How 45 call-centre roles were declared redundant, then not, in 23 days, and what boards can take from it.
Terence KokExecutive Director, AI Governance & Assurance, Orion Five Engineering
About your speaker
Terence Kok
Executive Director, AI Governance & Assurance Practice, Orion Five Engineering
Former Chief AI and Innovation Officer, Meinhardt Group
Twenty-five years leading digital and AI transformation across Asia and the Middle East: national smart-city programmes, critical infrastructure and enterprise operations. Today I help leadership teams put AI into production with controls they can show a board, an auditor and a regulator.
BuiltA governed AI platform serving more than 6,000 engineers, with zero security incidents
CertifiedISO/IEC 42001 Lead Auditor Professional (BSI) · AIGP (SMU) · Registered Management Consultant
ServingCTCB CPSC Advisory Board · UN ESCAP AI for Developing Countries Forum
AwardsCDO Vision Award 2026 · Singapore's Most Influential Data & AI Leaders 2026 · Google Trailblazer Transformation Award 2024
Independent analysis from public sources. The views in this session are mine.
This session
Seven parts, from the call centre to the boardroom.
The call centre before the botCustomer Service Direct, 2024 to mid-2025
The 23 daysAnnouncement, dispute, reversal
The law and the recordWhat “not redundant” means under the Fair Work Act
What CBA did next2026: programme, cuts and a new way of talking about AI
The rules around the decisionSenate, unions, the National AI Plan, APRA
Why it matters for AITriage, evidence and attribution
Lessons and controlsFor boards, executives and government
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
The short version
A headcount decision taken on an early, unpublished reading of what an AI system had done.
45
call-centre roles in Customer Service Direct declared redundant on 29 July 2025 [23]
2,000
fewer calls a week: what CBA told the union. Never published [24][11]
23
days until CBA said the roles were not redundant and apologised [26]
0
tribunal rulings. CBA conceded before the listed hearing [12][13]
Sources: iTnews, 29 July 2025 [23]; Yahoo Finance, 29 July 2025 [24]; Finance Sector Union, 7 and 21 August 2025 [11][12][13]; CBA statement via Digital Nation, 21 August 2025 [26].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Part 1
The call centre before the bot.
Customer Service Direct, 2024 to mid-2025.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
2024
Customer Service Direct answers the bank’s customer calls.
2,400+
call-centre staff
CBA’s count when it began trialling Hey CommBank, a text-based AI chat tool, in September 2024 [33]
50,000
customer contacts a day
The volume the same staff handled, as reported in September 2024 [33]
158
roles made redundant in June 2024
The union’s report; the people were to move into broader roles [8]
Also called direct banking. Sources: Information Age, 17 September 2024 [33]; Finance Sector Union, 26 June 2024 [8].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Context
AI was a stated priority at board level.
SEP 2024
Hey CommBank trial
A text-based AI chat tool for customers [33]
MAR 2025
Anthropic
CBA expands its partnership and invests in the company [1]
JUN 2025
Voice bot goes live
On the inbound customer enquiries line [23]
AUG 2025
OpenAI
A strategic partnership, announced while the voice bot dispute was running [2]
Sources: Information Age [33]; CBA media releases, 14 March and 13 August 2025 [1][2]; iTnews, 29 July 2025 [23].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
The system
The voice bot triaged calls and passed them to staff.
“By automating simple queries, our teams can focus on more complex customer queries that need empathy and experience.” CBA spokesperson, 29 July 2025 [23][24]
It was a voice bot on the phone line; several headlines called it a chatbot. No public source names the vendor or the technology. Sources: iTnews [23]; Finance Sector Union, 29 July 2025 [9].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Part 2
The 23 days.
29 July to 21 August 2025: announcement, dispute and reversal.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
The sequence
From go-live to “We made a mistake” in four months.
JUNE 2025
Voice bot goes live
A voice bot starts triaging calls on the inbound customer enquiries line and passing them to staff. [23][9]
29 JULY
Roles declared redundant
CBA confirms 45 roles in Customer Service Direct are affected. It tells the union the bot has cut calls by 2,000 a week. [23][24][9]
7 AUGUST
Union disputes it
The union says call volumes are rising, staff are offered overtime and team leaders are taking calls. It asks for the data and takes the dispute to the Fair Work Commission. [11]
21 AUGUST
CBA reverses
CBA says its assessment was an error, the roles were not redundant, and apologises. Staff can stay, move or leave. [26][27][12]
25 AUGUST
No ruling needed
A hearing had been listed for this date. The concession came first, so no tribunal ruled on the voice bot. [12][13]
15 OCTOBER
Chair at the AGM
"We made a mistake," the Chair tells shareholders. [31][22]
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
29 July 2025
CBA confirmed 45 roles were affected by the voice bot.
