Nutun

CBA cut hundreds of chat support roles as its "AI-powered omni-channel platform" expanded: by May 2026 the chatbot was resolving almost nine in every 10 customer conversations. The affected work sat with Johannesburg-based contractor Nutun. The bank earlier announced then reversed 45 onshore customer service redundancies, and has proposed 176 technology and engineering cuts, with around 800 roles gone over the past year. The article sets the cuts alongside AI-attributed reductions at Microsoft (customer service workforce down from 50,000 to 40,000), Visa (~2,600 roles, 7% of staff), Mastercard (~4%) and ANZ (~3,500 roles including ~1,000 contractors).

CBA's AI messaging platform, built with Microsoft, handles roughly 90% of customer chat conversations without agent involvement, deployed after Ranil Boteju was appointed chief AI officer in early 2026. Hundreds of roles went at a Johannesburg call centre operated by South African outsourcer Nutun as the bank wound back its contract; staff described automation steadily taking over their tasks. CBA's Rachel Round said the chat platform was "wrapping up nearly nine in ten customer conversations without any agent input". About 800 roles have been cut across 2026, including 276 redundancies in July. CEO Matt Comyn said in May 2026 that transitions driven by AI "must be handled with care". CBA reported a $5.44 billion first-half profit, up 6%. The FSU has disputed the reductions at the Fair Work Commission.