI in front of almost every employee. Headcount held at about 213,000 for two years; on January 14, 2026 Brian Moynihan said the bank would work headcount down through operational excellence and new technologies including AI, and in September 2026 he put it at about 209,000, with attrition near 8.5% and roughly 1,000 of every 1,300 monthly leavers replaced. 'We're not laying off anybody,' he said. About 95% of employees have access to AI tools, co-president Jim DeMare said in September 2026, and more than 90% use Erica for Employees, the internal assistant launched in 2020 that cut IT service-desk calls by more than half. Moynihan said the bank's 18,000 coders have saved 10% to 15% of their time, which is being redeployed, and that the AI expense budget will double next year. Training runs through The Academy, which supports more than 200,000 employees; its head, Bernard Hampton, describes AI skills in levels running from personal productivity for every role to multi-agent workflows, and employees completed over 1 million AI conversation simulations in 2024. The bank still recruits: 2,000 full-time campus hires and 2,000 interns in June 2026, almost 45% of open roles filled internally last year per Hampton, and on September 24, 2026 a pledge of 1,000 more apprentices over two years on top of the 800-plus it hires each year.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Data as of Oct 31, 2026 · BofA profile updated Oct 26, 2026 · 23 sources cited on this page · 141 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
What has Bank of America said about AI and jobs, and when?
Statements and figures as the source reports them. The two 2025 hiring figures come from different speakers and are not reconciled by the bank.
| Date | Who | What was said or reported |
|---|---|---|
| April 8, 2025 | Bank of America newsroom | 213,000 employees; over 90% use Erica for Employees (launched 2020, expanded in 2023 to benefits, payroll and tax-form questions), which cut IT service-desk calls by more than 50%; employees completed over 1 million AI conversation simulations in 2024; developers report efficiency gains of over 20% from a GenAI coding tool[4] |
| January 14, 2026 | Brian Moynihan; CFO Alastair Borthwick | Headcount about 213,000 for two years and expected to fall in 2026; about 17,000 hires in 2025 to fill vacated roles plus 2,000 new college graduates; 'Every time someone leaves, we take the opportunity to evaluate whether the role needs to be replaced'; an AI audit capability could mean a smaller audit team; consumer-segment staff down from 101,000 in 2011 to 55,000[1] |
| February 2026 | Brian Moynihan | Points to 1969 forecasts that computers would end management jobs: 'We have 20,000 managers today at Bank of America'; says AI augments auditors, lawyers and investment bankers and is 'going to affect senior people'[8] |
| June 2026 | Bernard Hampton, head of The Academy | 'We hired 20,000 people last year', including 2,000 campus hires; almost 45% of open roles were filled internally[5] |
| June 3, 2026 | Bank of America executive, via Reuters | About 4,000 summer interns and full-time campus hires: 2,000 full-time recruits and 2,000 internships[6] |
| September 14, 2026 | Brian Moynihan, Barclays conference | Headcount down from about 213,000 at the start of the year to 209,000-210,000; about 1,300 leave each month and about 1,000 are replaced; 150 AI use cases implemented; 18,000 coders 'saved' 10-15%, being redeployed; AI expense budget to double next year; 'We're not laying off anybody'[3][2] |
| September 2026 | Jim DeMare, co-president | About 95% of the company has access to AI tools; 20,000 software developers use coding agents with gains of about 15% to 20%; 'one of the biggest risks to implementation of AI is people being fearful of it'[2] |
| September 24, 2026 | Bank of America; Moynihan | 1,000 additional apprentices over two years on top of 800-plus a year in consumer banking, technology and operations; $150 million over five years for workforce development groups; about 40% of hires have no bachelor's degree[7][9] |
How does Bank of America train employees to use AI?
The Academy, the bank's onboarding, education and professional development organization, supports more than 200,000 employees. Its head, Bernard Hampton, frames AI skill in levels: level one is personal productivity for every role and function ('everyone has access to some version of AI today'), and level three covers large workflows with multiple data sources and multiple agents across the organization.[5]
Much of the training itself uses AI. The Academy runs AI conversation simulators in which employees practice client interactions and get real-time feedback; employees completed over 1 million simulations in 2024, and Hampton describes them as a safe environment for practicing real-world scenarios with human oversight kept central.[4][5]
Moynihan ties the apprentice expansion to AI: employees will not necessarily be replaced by AI but will need to know how to use it, and 'we as managers have to realize one of our jobs is to make sure this transition works for everybody', he said on September 24, 2026.[9]
What has Bank of America not disclosed about AI and its workforce?