The roles45 call-centre roles in Customer Service Direct, on the inbound phone line [23]
The reason givenAutomating simple queries so teams could focus on complex ones [23][24]
The numberCBA told the union the bot had cut calls by 2,000 a week, in a briefing. It is in no CBA document that could be found [24][11]
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Two numbers
The union’s count of 90 included roles outside the reversal.
45 call-centre rolesIn Customer Service Direct. These are the roles CBA later said were not redundant [23][26]
The rest of the union’s 90Included customer messaging roles the union says were moving to CBA India. CBA did not confirm that split [9][10]
Keep them apartNo evidence was found that the messaging roles were reinstated. The reversal covers the 45 only [26]
One square is one role. Sources: CBA via iTnews, 29 July 2025 [23], and Digital Nation, 21 August 2025 [26]; Finance Sector Union, 29 July 2025 [9][10].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
The union’s response, 29 July 2025
“Just when we think CBA can’t sink any lower, they start cutting jobs because of AI on top of sneakily offshoring work to India.”
Julia Angrisano, National Secretary, Finance Sector Union [9]
From that day the two issues, automation and offshoring, ran together in the coverage. They need to be kept apart to read the case.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
The evidence for the decision
The number behind the cuts was never published.
CBA to the union, July 2025The bot had cut call volumes by 2,000 a week.
Never published by CBA. The union says it was never substantiated. [24][11]
The union, August 2025Volumes were rising. Staff were offered overtime and team leaders were put on the phones.
The union’s account. CBA did not publish data to rebut it. [11]
CBA statement, 21 August 2025The assessment "did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations".
CBA’s own words. It did not publish the call data either way. [26]
Sources: Yahoo Finance, 29 July 2025 [24]; Finance Sector Union, 7 August 2025 [11]; CBA statement via Digital Nation, 21 August 2025 [26]. No call-volume data from CBA has been published.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
7 August 2025
The union took a practical case to the Fair Work Commission.
Call volumes were going upNot down, as the 2,000-calls claim implied
Staff were offered overtimeIn the same team whose roles were redundant
Team leaders took callsTaken off their own work to answer the phones
No data behind the claimCBA had not backed the 2,000-calls figure with data
No risk assessmentsCBA refused to provide its work health and safety risk assessments
No selection criteriaNor the criteria it used to choose the roles
All points are the union’s account [11]. None has been tested by a tribunal, and CBA did not publish data to rebut them.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
21 August 2025 · CBA statement
“CBA’s initial assessment that the 45 roles in our Customer Service Direct business were not required did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations and this error meant the roles were not redundant.”
CBA statement, full text via Digital Nation [26]
Apologised to the employees concerned
Offered each person a choice: stay, be redeployed within CBA, or leave
Said it was reviewing its internal processes
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
The reversal
The concession came before the hearing, so no tribunal ruled.
The union’s account
Management told it the bank “didn’t properly consider that an increase in calls would continue over a number of months”. CBA’s own statement does not mention call volumes [12].
The listed hearing
A hearing at the Fair Work Commission was listed for 25 August 2025. CBA reversed on 21 August. No ruling on the voice bot has been published [12][13].
What is not public
How many of the 45 stayed, moved to another role or left has not been published [26][12].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
The union, 21 August 2025
“The damage is already done for the 45 workers who endured weeks of unnecessary stress, not knowing if they would be able to pay bills or support their families.”
Finance Sector Union, reported by Information Age, The Nightly and HRD Australia [28][29][30]. The union called the reversal “a massive win for workers”.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
15 October 2025 · Annual general meeting
“We made a mistake.”
Paul O’Malley, Chair, answering a former employee from the floor [31]
The full answer: “We didn’t adequately consider all the relevant business considerations.” [31]
The shareholders’ association recorded that the CEO, Matt Comyn, also apologised [22]
Neither prepared address mentioned the case [3][4]
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Part 3
The law and the record.
