on the history of previous interactions on a given subject. 12 this adjustment process entails both modifying the mix of tasks handled by retained workers and hiring new talent from outside the firm. a recent survey conducted by the federal reserve bank of new york found that very few ai - adopting firms had laid off workers as part of that process in the previous six months, and many firms have plans to retrain their workers to use ai. 13 adapting an incumbent business to fully exploit ai can be a daunting task : the business may need to substantially reorganize its operations to reap the full benefit of ai. 14 given access to information from throughout the firm, ai may offer insights into business process efficiency, but the data landscape may be balkanized, with differing see erik brynjolfsson, danielle li, and lindsey r. raymond ( 2023 ), “ generative ai at work, ” nber working paper series 31161 ( cambridge, mass. : national bureau of economic research, november ), https : / / www. nber. org / papers / w31161. see jaison r. abel, richard deitz, natalia emanuel, and benjamin hyman ( 2024 ), “ ai and the labor market : will firms hire, fire, or retrain? ” federal reserve bank of new york, liberty street economics ( blog ), september 4, https : / / libertystreeteconomics. newyorkfed. org / 2024 / 09 / ai - and - the - labor - market - willfirms - hire - fire - or - retrain. the survey covered firms in the new york – northern new jersey region. a june survey of texas firms yielded similar results. see marco iansiti and karim r. lakhani ( 2020 ), competing in the age of ai : strategy and leadership when algorithms and networks run the world ( boston : harvard business review press ). - 8standards and restrictive permissions. reports are that one prominent technology firm addressed this problem by requiring that employees provide widespread access to all data sets within the company and service interfaces to make the access seamless. 15 not all firms will find it feasible or desirable to take such sweeping measures. new entrants may have an advantage in this landscape in that they have fewer entrenched practices. in a development that one may speculate is connected to ai, ryan decker and john haltiwanger found that a large share of the

welcoming remarks by jerome h. powell chair board of governors of the federal reserve system at the 2022 community banking research conference, sponsored by the federal reserve, the conference of state bank supervisors, and the federal deposit insurance corporation st. louis, missouri ( via pre - recorded video ) september 28, 2022 good morning, and welcome to the 10th annual community banking research conference. i have attended this conference twice before, including the first one back in 2013, and i can attest to the quality of the research and discussions. while i am coming to you virtually today, many of you are gathering in person for the first time in three years. i am sure it will make an excellent event even more enjoyable. the community banking research conference brings together researchers, regulators, policymakers, and community bankers to discuss the unique and important role community banks play in our economy. the conference was launched in the years following the financial crisis, in a collaboration by the federal reserve, the conference of state bank supervisors ( csbs ), and the federal deposit insurance corporation ( fdic ). the conference was developed to deepen our understanding of the community bank business model and to provide a forum to discuss research with academics, policymakers, regulators, and community bankers. the research presented over the years has informed supervisory and regulatory policy debates and continues to challenge our thinking. it has highlighted the vital links between community banks and small businesses, the availability of credit in low - and moderate - income communities, how community banks support their local communities in times of crisis, and the impact of technology. a critical feature of the research sessions is that community bankers join academic moderators to provide feedback from a practitioner ’ s perspective. the challenges facing community banks have changed significantly over the past 10 years. community banks have demonstrated remarkable resilience, and conferences like this have helped regulators and supervisors to better understand those changes. - 2i want to congratulate the federal reserve bank of st. louis for a decade of hosting an important and informative conference. and i want to thank our colleagues at the fed, the fdic, and the conference of state bank supervisors. on a sadder note, i want to recognize the passing of john ryan, who was president of the csbs, this past may. john ’ s impact on the csbs and his contributions to the financial services sector overall were significant, and he is missed by all who knew and worked with him. thanks also to the researchers and all the community banking professionals