StanChart CEO apologises for ‘lower-value’ comments after outcry

Published Fri, May 22, 2026 · 04:49 PM

STANDARD Chartered chief executive officer Bill Winters apologised for his comments earlier this week about how artificial intelligence will affect “lower-value human capital,” after such remarks spurred public backlash.

Winters wrote in a LinkedIn post on Friday that he recognised his “choice of words” has “caused upset to some colleagues.” 

The note came just hours after Winters doubled down on his remarks in a separate LinkedIn post. He wrote that the bank has for many years invested in helping staff whose roles have been upended by automation. 

“In that context, I said that lower-value roles are more vulnerable to automation, and that we have a responsibility to help colleagues move into higher-value roles,” he wrote. “We will continue to speak honestly about the impact of technological change, and we will continue to act responsibly in helping our people to adapt and succeed.”

Winters made contentious remarks earlier this week when referring how artificial intelligence would play a role in the bank’s plans to cut thousands of roles. 

“It’s not cost cutting; it’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in,” he said at a briefing in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Some regulators in Asia held discussions with the lender following his remarks, and Winters had also sent a memo to staff in a reassurance effort in the days after. 

The phrasing drew condemnation on social media and across Asia, a region that generates most of its profits. It underscores the delicate balance top financiers face as shareholders push for cost cuts and deeper adoption of AI, even as companies seek to show empathy toward displaced employees. 

He spoke after the London-based lender disclosed plans to eliminate close to 8,000 support roles over the next four years, making it one of the first global banks to set out how it expects AI to trim headcount. BLOOMBERG