Why “not redundant” matters under the Fair Work Act.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Fair Work Act 2009, section 389
A genuine redundancy has to pass three tests.
Sources: Fair Work Commission, What is a genuine redundancy? [16]; CBA statement [26]. Reading CBA’s wording against the first test is my analysis; CBA did not refer to the Act.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
My reading
A technology claim that could not be shown in data became a legal weakness.
IF CALLS WERE RISING
The jobs were still needed.
Whatever the bot was doing, a role is redundant only if nobody needs to do the job. Rising volumes, overtime and team leaders on the phones point the other way [11][16].
WITH NO PUBLISHED DATA
There was nothing to defend.
The case for the cuts rested on one number given in a briefing. That explains why the bank chose to concede rather than defend the decision at a hearing [24][26].
My analysis of the Fair Work Commission’s guidance [16] against CBA’s statement [26]. CBA did not draw this link.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
A separate dispute
The offshoring complaint followed its own track.
July 2025
CBA rejected the union’s offshoring claims: “We refute their claims.” [40]
October 2025
The union said a review directed by the Commission found two Australian roles had gone offshore, and that CBA withdrew 30 job advertisements in India [14].
Often confused
That review concerned offshoring. It is often reported as part of the voice bot case, but it belongs to the offshoring dispute [14].
Sources: HRD Australia, 18 July 2025 [40]; Finance Sector Union, 2 October 2025 [14].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Part 4
What CBA did next.
2026: a funded programme, further cuts and a different way of talking about AI.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
After the reversal
CBA kept changing its workforce, and changed how it explained it.
FEBRUARY 2026
About 300 roles cut, and a $90m workforce programme
CBA launches a three-year Future Workforce Program. On cuts made the same day it says AI "is not the driver of these role changes". [6][15][34]
APRIL 2026
119 more roles
The union says 119 roles will go, 43 of them at Bankwest and six linked to automation. [42]
MAY 2026
The CEO warns against "false reassurance"
Matt Comyn writes that "pretending every role can be preserved would not be fair either". [35]
JULY 2026
276 roles proposed for cuts
CBA attributes them to "workflow automation, organisational realignments, streamlining". [36]
JULY 2026
Outsourced chat roles go
Bloomberg reports that hundreds of contractor chat roles at an outsourcer in Johannesburg went as AI took over the messaging channel. [38][39]
SEPTEMBER 2026
More than 172 technology roles
The union puts CBA’s 2026 cuts at more than 1,000. CBA cites changing customer needs and technology, not AI, and says over 500 people moved into other roles. [43]
CBA also appointed a Chief AI Officer in November 2025 [5]. Sources: CBA, 24 February 2026 [6]; Finance Sector Union [15]; Information Age [34][43]; Retail Banker International [42]; HRD Australia [35][39]; iTnews [36]; Capital Brief on Bloomberg [38].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Full-time equivalent staff at 30 June
CBA India grew by about 1,300 staff in two years.
AustraliaIndia
2024
36,572
5,630
2025
37,107
6,788
2026
37,006
6,935
Source: CBA 2026 Annual Report, five-year summary table [7]. Headcount moves for many reasons; these figures cannot show what AI did to jobs. They do show why the union treated automation and offshoring as one story.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Attribution
CBA changed how it attributed role cuts between 2025 and 2026.
July 2025
45 roles “affected by” the voice bot. Automating simple queries frees teams for complex ones [23][24].
February 2026
About 300 roles cut. AI “is changing how some tasks are performed but it is not the driver of these role changes” [15][34].
Naming AI as the cause of job losses invites scrutiny from unions, the press and shareholders. The bank learned that in public.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
May 2026 · Matt Comyn, CEO
“An employer of our scale has a responsibility to avoid false reassurance and give people the best possible chance to adapt.”
“Pretending every role can be preserved would not be fair either.”
Reported by HRD Australia, 26 May 2026 [35]
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
February 2026
A $90 million, three-year Future Workforce Program.
90m
Australian dollars over three years, launched 24 February 2026 [6].
What CBA said
Organisations had traditionally made changes and then engaged with workers after the fact. The bank had worked with unions to design the programme [6].
What the union said
The programme must support displaced workers. About 300 roles were cut the same day [15].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Part 5
The rules around the decision.
