American Express Cuts 5% as AI Restructuring Advances

American Express will cut 5% of its global workforce as it restructures the organization and prepares for artificial intelligence, CEO Stephen Squeri said Friday. The company reported third-quarter results earlier Friday and will record a $336 million restructuring charge in the quarter. It had almost 77,000 employees at the end of 2025.

Workforce and Restructuring Charge

Squeri told analysts American Express was making the cuts as it reorganizes. The announcement identified the reduction as a share of its global workforce, but didn't give a specific number of positions to be eliminated.

American Express had almost 77,000 employees at the end of 2025. The report didn't specify how many employees in particular locations or roles would be affected.

Squeri said the company will record a $336 million restructuring charge in the quarter. Charges of that type typically include employee severance costs, according to the report. American Express didn't provide a breakdown of the charge beyond that information.

Squeri described the restructuring as a step toward changing how the company operates and supporting its business priorities. “We've got good momentum, but to accelerate innovation and win over the next few years, we needed to become [a] more agile and efficient organization,” he told analysts.

He said the company expected the exercise to affect its ability to operate and invest. “We believe this exercise will help us operate and execute more effectively and give us greater capacity to invest in our business priorities,” Squeri said.

AI and Organizational Changes

CFO Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC the restructuring aimed to make American Express “leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI.” His remarks tied the workforce changes to a planned reorganization of processes and management structures.

“You don't want to automate processes that are not optimally structured,” Le Caillec said. He added that the company was seeking “to reduce layers and increase spans of controls,” so it could automate and take advantage of AI “in the coming quarters and the coming years.”

Le Caillec laid out the company’s stated sequence: change the structure of processes and oversight, then automate and use AI. The report didn't identify which processes would change, what work the company would automate, or how many employees those decisions might affect.

Squeri and Le Caillec presented the restructuring as a way to improve efficiency and prepare for AI. Their statements didn't name the specific business priorities that would receive investment or explain how American Express would measure the promised operational improvements.

The announcement came alongside the company’s third-quarter results, which it reported earlier Friday. American Express has announced a global workforce reduction, a quarterly restructuring charge and organizational changes that executives say will support automation and AI adoption. The report was marked as developing.