Barclays Names Its First Chief AI Officer Days After Announcing 5,000 Job Cuts

Barclays has appointed Anita Tanna as its first chief AI officer, FStech reported on October 26, 2026. Tanna has been group chief of staff for nearly 3 years and will be responsible for accelerating AI adoption across the bank, finding where AI can add the most value and keeping its use responsible.

The appointment came 4 days after Barclays said it expects to cut about 5,000 jobs in 2026, roughly 5% of its staff, as investment in technology makes work more efficient (ITV).

Who Is Anita Tanna?

Tanna is not a technologist by background. She joined Barclays in 2021 in equity sales in the corporate and investment bank, after almost 12 years at Citi, where she was head of equity sales for the UK and head of international sales. As chief of staff she worked across the group's leadership, which gives her reach into every division the AI program will touch.

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AI as the "Icing," Not the Cake

Chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan described AI as "the icing on the cake," with technology and platform modernisation doing most of the work behind the efficiency gains. Barclays reported third-quarter pre-tax profit of £2.3 billion, up 12%, and expects more than £1.1 billion of savings from efficiency measures in 2027, according to HRD. About 60% of second-half job cuts fall in support functions.

What the Appointment Signals

Choosing a chief of staff rather than a technology executive suggests Barclays sees the CAIO job as an adoption and change role that cuts across business lines, while engineering stays with technology leadership. HSBC made a similar choice in April, naming a business COO as its first chief AI officer. The CAIO role is also spreading beyond banking: see Orange's chief AI officer appointment and the hybrid AI executive.

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