Santander announced earlier this year that it aims to reach €1 billion in profits from its artificial intelligence efforts between 2026 and 2028, through a combination of cost reductions and new revenue streams. Given that Brazil has accounted for around 15% to 20% of this group in recent years, the country is expected to make a significant contribution to the global goals. More than a year ago, Eduardo Álvarez was appointed Chief Data and AI Officer (CDAIO), and the bank’s Brazilian division currently has more than 400 AI-related projects underway.
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“The impact of AI is enormous and the models continue to be improved. Even with current technology, the impact will already be huge. If we wait another year, we will be able to do a lot more,” Alvarez said in his first interview after Santander created the role in every country in which it operates. He said the Brazilian unit had spent the past three years cleaning up its data infrastructure, even before it fully understood the potential of AI. “We implemented a real transformation in how we structure our customer data, and that investment is now paying off because we have our house in order and our business can move forward much faster.”
Ricardo Martín, Santander’s global CDAIO, wrote in an article that more than 200 million euros of the expected 1 billion euro goal by 2028 should be achieved this year alone. He also said that as of this week, all 185,000 bankers around the world will have access to AI tools, highlighting efforts that are already paying off. He pointed out that in Brazil, AI is being used to analyze credit card fraud complaints, making the process 95% faster and almost 90% automated.
He said almost 40% of Santander’s global code development is now done with the help of AI. Alvarez cited the example of Brazil. The initial rollout of Desenrolla, a federal debt renegotiation program that began in 2023, took months to code. The second phase of the program earlier this year was expected to take four months to develop, but was completed in one month. “The team defined a technical solution and used AI like a junior engineer, assigning clear and simple tasks in an interactive way. AI helped tremendously in the iterative parts of development, leading to faster delivery times and higher quality.”
Alvarez acknowledged that not all 400 AI initiatives will have a huge impact, but said the Pareto principle still applies. This law suggests that in many systems, approximately 80% of the effects result from 20% of the causes. He cited credit, where AI is expected to improve risk modeling, back-office operations by reducing manual labor, and software development as priority areas. “We’ve been mapping projects for nine months, and every week three or four new projects that we hadn’t thought of come up and have a big impact. My top 10 changes every two to three weeks.”
He said Santander uses multiple AI providers and benefits from its global reach, investment capabilities and large data pool. “In a global competition like this, you need scale, because these things don’t come cheap. Having around 200,000 employees and 180 million customers around the world is a huge advantage for us.” He cited the example of a Santander employee in Chile who developed a solution for trade finance operations and quickly rolled it out across the bank.
Asked about competition from digitally native players built on the cloud and potentially more agile, Alvarez said AI transformation is not a 100-meter sprint. “I wouldn’t call it a marathon. Things change so quickly that you have to be very flexible. It’s more like a 5k or 10k race with obstacles along the way.”
Santander is also a major investor in a fund managed by Mouro Capital, an independent investment firm spun out of a Spanish bank. Raised more than $1 billion to invest in startups around the world, including in the AI space. Its portfolio includes Cognition, creator of the Devin coding agent. Alinia ensures compliance with AI models. Sakana applies AI to trust modeling and cybersecurity. And Sierra focuses on customer service.
On the customer-facing side, one of the most visible effects of AI is hyper-personalization, both in customizing the banking app experience and improving the targeting of products and services. “AI suggests what types of text and images to send to a customer, what is more impactful, what is most relevant to the customer’s needs at that moment. We believe there is tremendous potential for value creation with hyper-personalization, which transforms our ability to anticipate and meet customer needs,” Alvarez said.