Parliament, unions, the National AI Plan and the prudential regulator.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Policy
Australian policy has been moving toward consulting workers on AI.
NOV 2024
Senate committee
Treat AI affecting “the rights of people at work” as high-risk; apply work health and safety law; workers “thoroughly consulted” [17]
29 JUL 2025
ACTU
Calls for enforceable AI implementation agreements, the day the CBA cuts became public [19]
DEC 2025
National AI Plan
Commits, in the ACTU’s account, to meaningful consultation with workers [20]
JUL 2026
Prime Minister
Promises AI legislation “early next year” [21]. By August, lawyers read it as data-centre and AI-training standards, with workplace rules left to consultation [41]
Sources: Senate Select Committee on Adopting AI, final report [17]; ACTU releases [19][20]; University of Sydney [21]; Baker McKenzie [37][41]. No AI-specific workplace law exists as of October 2026.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
For banks · My reading
APRA’s operational risk standard took effect weeks after the bot went live.
CPS 230, from 1 July 2025
Requires banks to manage the operational risk of changes to critical operations and of material service providers [18].
Where a contact channel now sits
A customer channel run partly by bots and partly by outsourcers falls squarely in that scope. Nothing links CPS 230 to this case; the application is my reading.
A few weeks after go-live, the bot closes simple queries.
→
What can follow over months
Callers reach a person later and more frustrated
The calls that remain are harder
Volumes keep rising for other reasons
Overtime and team leaders fill the gap
The bot was described as a triage tool that passed calls to staff [23]. The union says management admitted it missed the continuing rise in calls [12]. This mechanism is a general reading, not a measurement of CBA’s bot.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Lesson two · Evidence
The case for the cuts rested on a single number in a briefing.
WHAT HAPPENED
2,000 calls a week.
Given to the union, never published. When it was challenged there was nothing to defend it with, and CBA put the reversal down to an assessment that had not looked at everything it should have [24][11][26].
WHAT A BOARD SHOULD SEE
The measurement first.
A board approving headcount changes on the strength of an AI deployment should expect the data, the period it covers and who checked it, before the decision.
Rule of thumbNo measurement, no headcount decision.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Lesson three · Attribution
Naming AI as the cause of job losses invites a particular kind of scrutiny.
Unions
The Finance Sector Union disputed the cuts within nine days and asked for the data [11].
The press
Headlines called it a chatbot and later a rehiring. Both overstate the record [25][29][26].
Shareholders
A former employee asked the question at the AGM, and the Chair answered it [31][22].
CBA has since reached for a different model: a funded workforce programme designed with unions, and a CEO who speaks openly about the jobs at stake [6][35].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Reporting
Six things that are often misreported.
Voice botIt was a voice bot on the phone line. Several headlines called it a chatbot [25][29].
45 rolesThe reversed roles were 45 call-centre roles. The union’s 90 included messaging roles that were not reinstated, as far as the record shows [9][26].
2,000 callsWhat CBA told the union. It is not a published measurement [24][11].
No rehiringStaff were told their roles were redundant, then offered their jobs back three weeks later. Stories of a mass rehiring overstate it [26].
No rulingNo tribunal ruled on the voice bot. The review that found offshored roles belongs to the offshoring dispute [12][14].
No causationCBA said call volumes rose and its assessment missed it. No source shows the bot caused the rise [26][27].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Evidence & methodology
Each claim graded by what it rests on.
Claim
Source
Grade
45 roles in Customer Service Direct were affected by the voice bot
CBA statements of 29 July and 21 August 2025, via iTnews and Digital Nation
Company statement
The bot cut calls by 2,000 a week
CBA briefing to the union, via the union and Yahoo Finance. In no CBA document.
Unverified company claim
Call volumes were rising; overtime offered; team leaders on the phones
Finance Sector Union, 7 August 2025
Union account, not contested in public
The roles were not redundant and CBA apologised
CBA statement, 21 August 2025, full text via Digital Nation
Company statement
The Chair said "We made a mistake"
AAP report of the 15 October 2025 AGM; not in the prepared address
Single press report, consistent with shareholders’ association
No tribunal ruled on the voice bot
Union releases of 21 August 2025; no Commission decision found
Absence of record
Staff numbers in Australia and India, 2024 to 2026
2026 Annual Report, five-year summary table
Measured, company figures
CBA cut more than 1,000 jobs in 2026
Finance Sector Union count, via Information Age, 24 September 2026
Union figure, not confirmed by CBA
More than 500 people whose roles were cut in 2026 moved into other CBA roles
CBA spokesperson, via Information Age, 24 September 2026
Company statement
The "not redundant" wording matches the first limb of s 389
My reading of the Commission’s guidance against CBA’s statement
My call
The lessons for boards
My reading of the record cited against each
My call
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Part 7
Lessons and controls.
