‘Shadow AI” phenomenon, or employees using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc. without notifying technology or compliance departments; Risk of sensitive data leakage or Company Confidential Information. However, this covert use is widespread. According to a study by the MIT Media Lab, 90% of professionals surveyed report using AI tools in their work, but only 40% of companies purchase formal licenses.
In light of this scenario, a team of experts and academics from BBVA, the London School of Economics, Carlos III University of Madrid, the University of Alicante and IE University published an analysis in the Harvard Business Review. What does a broad and structured implementation strategy look like? Accelerate the integration of this technology into your company and channels. use safely. With a recruitment strategy based on facilitating access and fostering participation, the bank is an example to other companies on how to empower employees, enable decentralized internal innovation, and leverage existing talent within an organization.
Just two years after launching this strategy, Now accessible to all employees More than half use these tools weekly. In addition, the bank encourages internal innovation initiatives such as BBVA Bot Talent, a competition where employees develop AI solutions to real-world challenges for companies.
In the early days of recruitment, speed and Senior management involvement These were essential to streamlining rigorous risk assessments, legal reviews, and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance processes in just two months. The Group is therefore ready to sign an initial agreement with OpenAI in record time, allowing the bank to deploy ChatGPT Enterprise in its own secure cloud and subsequently integrate Google Cloud’s Gemini.
Other important factors include:
- Training for senior leaders. The bank has trained 250 key directors, including the CEO and chairman. The goal was for them to see this technology as a valuable assistant, to prevent skepticism due to lack of understanding, and to lead by example.
- Adoption on appeal. The limited number of generative AI licenses initially created real demand.
- decentralized innovation. Rather than leaving the creation of solutions in the hands of a centralized team, the employees who best understand the business processes were empowered. To that end, an adoption network was created that combines continuous insights and introduces the roles of champions (leaders) and wizards (local experts) tasked with identifying the most valuable use cases.
- human governance. Empowerment is combined with supervision. The AI never writes directly to a central database without human verification, and the quality of the assistant is regularly evaluated to ensure transparency and security.
As an article published in Harvard Business Review, a publication considered a global reference in management, strategy, and leadership, concludes, BBVA’s experience can hold important lessons for businesses. Success comes not from imposing top-down technology guidelines; Trust the innovators already in your organization and to help them reach their full potential.
Ultimately, the true success of AI lies not in deploying cutting-edge technology, but in how people use it to fundamentally transform the way they work and improve customer service.
