Axis Bank, India's third-largest private lender, intends to increase the intake of university students to approximately 12,500 in the 2027 fiscal year, up from 11,500–11,600 in the 2026 fiscal year. This comes as the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and workforce realignment reduces the need for certain transaction processing roles, according to Rajkamal Vempati, Group Head and Head of Human Resources at Axis Bank.
Despite hiring 31,665 employees during the year, the bank's overall workforce decreased by 3,116 people, totaling 101,337 in the 2026 fiscal year compared to 104,453 the previous year.
Vempati emphasized that in terms of recruiting young talent, the bank is a major consumer of such talent. She noted the growth in hires: 'We would have hired approximately 11,500–11,600 people in the 2026 fiscal year, and this year it will be around 12,000–12,500. The numbers are growing. Our entire focus is on attracting young people, training them, integrating them, and developing them appropriately.'
Although AI reduces the need for some low-level and transactional roles, the bank prioritizes staff reallocation over direct layoffs. Roles becoming redundant are phased out as vacancies are reassessed.
She added that 'the positions that could be eliminated relate to some transaction processing, low-level tasks that we believe technology has been able to handle.'
The workforce is increasingly being shifted towards relationship management, especially in commercial banking, wealth management, and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business. The bank considers relationship management relatively independent of AI because client interaction, trust, and understanding customer needs still require human involvement.
The employee turnover rate at Axis Bank also dropped to 22.4 percent in the 2026 fiscal year, down from 25.5 percent in the 2025 fiscal year. The bank attributes this to higher productivity, new ways of working, and greater internal mobility.
The bank's internal career platform, Thrive, uses AI to match employees with open vacancies based on their skills. Employees can apply for internal positions after 16 months, whereas previously this required three years. According to Vempati, about 65 percent of employee movements within the bank now occur internally, significantly exceeding the assumed industry average of 25–30 percent.
Technology hiring will account for only a small fraction of the planned graduate intake; it is expected that about 150–200 of the approximately 12,000 hired will work in technology. The greater hiring demand is in business, client-facing roles, risk, compliance, audit, and cybersecurity.