Eight lessons for boards, then a checklist you can use on your own rollout.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
What boards can take from it · 1 to 4
Get the evidence right before the decision.
01
Measure for long enough before cutting.
The roles were declared redundant within about two months of go-live. Set a measurement period that covers seasonal and follow-on demand, and make headcount decisions after it ends.
02
Publish the number you rely on, at least internally.
The 2,000-calls claim was never shown, so it could not be defended. Any headcount case built on an AI system’s effect should carry the data, the period and who checked it.
03
Count the work the bot hands back.
A triage bot moves work to people as well as removing it. Track transfers, repeat calls, handling time and overtime alongside the calls the bot closes.
04
Test the redundancy separately from the business case.
A role is redundant only if nobody needs to do the job. Ask HR and legal to test each role against that standard, and against redeployment, before any announcement.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
What boards can take from it · 5 to 8
Run the change so it can be corrected.
05
Consult before the decision.
The union says CBA would not share its data or how it chose the roles. Bring staff and their representatives into the measurement, so the evidence is agreed before it is used.
06
Explain automation and offshoring decisions separately.
Announcing them together let each discredit the other. If both are happening, explain each on its own evidence.
07
Include outsourced and offshore roles in the same view.
The later reports concerned contractors in another country. A board should see the whole channel’s workforce, not only direct employees, when it reviews an AI rollout.
08
Make reversal possible.
CBA could undo the decision because the people were still there. Sequence changes so that a wrong assessment can be corrected before anyone has left.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Applying it
Actions for boards, executives and government.
Boards
Ask for the measurement.
The data, the period and who checked it
The whole channel’s workforce, including outsourced and offshore
Proof that the decision can still be reversed
Executives
Test the roles, not just the case.
Each role against “nobody needs to do the job”, and against redeployment
Transfers, repeat calls, handling time and overtime tracked
Automation and offshoring explained separately
Government
Consult before deciding.
The Senate committee treats AI affecting people at work as high-risk [17]
Drawn from the eight lessons; the government column also draws on the Senate committee [17] and the ACTU [19].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
A sequence for AI-linked workforce change
Seven steps between go-live and a headcount decision.
My sequence, built from the eight lessons. CBA’s roles were declared redundant within about two months of go-live, and steps 2 to 5 are where the record shows gaps [23][11][26].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Workforce-transition controls
A checklist for any AI rollout that touches roles.
Stage
Control
Evidence to keep
Before go-live
Baseline call volumes, transfers, repeat calls, handling time and overtime
Signed-off baseline report
Before go-live
Name the channel’s whole workforce: direct, outsourced and offshore
Workforce map for the channel
Measurement
Set the period in advance, long enough for seasonal and follow-on demand
Measurement plan with end date
Measurement
Share the data with staff representatives as it comes in
Consultation log
Before the decision
Independent check of the headline number the case relies on
Reviewer sign-off on the figure
Before the decision
HR and legal test each role: still needed by anyone? redeployable?
Role-by-role test record
Announcement
Explain automation and offshoring decisions separately
Separate rationales
After the decision
Keep people in role until the assessment has held for a stated time
Reversal trigger and owner
My checklist, drawn from the lessons of this case. To size the human review a customer-channel AI needs, use the oversight ceiling calculator and the agent risk assessment matrix at terencekok.com/resources.
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
For discussion
Questions to take back to your organisation.
Which AI deployment in your organisation has a headcount number attached, and who has seen the data behind it?
How long does your organisation measure an AI system’s effect before it acts on roles?
Would your redundancy test survive the question “does anyone still need to do this job?”
Do your board papers show outsourced and offshore roles in the same view as direct staff?
If an assessment proved wrong three weeks later, could you put it right before anyone had left?
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
As of 12 October 2026
What to watch next.
