Concerns that advances in generative artificial intelligence will cut a swath through the workforce, starting in call centres, miss the point of how the technology is changing the way businesses operate and new jobs are being created, according to top executives from Telstra, ANZ Bank, and Salesforce.

Debate about how increasingly capable AI agents will change the way companies talk to their customers, and plan their workforces, was ignited in September when Commonwealth Bank revealed it was experimenting with a ChatGPT-style platform in its call centres.