Landing an entry-level banking job may soon depend less on your college pedigree and more on how well you use artificial intelligence. According to the Financial Times, Swiss banking giant UBS will require interns and recent graduates joining its banking and markets divisions in 2027 to demonstrate how they use AI tools to boost efficiency and results. Spain’s Banco Santander is reportedly seeking similarly AI-savvy candidates for its young professional programs.
The shift has an upside: it could loosen the grip that elite universities have long held over investment banking hiring, giving ambitious graduates from less prestigious schools a shot based on self-taught skills rather than pedigree or expensive graduate degrees.
But there’s a troubling flip side. Morgan Stanley analysts estimate that more than 200,000 banking jobs in Europe are at risk over the next five years due to automation and branch closures. UBS itself has been developing AI avatars of its analysts to present videos to clients—meaning the technology isn’t just assisting junior staff, it’s replacing them.
That’s a problem because the tedious grunt work AI is absorbing—basic financial analysis, research, building presentations—has traditionally been how junior bankers learn their craft. A JPMorgan executive has publicly warned that banks must ensure employees don’t lose their grasp of fundamentals. In short, the industry may be automating the first rung of the career ladder while hoping people still reach the top.
Read the original column at El Tiempo.
Source: Un nuevo mundo para los recién egresados de la universidad (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: VFS Digital Design, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).