The 2026 AGM
Scheduled for 14 October 2026 in Sydney. The Chair’s notice says the board has monitored investment in priority AI use cases [44].
The enterprise agreement
Under negotiation. The union wants changes to the redundancy process and a commitment to retrain local staff [43].
AI legislation
Promised for early 2027. Announced standards cover data centres and AI training; workplace rules are still at consultation [21][41].
The 45 staff
CBA has not published how many stayed, moved or left, or the call data behind its assessment [26].
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Chronology · 1 of 3
Full timeline, Jun 2024 to 7 Aug 2025.
When
Event
Sources
Jun 2024
The union says CBA will make 158 roles redundant in Customer Service Direct and move the people into broader roles.
[8]
Sep 2024
CBA trials Hey CommBank, a text-based AI chat tool. It has more than 2,400 call-centre staff handling about 50,000 contacts a day.
[33]
Nov 2024
The Senate committee on adopting AI recommends treating AI that affects the rights of people at work as high-risk, and consulting workers.
[17]
Mar 2025
CBA expands its partnership with Anthropic and invests in the company.
[1]
Jun 2025
A voice bot goes live on the inbound customer enquiries line. APRA’s operational risk standard CPS 230 takes effect on 1 July.
[23][18]
29 Jul 2025
CBA confirms 45 roles are affected by the voice bot. The union puts the total cut at 90, including messaging roles it says are moving to CBA India. The ACTU calls for enforceable AI implementation agreements the same day.
[9][23][19]
7 Aug 2025
The union says it is disputing the cuts at the Fair Work Commission and that CBA has not backed the 2,000-calls claim with data.
[11]
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Chronology · 2 of 3
Full timeline, 13 Aug 2025 to Feb 2026.
When
Event
Sources
13 Aug 2025
CBA announces a strategic partnership with OpenAI.
[2]
21 Aug 2025
CBA says the roles were not redundant, apologises and offers each person a choice to stay, be redeployed or leave.
[26][27][12]
2 Oct 2025
In the separate offshoring dispute, the union says a review directed by the Commission found two roles had gone offshore and CBA withdrew 30 job ads in India.
[14]
15 Oct 2025
At the AGM the Chair says "We made a mistake". The shareholders’ association records that the CEO apologised.
[31][22]
Nov 2025
CBA appoints a Chief AI Officer.
[5]
Dec 2025
The National AI Plan is released; the ACTU says it commits to meaningful consultation with workers.
[20]
Feb 2026
A $90m Future Workforce Program. About 300 roles cut the same day; CBA says AI is not the driver.
[6][15][34]
Case study · Commonwealth Bank voice bot
Chronology · 3 of 3
Full timeline, Apr 2026 to Sep 2026.
When
Event
Sources
Apr 2026
The union says 119 more roles will go, six of them linked to automation.
[42]
May 2026
The CEO warns against "false reassurance" about AI and jobs.
[35]
Jul 2026
276 roles proposed for cuts. The Prime Minister promises AI legislation "early next year". Bloomberg reports outsourced chat roles replaced by AI.
[36][21][38]
Aug 2026
The 2026 Annual Report: 37,006 staff in Australia and 6,935 in India, full-time equivalent. Lawyers read the Government’s AI plan as standards for data centres and AI training, with workplace adoption left to consultation.
[7][41]
Sep 2026
The union says more than 172 technology roles will go and puts CBA’s 2026 cuts at more than 1,000. CBA does not cite AI. The Notice of Meeting sets the AGM for 14 October 2026.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (2025, 14 March). CommBank expands strategic partnership with generative AI company, Anthropic [Media release].
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (2025, 13 August). CommBank and OpenAI embark on Australia-first strategic partnership to advance AI solutions [Media release].
Comyn, M. (2025, 15 October). 2025 Commonwealth Bank AGM: CEO’s address. Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
O’Malley, P. (2025, 15 October). 2025 Commonwealth Bank AGM: Chair’s address. Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (2025, 26 November). Commonwealth Bank appoints Ranil Boteju as Chief AI Officer [Media release].
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (2026, 24 February). Commonwealth Bank’s $90m plan for AI-ready workforce [Media release].
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (2026). 2026 Annual Report.
Finance Sector Union. (2024, 26 June). CBA cuts 158 contact centre jobs: are you impacted?
