This bank CEO let his AI clone handle an earnings call — now he's signing an OpenAI deal

Sam Sidhu, CEO of Customers Bank. Courtesy: Customers Bank Nearly half an hour into a conference call on Friday to discuss first-quarter results with analysts, Customers Bank CEO Sam Sidhu revealed something unusual — up until that point, he hadn't actually been speaking. "The prepared remarks you heard on my behalf today were delivered by my AI clone, not read by me," Sidhu said, calling it a potential first for a public company earnings call. The point of the stunt, he said, was to underscore a broader shift happening as Customers Bank, a $25.9 billion asset lender catering to startups and small businesses, embraces artificial intelligence. Customers Bank has signed a multiyear partnership with OpenAI in which the AI giant will embed engineers at the company to help it automate lending and client onboarding, CNBC has learned exclusively. The deal is part of Sidhu's effort to get ahead of other banks in the industry's race to transform itself using AI agents as a new digital workforce. His strategy hinges on automating core banking processes — slashing loan timelines from weeks to days, for instance — and scaling growth without adding staff at the same pace. While many bankers have described AI in broad terms like productivity gains, Sidhu is tying it directly to financial targets. Sidhu told CNBC that the project will improve the firm's efficiency ratio from about 49 to the low 40s, boosting the bank's returns starting next year. …