BNY Embraces AI, Hires 140 'Digital Employees'

CEO Robin Vince explains how the 240-year-old bank is training managers to oversee its growing AI workforce.

Mar. 23, 2026 at 10:56am

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Under CEO Robin Vince, BNY Mellon is aggressively embracing AI, with over 140 'digital employees' that perform a variety of tasks. These AI agents are overseen by around 100 human managers across the firm, who evaluate their performance and provide feedback to continuously improve the systems. BNY has also implemented a 170,000-hour AI training program for its 48,000 employees to prepare them to work alongside the AI workforce.

Why it matters

BNY's adoption of AI represents a broader shift in the financial industry towards automation and machine learning. By empowering its human workforce to manage and collaborate with AI agents, the bank aims to boost efficiency and free up employees to focus on more strategic work.

The details

BNY's digital employees are AI agents that can perform a variety of tasks, from data repair to data capture, in a fraction of the time it would take a human. The agents are 'trained' by observing how employees complete tasks, and their performance is continuously monitored and refined. As the digital workforce expands, BNY is treating the AI agents more like virtual teammates, with performance reviews and feedback loops to improve their capabilities.

  • In 2022, Robin Vince became the CEO of BNY Mellon.
  • In 2023, Vince began a 'summer project' to explore the potential of AI at the bank.
  • In 2026, BNY Mellon has a digital workforce of over 140 AI agents.

The players

Robin Vince

The CEO of BNY Mellon, who is leading the bank's aggressive embrace of AI and the adoption of a digital workforce.

Rachel Lewis

A managing director at BNY Mellon and the head of AI enablement for operations, responsible for helping teams across the bank build and deploy digital employees.

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What they’re saying

“We're kind of transferring the mundane to the machines.”

— Rachel Lewis, Managing Director and Head of AI Enablement for Operations

“We're investing in our people, because I want them to be the unlockers and users of AI.”

— Robin Vince, CEO

What’s next

BNY Mellon plans to continue expanding its digital workforce and training its human employees to effectively manage and collaborate with the AI agents.

The takeaway

BNY Mellon's embrace of AI represents a broader shift in the financial industry towards automation and machine learning. By empowering its human workforce to work alongside AI agents, the bank aims to boost efficiency and free up employees to focus on more strategic work, while maintaining a strong commitment to its human capital.