Brian Moynihan hit his 15th anniversary as chief executive at Bank of America this week and shared how automating tasks and elimination of work has allowed the bank to gain efficiencies during his tenure. 

When Moynihan became CEO in 2010, the bank had 285,000 employees, he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Dec. 17. As of last week, the bank had roughly 213,400 employees, a 25% decrease over the past 15 years.  

“That is all made possible by digitization, efficiency, eliminating work,” he said. “If you don’t eliminate the work and automate the work and digitize the work, or get rid of the work because it’s duplicative, [efficiencies are] not going to stick.” 

$12B tech budget

The bank’s 2024 expenses are expected to total $67 billion, Moynihan said. About 70% of the expenses are related to compensation, but the bank also spends roughly $12 billion on technology annually, Moynihan said in September at Barclays Global Financial Services Conference.  

With digital efforts and automation at the heart of the bank’s efficiencies, the bank now operates with fewer people while serving a consumer base that is twice as big as when Moynihan became CEO.  

Even with fewer hands on deck, the bank has “happier teammates and happier customers and you’ve been able to reduce the headcount that much — that’s all digitization,” he said. 

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