Why Emotional Intelligence Ranked Among Top Courses at Bank of America During an AI Expansion

Why Employees at Bank of America Are Choosing Emotional Intelligence

Bank of America's 211,000 employees have access to roughly 8,000 learning resources and 500 training programs through the company's Academy. One of the most chosen topics is not a technical certification but emotional intelligence. Because most learning at the bank is self-directed, the ranking reflects what workers themselves consider valuable for their jobs, according to Bernard Hampton, managing director and head of the Bank of America Academy.

Hampton said the popularity of emotional intelligence is a point of pride because it shows employees recognize the importance of collaboration, personal relationships and leadership. The Academy handles onboarding, training and skill development. Business experts work there for three or four years and then return to their regular roles, a rotation designed to keep training content current while supporting professional mobility.

The bank's approach arrives as AI becomes more embedded in its operations. BofA does not treat AI as a separate skill; instead, Hampton said, it is integrated into how work is done. The Academy's model is summarized as "AI assists, people decide." Employees keep responsibility for defining intent, validating results, managing exceptions and making decisions. In a business built on handling other people's money, the bank argues that human judgment and trust remain essential.

Inside BofA's 'AI Assists, People Decide' Training Model

Why Bank of America Is Betting on Human Skills Alongside AI

The bank's stated rationale is that AI can speed up analysis, but accountability and client relationships must remain human. That is a strategic position rather than a rejection of automation. BofA is effectively arguing that as routine tasks are automated, human skills such as empathy, critical thinking and judgment become more valuable, not less. The fact that employees are choosing emotional-intelligence training on their own supports that view, though it is based on the company's internal experience rather than independent data.

How the Academy Turns Emotional Intelligence Into Repeatable Practice

BofA has made emotional intelligence part of its skills catalog through a two-hour in-person course, and the training is mandatory during onboarding and job changes. The self-directed version helps participants analyze their emotional needs, understand their communication style and adjust how they influence others. A related course on handling disagreements provides a framework for respectful interactions. The bank also uses virtual reality in about 4,000 financial centers, drawing roughly 1,000 participants per year, and has used VR for training for more than six years.

What the LLM Simulator Signals for Managers

One of the more distinctive tools is an AI simulator built on a large language model. Instead of waiting for a manager to observe a mistake, an employee who struggles with client conversations can practice privately and repeat the exercise many times. Hampton said the tool already records hundreds of thousands of uses per year. The logic is that employees can improve before a manager evaluates them, which shifts feedback from correction after failure to preparation before observation. Hampton also stressed that AI agents are not responsible for outcomes; people are. He expects human skills to become increasingly important as automation advances, and he advises organizations to measure recovered time and what employees do with that time, not only cost savings.

What Learning Leaders Can Take From BofA's Employee-Driven Approach

For HR, learning and development, and line leaders, BofA's experience offers several specific practices from its Academy model:

• Design soft-skill training people want, not only training they must take. Emotional intelligence remained among the top three most-chosen courses because BofA employees selected it themselves, not because it was only assigned. L&D teams can use voluntary enrollment as a signal of relevance.
• Offer private practice before performance evaluation. BofA's LLM-based simulator lets employees rehearse difficult client conversations repeatedly without waiting for a manager's feedback. The bank reports hundreds of thousands of uses per year, making low-stakes practice a scalable alternative to manager-gated correction.
• Clarify the accountability line with AI. Hampton's rule is that AI assists and people decide. Managers can apply that by separating routine tasks from those requiring analysis and judgment, while keeping humans responsible for intent, validation, exceptions and final decisions.
• Measure time recovered, not only cost savings. Hampton recommends tracking what employees do with time freed by AI and automation. For a 211,000-person organization, that metric can show whether productivity gains are being used for higher-value work.