While it's not easy or affordable in all cases to goback to school, some financial sector employees who find themselvesdisplaced by technology could be in a position to reskill. (Photo:Shutterstock)

(Bloomberg) — Today, it's not just humans competing for work inbanking. Machines are becoming a threat to warm-blooded numbercrunchers worldwide. Indeed, almost one-third of financial-servicesjobs could be displaced by automation by the mid-2030s, accordingto a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP lastyear.

Despite those stark forecasts, some optimists argue that therise of machines at banks isn't simply taking away jobs, but ratherchanging their definition and adding some roles.

In-demand job candidates

Job seekers with expertise in artificial intelligence, machinelearning, and data science are among the most in-demand candidatesin finance, according to hiringsites Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Hired,and ZipRecruiter.

It's not only disrupters such as Square Inc. or Stripe Inc.hiring this talent; legacy financial companies such as JPMorganChase, Capital One, and Morgan Stanley are scooping these people upas well.

In the U.S. financial sector alone, job postings that list thesebig data skills as requirements increased almost 60% in the12-month period ending in July, according to LinkedIn.

Business and finance professors who are preparing students forfuture banking careers are also seeing the trend. Data scientist isthe "hottest job function" now for employers, says Andrew Lo,director of the MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering inCambridge, Mass.

Lo says data portfolio managers, who are charged withmaintaining and maximizing the value of a company's data assets,also are gaining importance. "We already have that happeninginformally because chief technology officers are playing thatrole," he says. "But this has become a much more business-orientedset of challenges that the typical CTO might not be equipped for,so I think that's going to evolve over time."

Risks create opportunities

While machine learning has the ability to "augment" jobs andenhance the performance of organizations, it will also presentrisks and the need for "AI auditors" at banks,says Theodoros Evgeniou, a professor of decision sciencesand technology management at Insead in Fontainebleau, France.

As machines make more decisions in banking, he says, ethical andlegal concerns will be raised that need to be addressed at theboard level.

"Let's say you're a bank and you're giving credit based oncredit scoring and machine learning, and your models arediscriminating certain populations of people," Evgeniou says. "Ifyou're then sued for being discriminatory, who is liable for this?If [the models] discriminate, you are liable."

There are also ways machine learning may indirectly create jobs.For instance, automating tasks previously done by humans in theasset management industry should theoretically reduce costs.

Lower fees will likely increase demand for financial servicesand, subsequently, the need for more staff to service newcustomers, according to Guo Bai, a lecturer of strategy atChina Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

"It will probably be easier to serve clients that werepreviously excluded from financial services," she says. These newclients may require a more human touch, Bai says, meaning moreclient relationship managers will be needed.

Reinvent and reskill

Machine learning may also provide an opportunity to reinvent acareer.

While it's not easy or affordable in all cases to go back toschool, some financial sector employees who find themselvesdisplaced by technology could be in a position to reskill.

"Certainly in the financial sector people are already prettyhighly trained, so I do believe they can be retrained to focus ondata science and all of the job functions that are required tosupport data science analytics," says MIT's Lo. "That's not true inall industries."

Help wanted: 7 job-openings that are listed right now

AI expertise is becoming one of the most desired skills infinance. Think you have what it takes to automate the bankingindustry? Here's a glance at 7 jobs requiring experiencewith AI, machine learning, or deep learning.

Descriptions are based on ads on company sites and online jobboards as of Aug. 5. Median base salaries for the roles areestimates from Glassdoor, as pay information wasn't provided by thecompanies.

1. Artificial Intelligence Platform Support Engineer

Estimated median base pay: $116,760Main duties: One of the world's largestbanks is seeking an engineer capable of managing the massive serverfarms that are essential for its AI platform. The work can befast-paced and high-demand. Expect to be on call.Must-have: Several years' experience withmiddleware products and open-source operating systems, as well as ahistory of application development and implementation.

Based on a job advertisement on Wells Fargo & Co.'swebsite.

2. Artificial Intelligence Manager/Architect

Estimated median base pay: $96,898Main duties: One of the "Big Four"accounting organizations needs "architects" with creative ideas fordeveloping and deploying AI components at large companies. The jobcould involve working on anything from chatbots and virtualassistants to vision and language processing.Must-have: Among other things, thecompany is looking for at least a couple of years' experienceworking with cognitive computing technology, IBM Watson, neuralnetworks, augmented intelligence software for financial services,and cloud platforms.

Based on a Deloitte job advertisement posted onLinkedIn.

3. Senior Python Engineer—Machine Learning Platform

Estimated median base pay: $113,827Main duties: This bulge-bracket bankseeks an engineer fluent in high-level programming languages. Therole comes with many responsibilities, but you'll be on a team incharge of building pipelines that feed massive data into machinelearning models for real-time predictions.Must-have: The bank cites lots ofrequired technical experience, including a track record ofdeveloping distributed systems using Python.

Based on a job advertisement on JPMorgan Chase & Co.'swebsite.

4. Conversational AI Content Strategist

Estimated median base pay: $59,306Main duties: If anyone has ever saidyou're a great conversationalist, this job might be your nextcareer move. You'll be working on an AI-powered, voice/text digitalassistant and "the hub" of the bank's conversational commercestrategy. The strategist will drive the assistant's "conversationdesign with brand flair." Must-have: Abackground in writing and editing with some work in conversationaluser interfaces, AI, and chat or interactive voice responses.

Based on a job advertisement on Bank of America Corp.'swebsite.

5. Artificial Intelligence—Senior Digital ProductConsultant

Estimated median base pay: $75,265Main duties: This role is part of thisbank's expansion plans for its virtual-assistant technology. It'sseeking someone to work on "future state" integration of its AIagent. The product consultant will lead its development during allstages, which include building, testing and acceptance, qualityassurance, and reporting. Must-have: Aninterest in emerging technology trends and several years in amanagement role in a financial-services organization.

Based on a job advertisement on Bank of America'swebsite.

6. Machine Learning Platform Web Specialist

Estimated median base pay: $57,054Main duties: A love for datavisualization might help in this role. The specialist will betasked with creating web-based user interfaces for the bank andhave a multitude of responsibilities, including constructing"visualizations that are able to depict vast amounts of data."Must-have: A bachelor's degree in computer science or asimilar field and a strong understanding of machine learningalgorithms, high-level programming languages, and neural networks.Experience with HTML, cascading style sheets, and web standards isrequired.

Based on a job advertisement on JPMorgan's website.

7. Quantitative Analytics Consultant—Decision Science andArtificial Intelligence Financial Crimes Model Validator

Estimated median base pay: $105,804Main duties: This bank is advertising aheavy-duty-sounding role with responsibilities to match. The hiredcandidate will work on a team responsible for validating andapproving the machine learning and AI models behind marketing,credit scoring, financial-crimes detection, and fair-lendingpractices. Must-have: Several years'experience in an advanced scientific or mathematical field. Abackground in sanctions screening and anti-money-launderinganalysis will also help.

Based on a job advertisement on Wells Fargo'swebsite. 

Note: Glassdoor uses a proprietary machine learningalgorithm to approximate median base pay by job title, industry,and employer size.

Copyright 2019 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.