Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan plans a “big number” of job cuts, thinking that robots could replace a large chunk of its workforce.

Banki.ru reports that Cryan has already cut thousands of jobs. He hinted in an interview to Financial Times about his commitment to deeper incorporate technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate banking tasks.

The bank currently employs 97 000 people. Cryan noted in one of his commentaries that Deutsche Bank’s main rivals have about half that number on their payroll. According to him, the bank’s accountants “spend a lot of the time basically being an abacus”, so they will need to find new things to do.

Deutsche Bank CEO thinks that the ratio of sales and trading roles to back office staff was “out of kilter,” and that the bank’s processes were far too manual and error-prone. He is also looking to close bank branches as part of a five-year restructuring plan.

According to the survey by Greenwich Associates, around 75% of financial firms will either explore or implement artificial intelligence technologies by next year. The experts of the firm think that some 15% of the industry’s jobs are at risk.

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