Overview

• At the Brisbane AGM, former employee Kathryn Sullivan said she helped train the bank’s ‘Bumblebee’ chatbot before being made redundant and asked directors what protections exist for staff.
• Chair Paul O’Malley acknowledged the 45 redundancies were a mistake, citing an internal review and a Fair Work Commission process that led to offers of reinstatement or voluntary exits.
• Executives said a $300 million technology program and 2,000 engineering hires will expand AI capability as the bank reported a $10.1 billion annual profit.
• CEO Matt Comyn said CBA employs just over 6,800 people in India and 37,000 in Australia, arguing offshore teams enable 24/7 customer support.
• The Finance Sector Union says the AI voice bot did not cut call volumes as promised, prompting overtime and call‑handling by team leaders before the partial reversal of job cuts.