American Express Co. is moving forward with plans to eliminate thousands of jobs across its global operations, positioning the prominent credit card company to integrate artificial intelligence more deeply into its internal processes and administrative workflows.
During the company’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts and investors, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Squeri announced that American Express would be cutting approximately 5% of its global workforce. To facilitate this sweeping organizational transition, the financial services firm is absorbing a restructuring charge amounting to $336 million. The workforce reduction comes at a time when Amex’s total headcount stood at nearly 77,000 employees at the conclusion of 2025, meaning the layoffs will impact thousands of individuals across various departments and international offices.
Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec elaborated on the strategic rationale behind the downsizing during a subsequent interview with CNBC, explaining that the restructuring initiative is fundamentally designed to make American Express a leaner, more agile enterprise while actively preparing the operational infrastructure for advanced artificial intelligence deployment.
Le Caillec emphasized that automation cannot be effectively executed on an inefficient foundation. The objective of the current structural changes is to streamline operations by flattening organizational hierarchies and expanding spans of control. By restructuring these layers first, leadership believes the company can successfully implement automation and fully capitalize on the capabilities of artificial intelligence in the coming quarters and years.
The decision by American Express highlights a broader, accelerating trend across the financial services and banking sectors, where major institutions are increasingly seeking to replace repetitive, routine administrative roles with automated AI systems. This wave of tech-driven cost initiatives is sweeping through the industry even as financial firms continue to enjoy robust corporate profits fueled by resilient consumer spending and healthy credit performance. Just days prior to the Amex announcement, Barclays confirmed its own plans to trim 5,000 jobs—representing roughly 5% of its total staff—in a similar technology-driven cost-efficiency initiative.
During his remarks to analysts on the earnings call, CEO Squeri reiterated that the substantial financial charge associated with the restructuring is a necessary investment to elevate the overall efficiency of the enterprise. Squeri noted that while the company currently maintains strong business momentum, accelerating ongoing innovation and securing a competitive advantage over the next few years requires American Express to transform into a more agile and streamlined organization.
‘Run rogue’
A significant portion of Squeri’s presentation—roughly ten minutes of his prepared remarks—was dedicated to outlining his strategic vision for artificial intelligence within the company. His commentary focused primarily on leveraging AI to deliver highly personalized customer experiences, bespoke recommendations, and tailored offers for Amex cardholders.
While acknowledging the growing demand from consumers to utilize artificial intelligence tools, including autonomous AI agents, Squeri struck a cautious note regarding system security and governance. He explicitly stated that American Express is not going to allow external assistants to run rogue through the company’s proprietary networks.
To maintain strict security standards, Squeri stressed the absolute necessity of protecting customers and merchants alike. He explained that Amex will exclusively permit external agents to access its internal systems if those connections are officially approved and securely established through either Application Programming Interfaces or Model Context Protocol channels, representing the designated, secure pathways required to bridge outside platforms with Amex infrastructure.
Despite the turbulence surrounding the workforce reductions and restructuring charges, American Express delivered third-quarter financial results that comfortably surpassed Wall Street’s profit expectations. According to data compiled by LSEG, the credit card giant reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.68, outperforming the average analyst consensus estimate of $4.48.
Bolstered by these strong quarterly metrics, executive leadership raised the company’s full-year earnings guidance. Amex now projects unadjusted earnings per share to land in the range of $18.30 to $18.60, representing a notable upward revision from its previous target range of $17.30 to $17.90.
CFO Le Caillec noted that this positive financial metric was further aided by proceeds generated from the sale of American Express’s stake in Global Business Travel Group. A portion of the proceeds from this transaction was intentionally allocated toward funding the company’s comprehensive restructuring plan.
Total revenue for the quarter rose 9% to reach $20.06 billion, though this figure came in slightly below the consensus forecast of $20.12 billion compiled by LSEG. Company executives attributed a portion of this minor revenue drag to recent strategic exits from certain small business co-brand partnerships.
Following the release of the earnings report, the restructuring announcement, and the forward-looking guidance, shares of American Express fell roughly 4% in afternoon trading.