Finance Sector Union. (2025, 29 July). CBA axes jobs for AI and offshoring: where’s its commitment to Australian workers? [Media release].
Finance Sector Union. (2025, 29 July). A shameful act: CBA replacing jobs with AI and offshoring to India.
Finance Sector Union. (2025, 21 August). Win: CBA backflips on customer service job cuts, admits they got it wrong [Member news].
Finance Sector Union. (2025, 21 August). CBA backflips on AI cuts, but the threat remains [Media release].
Finance Sector Union. (2025, 2 October). CBA held to account: bank admits jobs offshored, ads withdrawn [Media release].
Finance Sector Union. (2026, 24 February). CBA cuts 300 jobs following $5 billion profit; union says Future Workforce Program must support displaced workers [Media release].
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Sources · 2 of 3
Fair Work Commission. (n.d.). What is a genuine redundancy? Unfair dismissals benchbook, Fair Work Act 2009 s 389 (read through an Internet Archive capture).
Senate Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence. (2024, November). Final report: List of recommendations. Parliament of Australia (read through an Internet Archive capture).
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. (n.d.). Operational risk management (CPS 230).
Australian Council of Trade Unions. (2025, 29 July). Unions seek enforceable agreements on the use of AI [Media release].
Australian Council of Trade Unions. (2025, 2 December). AI Plan puts workers at the centre [Media release].
University of Sydney. (2026, 15 July). Prime Minister delivers AI address at University of Sydney.
Australian Shareholders’ Association. (2025). Commonwealth Bank 2025 AGM report (meeting of 15 October 2025).
Crozier, R. (2025, 29 July). CBA AI “voice bot” deployment linked to review of 45 roles. iTnews.
Seeto, T. (2025, 29 July). Commonwealth Bank axes Aussie jobs as “human cost” of AI revolution exposed. Yahoo Finance Australia.
ABC News. (2025, 29 July). Commonwealth Bank replaces dozens of call centre jobs with AI chatbot.
Crozier, R. (2025, 21 August). CBA to keep roles it had reviewed after installing AI bot. Digital Nation.
ABC News. (2025, 21 August). Commonwealth Bank backtracks on AI job cuts, apologises for “error” as call volumes rise.
Sadler, D. (2025, 21 August). CBA reverses AI-driven job cuts, admits “error”. Information Age (ACS).
Lee, A. (2025, 21 August). Commonwealth Bank backflips on decision to replace 45 call centre jobs with AI chatbot. The Nightly.
Rose, D. (2025, 15 October). Bank admits mistake over worker who lost job to AI. AAP.
Paige, W. (2025, 17 October). FSU calls for clarity from banks on layoffs and AI plans. The Adviser.
Sadler, D. (2024, 17 September). Commonwealth Bank to trial AI customer service tool. Information Age (ACS).
Williams, T. (2026, 26 February). WiseTech axes 2,000 jobs, CBA cuts hundreds as AI ramps. Information Age (ACS).
Tilo, D. (2026, 26 May). CBA chief Matt Comyn warns against “false reassurance” on AI job losses. HRD Australia.
Crozier, R. (2026, 10 July). CBA to cut 176 technology and engineering roles. iTnews.
Starkey, M., & Michalandos, M. (2026, 17 July). Australia: AI workplace change, managing risks without regret. Baker McKenzie.
Capital Brief. (2026, 28 July). CBA replaced hundreds of offshore roles with AI: Bloomberg.
Hines, J. (2026, 29 July). CBA axes contractor call centre jobs after AI rollout. HRD Australia.
Tilo, D. (2025, 18 July). Commonwealth Bank refutes union claims of offshoring roles. HRD Australia.
Baker McKenzie. (2026, 25 August). Australia charts a new course on AI regulation and policy.
Munnangi, V. E. (2026, 24 April). Commonwealth Bank to cut 119 jobs across Australia. Retail Banker International, via Yahoo Finance.
Sadler, D. (2026, 24 September). Commonwealth Bank tech staff hit by fresh job cuts. Information Age (ACS).
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. (2026, 10 September). 2026 Notice of Annual General Meeting [ASX announcement].
Numbered as on the case study page, terencekok.com/research/case-studies/cba-voice-bot/, which carries every link. All sources read on 11 October 2026; time-sensitive claims re-checked on 12 October 2026. Fair Work Commission and Parliament pages read through Internet Archive captures.
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