Santander will require AI training for all employees by 2026

After achieving cost savings of more than EUR200m last year, the Spanish bank is increasing its use AI.

In addition to the mandatory AI training program for all employees that will begin next year, and which includes teaching responsible AI usage, the bank offers training to its development and marketing staff, as well as front-line workers, through workshops and hackathons. The bank describes the training as part of a “data-first” transformation.

The bank’s chief data officer and AI officer announced the programme when announcing it. Ricardo Martin Manjonsaid: “This transformation is the core of our vision to become a AI-native banking, where data and intelligent technology are at the heart every decision, process, and interaction. It’s a plan to modernise banking and lead the way toward personalised, agile, and efficient banking.

Mr. Manjon described the progress made by the bank using AI last year. AI copilots now handle over 40% of all contact centre interactions. In Spain, speech analytics processed over 10 million voice calls last year and auto-filled CRM software, freeing more than 100,000 hours of human work per year.

Manjon stated that the bank wants AI to be a part of its DNA. “We are reimagining Santander’s operations. We’re grounding every decision on clean, trusted data. We’re automating customer interaction and infusing intelligence into every workflow,” he said.

Santander plans to embed AI across all businesses, including product management, marketing, credit, service, operations, and other core functions. It will embed AI in all of its global platforms, and create an AI eco-system with OpenAI, Microsoft and Amazon, as well as the AI startup community.

Openai’s “new collaboration” will support the bank. OpenAI, for example, enabled the bank to roll out ChatGPT to 15,000 employees in Europe and America. The bank plans to roll it out to 30,000 staff by the end the year, or 15% of their total workforce.

This bank wants AI tools that will help human employees solve complex tasks. The bank has used AI agents to automate back-office processes, AI agents that suggest investment strategies and copilots who can make suggestions on investment strategies. Santander’s architecture is modular and supplier-agnostic, and can be integrated with a variety of large language models (LLMs). Santander, unlike other European companies, could benefit from AI training being mandatory for all staff. Recent Forrester research found that more companies in the US provide regular AI training for their employees than in Europe. The research also revealed that many decision makers incorrectly believe their organisation has provided formal AI training to staff. In some cases, AI training may not be mandatory or very effective.

According to theEuropean workers are falling behind US employees on AI skills report, “If you asked other employees whether they have received formal AI training in the US, the response was 52% and only 39% of European employees.”