HSBC will hire more than 100 artificial intelligence specialists and 100 wealth managers in Singapore, deepening investment in two areas central to the bank’s Asian growth strategy.

The recruitment comes as HSBC prepares to launch a new AI center in Singapore in the second half of 2026, the bank said in a statement, according to a Reuters report. The center will support the bank’s efforts to accelerate AI adoption across selected business areas.

AI Centre to Focus on Wealth, Treasury and Payments

HSBC said it will recruit talent across natural language processing, data science, AI governance, and human-centered design. The center will initially focus on personalizing customer wealth management conversations, introducing agentic treasury solutions, and expanding AI-enabled digital payments.

The announcement follows comments from HSBC Chief Executive Georges Elhedery in May that AI would destroy and create certain jobs in the financial industry. He also said the bank was retraining its workforce to meet the challenge.

Rival Standard Chartered announced in May that its AI transformation would eliminate about 8,000 jobs internally.

Wealth Management Push

HSBC is also looking to expand its local wealth management operation by adding another 100 relationship managers, a company spokesperson said.

The move follows the bank’s agreement last week to sell its life and health insurance business in Singapore to Allianz for S$2.7 billion ($2.1 billion). The sale forms part of HSBC’s effort to trim non-core operations and focus on its Asian wealth and wholesale banking businesses.