Banco Santander to offer AI training to all staff from 2026

Bank claims AI initiatives saved more than €200m in 2024

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Banco Santander to offer AI training to all staff from 2026. Source: Peter Clayton CC BY-SA 2.0

Banco Santander will introduce a mandatory artificial intelligence (AI) training programme for all staff from next year, as part of its plan to expand the use of the technology across the organisation.

The bank, headquartered in Santander, Spain, says it is increasing its use of AI after saving more than €200 million in 2024 through AI initiatives. The training will include a core module on “Responsible AI” and will be delivered across roles and markets to “democratise its use”, enabling employees to work with the technology safely and effectively. It will build on existing tailored sessions for developers, marketers and front-line staff, delivered through workshops, hackathons and bite-sized learning modules.

Ricardo Martín Manjón, chief data and AI officer at Santander said: “We’re reimagining Santander’s operations, grounding every decision in clean, trusted data, automating customer interactions and infusing every workflow with intelligence.”

Santander says it has already used AI in areas such as fraud detection and customer service. In 2024, AI copilot supported more than 40% of contact centre interactions, while in Spain, speech analytics processed 10 million voice calls and auto-filled CRM systems, freeing up over 100,000 hours for other work. More than 6,000 developers for the company now use AI tools, increasing productivity by 20-30% for some tasks and enabling faster delivery of projects, according to the bank.

Santander plans to integrate AI into product management, credit, marketing, service, operations and other functions, as well as into its global platforms. It is also developing an AI ecosystem in collaboration with OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon and a startup community. A collaboration with OpenAI has already enabled Santander to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise to around 15,000 employees in Europe and the Americas, with the figure expected to reach 30,000, about 15% of the workforce, by the end of the year.

Santander’s roadmap for 2026–27 includes scaling agentic AI, transforming front- and back-office processes and introducing conversational banking, where AI copilots act as decision-making partners and virtual assistants can complete transactions for customers.