Santander Embraces Artificial Intelligence Collaboration for Intelligent Banking Innovation
Santander Bank, one of Spain's biggest financial institutions, is integrating ChatGPT Enterprise and AI into its operations as part of a broader "AI-native" transformation strategy. This move aims to enhance efficiency, customer service, and daily operations across the bank.
Since mid-2025, Santander has deployed ChatGPT Enterprise to nearly 15,000 employees across Europe and the Americas. The bank aims to reach 30,000 users, which equates to about 15% of its workforce, by the end of the year.
The key ways Santander is leveraging AI include automating customer interactions, using AI "copilots" to assist employees, hyper-personalizing customer journeys, employing speech analytics, and driving substantial cost savings.
In customer service, AI-powered virtual assistants handle transactions and customer service requests, enabling faster and more efficient support. In contact centres, AI supports over 40% of interactions, improving response times and accuracy.
Santander is also using AI to deliver real-time, tailored financial advice and investment strategy suggestions, aiming to simplify banking operations and make them less slow and complicated. In Spain, AI analyzes 10 million voice calls annually, automatically updating customer records.
The use of AI has freed up over 100,000 employee hours for higher-value tasks. Santander saved over €200 million through AI projects in 2024 alone, but the current focus is not on cost savings but on improving daily operations and customer experience.
Santander is also focusing on responsible and effective use of AI by launching mandatory AI training for all employees starting in 2026. The aim is to make AI simple, useful, and accessible for all employees, not just tech experts. The training programs are designed for different roles and regions within the bank.
Looking ahead to 2026-2027, Santander plans to scale "agentic AI" to transform both front-office and back-office operations and enable fully conversational banking services. The goal is to integrate AI into the bank's daily operations, from customer service to internal processes.
Ricardo Martín Manjón, Santander's Chief Data and AI Officer, believes AI will enable staff to make decisions faster, handle customer requests more smoothly, and free up time for more meaningful work. The collaboration with OpenAI is a demonstration that AI doesn't have to be intimidating or confusing when used correctly.
Overall, Santander’s integration of ChatGPT Enterprise and AI is a comprehensive effort to infuse intelligence into workflows, optimize productivity, enhance personalized customer service, and reshape banking operations with data-driven and automated technology at its core. The aim is not to replace human workers but to provide them with better tools to perform their jobs effectively, creating a smoother and more friendly experience for customers.
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