The Bank for International Settlements published a bulletin on how artificial intelligence is changing central banks’ use of human capital, setting out two scenarios for adoption and the resulting implications for workforce planning, skills and governance. It distinguishes between large language model “AI copilots” that augment staff and are already being integrated into day-to-day work, and more autonomous “AI agents” that could automate specific tasks over the next decade but would still require human oversight for responsible and ethical use. Across both scenarios, the bulletin points to shifting job profiles, continuous retraining and upskilling, and greater cross-disciplinary collaboration, alongside the need for clear AI governance frameworks covering ethics, data privacy, accountability and compliance, with more design-stage controls for autonomous agents. It also highlights recruitment and retention constraints using survey results from the Central Bank Governance Network, including increased complexity in workforce planning (83% of central banks), recruiting becoming more difficult over the past five years (almost 90%), and legal or regulatory recruitment restrictions affecting 58% of respondents, with sourcing requirements (47%) and citizenship requirements (43%) cited. Capability gaps are reported as especially acute in cyber security, IT, fintech, data science and AI/machine learning, with the bulletin noting that some central banks may turn to consultants, contractors or outsourcing to fill short-term gaps, despite continuity, security and legal challenges.

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