Customers Bank has signed a multiyear partnership with OpenAI, with engineers set to be embedded at the bank to help automate lending and onboarding. The announcement came after CEO Sam Sidhu revealed—nearly half an hour into the first-quarter earnings call on Friday—that an AI clone had been handling part of the discussion with analysts.
“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. He said the point of the stunt 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.
READ: OpenAI apologizes to Tumbler Ridge over data incident (April 26, 2026)
According to CNBC, this deal is part of the bank’s efforts to amp up its AI efforts as banks race towards using AI agents as a digital workforce. Sidhu is handling it by 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 also 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. He also mentioned he believed the relationship with OpenAI will be a symbiotic one.
“We’re going to be co-creating enterprise solutions they could potentially sell to other banks in the future,” Sidhu said. “The goal here is end-to-end, automated agentic led workflow” for lending, deposits and payments.
OpenAI said it was proud to help Customers Bank “as they build a more intelligent operating model that empowers employees, strengthens client service, and sets a new standard for regional banking.”
READ: OpenAI partners with Infosys to bring AI tools to businesses (April 22, 2026)
The bank also expects to roll out AI agents over the next six to 12 months. Sidhu said that if they succeed, closing a commercial loan will go from taking 30 to 45 days, including underwriting, document collection and legal negotiations, to about seven days.
Opening accounts for complex commercial clients, which can take more than a day, will be collapsed to under 20 minutes using conversational AI and automated document gathering, he added. He also said “When you have an autonomous agent, you’re essentially creating a digital worker … and they can work around the clock.”