India's largest private sector lender, Axis Bank expects investments in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology will help it expand without adding
many staff. The remarks came from bank's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Chaudhry in an interview with Bloomberg Television where he signalled slower hiring even as India’s third-largest private lender scales up its business. “Our hope is that, at least to start with, there is no need to continue to increase the headcount at the same pace as before,” CEO Amitabh Chaudhry said. Axis Bank is looking to combine technology, employee attrition and redeployment to support growth, Chaudhry said. “I don’t think any employees will be let go,” aside from those who are underperforming, he added. As reported by Bloomberg, Axis Bank has already begun to see productivity gains from its technology push. It has opened nearly 400 branches in fiscal 2026 even as its net headcount fell 3 per cent from the previous year. Axis Bank had more than 101,000 employees at the end of the fiscal year ended in March. The CEO said the bank may be able to keep headcount at roughly the same level, and still grow the business at a steady pace. "With the advance of AI, new roles will emerge that are different from current ones," he said. Employees will need to pivot slightly and pick up these new technologies and platforms. If they do, it will improve their jobs and career prospects, he added. Axis Bank ranks behind private sector rivals such as HDFC Bank Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd. in terms of assets. The bank completed the acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer business in India in 2023. In a separate development, Amitabh Chaudhry had said over USD 127 billion of FCNR(B) deposits could lead to some "abnormal lending". Speaking at the annual Global Fintech Fest 2026 here, the head of the third-largest private sector lender cautioned fellow bankers to be "careful" about the way they deploy the huge sums raised from the diaspora under the concessional swap deal announced by the RBI."FCNR could lead to some abnormal lending, because we will have to deploy this," Chaudhry said, adding that he "hopes" that bankers do not do that.
