As Scott Farquhar told the Australian Press Club, when asked about the 150 AI-induced job cuts at Atlassian’s call centres: “If you make call centres twice as productive, then you need half as many people.”

The Commonwealth Bank was not as glib about its recent call centre job losses which were also attributed to the introduction of AI to handle the most menial queries.

Atlassian co-founders Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes are heavily embracing AI and don’t see it as a major job threat despite significant job cuts due to its use at the group.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

But if the Atlassian founder’s brutal calculation holds true, the thousands of employees still employed at that bank’s call centres – and at Telstra, which is also heavily embracing AI – have every reason to fear more bloodletting down the track.

Just to underline the bank’s position, CBA chief executive Matt Comyn announced a partnership with OpenAI this week – as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in extra spending to help bring advanced AI to customers and staff to deliver a “more personalised” service.

No doubt this includes more AI “chatbots” for handling inquiries from customers, like the ones which are already replacing call centre staff.

He made it clear that he intends to put the bank on the front foot when it comes to embracing AI and transforming the business.

“To be globally competitive, Australia must embrace this new era of rapid technological change,” Comyn said.

“Our strategic partnership with OpenAI reflects our commitment to bringing world-class capabilities to Australia, and exploring how AI can enhance customer experiences, better protect our customers and unlock new opportunities for Australian businesses.”

Telstra boss Vicki Brady, though less vocal on the company’s AI developments at this week’s results, was similarly forthright at its recent........

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