American Express cuts 3,500 jobs, 5% of staff, to 'prepare for AI'

What the company said: Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC the restructuring is meant to make American Express "leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI." He said, "You don't want to automate processes that are not optimally structured," and that the company is reducing layers of management so it can automate and use AI "in the coming quarters and the coming years." On the call, Squeri said Amex has "good momentum, but to accelerate innovation and win over the next few years, we needed to become [a] more agile and efficient organization," and that earlier this year he asked senior leaders to streamline teams and cut layers to speed decisions.

Profits are up, not down: The cuts come in a strong quarter. Adjusted profit was $4.68 a share, above Wall Street's estimate of about $4.48, and revenue rose 9% to $20.1 billion, Reuters reported. Total spending on Amex cards rose 8% to $454 billion, led by travel and dining, and the company raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast to $17.60 to $17.90 a share. Expenses also rose 9% to $14.5 billion, which investors have been watching after heavy marketing and card-perk spending. Squeri said the charge used part of a gain from the company's Global Business Travel transaction.

AI agents and your card: Squeri spent about 10 minutes of his remarks on AI, CNBC said. He said Amex is "not going to let assistants run rogue through our system" and will allow outside AI agents to access its systems only through approved API or MCP connections, the standard links that let outside software plug into a company's systems securely.

Part of a week of cuts: The Wall Street Journal listed Amex alongside other layoffs announced this week: eBay said Wednesday it would cut about 9% of its staff, roughly 1,000 workers; Barclays announced 5,000 job cuts Thursday to reduce costs and embrace AI; and Volvo said Friday it would cut another 2,500 jobs. Amex shares fell more than 3% Friday, CNBC reported, and were down 12% for the year before the news, according to Reuters.

How outlets framed it: CNBC's headline led with the AI rationale ("to 'prepare for AI'"). Reuters led with the raised profit forecast and called the cuts part of a restructuring. AP led with the 28% profit jump and higher-fee Platinum card. The Wall Street Journal framed the cuts as an effort to keep a lid on rising costs, one of several layoff announcements this week. All four agree on the core numbers: about 5% of staff, roughly 3,500 jobs.

What's still unknown: Which roles, teams and countries the cuts will hit, and on what timeline. The company has tied the restructuring to AI readiness but, in the reports cited here, has not said how many of the 3,500 jobs it expects AI to take over.

American Express's European offices in Brighton, England, shown in the photo (file photo, 2019), are not from Friday's announcement. Reports differed on the size of Friday's stock drop depending on the time of day: Reuters said shares were down 2.5% in morning trading, CNBC said they fell more than 3%, and the WSJ said 4%. The company had not said which roles, teams or countries the cuts will hit in the reports cited here.