NAIROBI, June 5 – Standard Chartered Bank’s growing use of artificial intelligence is reshaping how banking operations are managed, with its Kenyan workforce falling below 1,000 employees for the first time after more than a decade of gradual reductions.
The lender employed more than 2,200 people in Kenya in 2013, when banking operations relied heavily on large branch networks and manual processes. By the end of 2025, that number had dropped to fewer than 1,000 employees as digital tools and automation increasingly took over routine tasks.
The shift forms part of a wider strategy by Standard Chartered Group to streamline operations and increase efficiency through technology. In May, the bank announced plans to reduce more than 15% of its support-function workforce by 2030, with artificial intelligence expected to play a central role in handling tasks across compliance, administration, procurement, human resources and operations.
Under its technology roadmap, the bank expects AI to monitor 90% of key technology controls by 2027, while 80% of those controls will be fully automated through codified rules. It is also targeting 95% accuracy in AI-driven document processing and expects virtual assistants to handle up to 60% of internal staff queries.
Standard Chartered said it has already deployed more than 300 AI use cases, including 43 generative AI applications, while approximately 85,000 employees across the group have received training on Microsoft Copilot.
The bank reports that the technology has improved efficiency in several areas, including a 40% reduction in false positives in digital asset surveillance and an 88% decline in monitoring manpower requirements, generating annual savings of about $10 million.
