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Bank worker devastated at being fired after 25 years, replaced by AI chatbot she helped train
A former employee of Australia’s biggest bank says she was “utterly devastated” when she learned she was being fired and replaced by AI
A former employee of Australia’s biggest bank says she was “utterly devastated” when she learned she was being fired and replaced by the AI chatbot she helped train. Kathryn Sullivan had worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) for 25 years. In late July, she was fired along with 44 other employees as the bank reduced headcount in favour of its new AI chatbot.
“I was loyal”
Sullivan fought back tears as she told Yahoo Finance that she never imagined she would be made redundant. The 63-year-old had joined CBA in 2000 and spent the last five years in the customer messaging team.
On July 28, she was told her services were no longer required.
“I was loyal for so long, and this is the thanks I get,” said Sullivan. “I gave my heart and soul to the business. I wore the uniform with pride.”
Training her own replacement
Sullivan’s sacking came after she spent the last few months on the job training Bumblebee, the CBA chatbot. According to a Financial Review report, her work involved developing scripts and testing chatbot responses.
When the bot could not find the right answer while interacting with customers, Sullivan was among the workers who stepped in to help the customers.
She said she expected to be transferred to another team after the chatbot was deployed, not made redundant.
“We knew that messaging would eventually be sent offshore, but never in my wildest dream did I expect to be made redundant after 25 years with the company,” Sullivan said. “Inadvertently, I was training a chatbot that took my job.”
CBA backtracks on layoffs
A month after the layoffs in July, CBA reversed its decision to cut 45 jobs from its call centre division, after the Finance Sector Union (FSU) challenged the move before the Fair Work Commission.
The bank had originally argued that its chatbot was reducing customer calls by around 2,000 per week, but later admitted in August that call volumes had actually risen following the layoffs.
“CBA’s initial assessment that the 45 roles were not required did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations and this error meant the roles were not redundant,” a spokesperson said.
“We have apologised to the employees concerned and acknowledge we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required. We are also reviewing our internal processes to improve our approach going forward.”
Although CBA offered reinstatement to the affected staff a month after the July 2025 sackings, some, including Sullivan, declined, saying the roles on offer were unsuitable.
