A quiet revolution is spreading in the gleaming towers of Manhattan’s financial district. While investors chase artificial intelligence stocks to stratospheric valuations, the banking sector’s most astute strategists are orchestrating a different play entirely. They are not betting on AI’s promise but positioning for its disruption.

The evidence lies buried in earnings guidance that appears almost suspiciously conservative. Major US banks have set expectations for second-quarter results that analysts describe as “deceptively low,” with the financials sector projected to grow earnings by just 2.9 per cent. Yet this apparent pessimism masks a calculated strategy: banks are deliberately sandbagging expectations ahead of what industry insiders believe will be the most significant credit expansion opportunity in a generation. The catalyst is not economic growth or monetary easing, but mass workforce displacement.