The bank attributes its smaller headcount to managed hiring rather than AI layoffs, and says employees stay accountable for AI-generated information they use. It has not said how many roles were left unfilled because AI absorbed the work, as opposed to other efficiency programs.[2][3]
Also not published: AI training hours or completion rates beyond the simulation count, how many staff work on AI, and how the time saved by coders is redeployed. The two hiring figures for 2025 (about 17,000 per the January call coverage, 20,000 per Hampton) are not reconciled.[1][5]
What does the BofA profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the Bank of America AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 26, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 47 dated moves, 18 use cases and 71 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Academy simulators | AI conversation simulators for employee coaching. | In production | [4] |
| AI-assisted software development | About 19,000 developers use real-time coding assistance, raising productivity by more than 20%; AI took 30% out of the coding stream in 2025. | In production | [10][11] |
| EricaAssist at the contact centre | Desktop widget used by about 18,000 customer service employees; generative-AI additions tell the agent why the customer is calling and recommend next steps, and average call time falls by almost a minute. | In production | [12][13] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 23, 2026 | DeMare: coding is the clearest AI return | At a BofA Securities conference the co-president says about 20,000 developers use coding agents for a 15% to 20% gain, about 95% of staff have AI access, and the bank is assessing third-party providers; Gopalkrishnan says AI investment interest is more than twice last year's and spending will probably double. | [2] |
| Sep 14, 2026 | Moynihan: AI budget to double in 2027 | At a Barclays conference, Moynihan says about 140 AI applications are implemented at a cost of $400 million, generating a benefit of $800 million, and that the bank expects to double its AI expense budget next year; headcount has eased from 213,000 to 209,000 through attrition, 'we're not laying off anybody'. | [2] |
| Jul 14, 2026 | Q2 2026 deck adds a dedicated AI slide | Three levels of AI: general-purpose tools (~200,000 users), functional tools for wealth, banking and developers, and multi-process systems for call centres, payments and document intelligence; more than 600,000 AI training courses completed. | [10][14][15] |
| Jun 3, 2026 | 4,000 interns and campus hires despite AI | 2,000 full-time recruits and 2,000 internships, a signal on entry-level roles. | [6] |
| Apr 15, 2026 | CTIO at Semafor: from proofs of concept to end-to-end process transformation | Gopalkrishnan names four drivers: end-to-end process change, scale and reuse, governance, and return on investment; the bank supports about 3,000 processes and filled 44% of jobs through internal mobility. | [16] |
| Mar 26, 2026 | AI meeting tools for Merrill and the Private Bank | Meeting prep, summaries and next steps integrated with Salesforce and Zoom; about 15,000 employees in the first phase. | [17][18] |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Q4 2025 call: coding 30% faster, Copilot for 200,000 | Moynihan says AI took 30% out of the coding stream for the bank's 18,000 coders, saving about 2,000 people, that Microsoft 365 Copilot is out to 200,000 teammates, and that direct AI spend is 'several hundred million dollars'. | [11] |
| Nov 5, 2025 | Investor day: 270 models, fraud losses halved, 18,000 coders on agents | Moynihan says the bank runs 270 AI and machine-learning models; the CTIO reports 18,000 developers on coding agents and a 20% productivity gain; Holly O'Neill says AI-enabled processes cut fraud losses in half since 2018. Technology spend is about $100 billion over a decade, $4 billion a year on new initiatives and $1 billion on cybersecurity. | [19][20][21] |
| Oct 15, 2025 | Q3 2025 call: headcount down from 285,000 to 213,000 | Moynihan credits applied technology, including AI, for 15 years of headcount reduction and says Erica already handles millions of interactions a day, while stressing precise implementation in a regulated business. | [22] |
| Jul 16, 2025 | Q2 2025 deck maps AI across four domains | Erica for Employees used by more than 90% of teammates, cutting service-desk calls by about half; an AI assistant for about 17,000 developers; more than 50 AI-enabled fraud-detection models; about 1,400 AI and machine-learning patents granted and pending. | [23] |
| Apr 1, 2025 | Workforce AI adoption: 1 million training simulations | The Academy uses AI conversation simulators for coaching; employees completed more than a million simulations in a year. | [4] |
Is Bank of America cutting jobs because of AI?
Not through layoffs, according to Brian Moynihan. Headcount fell from about 213,000 at the start of 2026 to about 209,000 by September because the bank replaces roughly 1,000 of the 1,300 people who leave each month, with AI and other tools absorbing the work. 'We're not laying off anybody,' he said.
How many Bank of America employees use AI?
About 95% of the company has access to AI tools, co-president Jim DeMare said in September 2026. More than 90% of employees use Erica for Employees, the internal virtual assistant launched in 2020, which the bank says cut IT service-desk calls by more than half.
What is The Academy at Bank of America?
The Academy is the bank's onboarding, education and professional development organization, supporting more than 200,000 employees. It uses AI conversation simulators for client-interaction practice, with over 1 million simulations completed in 2024, and its head Bernard Hampton runs AI skill-building from personal productivity up to multi-agent workflows.
Is Bank of America still hiring graduates and apprentices?
Yes. In June 2026 it took on about 4,000 interns and full-time campus hires, and on September 24, 2026 it pledged 1,000 additional apprentices over two years on top of the more than 800 it hires each year, plus $150 million over five years for workforce development groups.
Is Bank of America hiring for AI roles?
Yes. A BankingNewsAI snapshot of the bank's careers site on October 27, 2026 listed AI roles including a senior principal engineer for generative AI strategy in New York, principal engineers for agentic AI and LLM optimization in Charlotte, a senior AI controls lead and a GenAI security engineer. See the AI hiring tracker.
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- Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results presentation (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2)
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