BBVA takes a significant step in the use of Productive Artificial Intelligence

BBVA’s majority shareholder BBVA accelerated its plans in the field of artificial intelligence by signing an agreement with OpenAI.

BBVA, the majority shareholder of Garanti BBVA, which has been in an important position in artificial intelligence-based research and projects for many years, took another significant step in the use of Productive Artificial Intelligence in its main markets. Prioritizing about 100 projects to be developed with various tools using artificial intelligence technology, BBVA signed a strategic agreement with OpenAI, the producer of ChatGPT. Standing out in embracing groundbreaking technologies that will impact the financial sector, BBVA is drawing attention as one of the first European banks to collaborate with OpenAI.

With this agreement, it aims to explore the potential of Productive Artificial Intelligence in accelerating processes, increasing efficiency, and promoting innovation in a safe and responsible manner through its features such as text and visual generation and information processing.

According to the announcement, the bank has started distributing 3,000 ChatGPT Enterprise licenses to increase productivity and process efficiency among its employees and to promote innovation across the Group, including in Turkey. The corporate version of ChatGPT, in addition to many other features, provides the highest level of security and privacy along with its unique ability to create content or answer complex business questions. BBVA will also benefit from OpenAI’s expertise to unlock the full potential of this new tool. Under the agreement, OpenAI will also provide the latest updates and training for large language models (LLMs). By working closely with OpenAI, BBVA will advance the most successful usage scenarios for the bank’s business processes.

The aim is to ensure access to ChatGPT for all areas and departments through mandatory training provided for each account setup and to encourage licensed employees to collaborate with their colleagues to carry out various projects. BBVA aims to collect user feedback and suggestions through a multinational community to identify the most remarkable usage scenarios and share best practices.

The agreement with OpenAI also serves as an example of the bank’s commitment to embracing artificial intelligence as a differentiating factor in customer satisfaction.

Operating advanced analytics and specialized development centers for artificial intelligence known as AI factories in Spain, Mexico, and Turkey for over a decade, BBVA views data and technology as the two most important elements of transformation. In addition to artificial intelligence teams, the bank has more than 5,000 employees, including approximately 1,000 data scientists working in all business areas, to uncover the value of data and artificial intelligence, improve business decisions, and create various products that enhance customers’ financial health or assist them in climate transitions.

Commenting on the matter, BBVA Global Data Head Ricardo Martn Manjn stated, “New artificial intelligence tools will have a disruptive impact across society and especially in the financial sector. As a bank, we want to further advance our pioneering role in innovating financial services. Therefore, we are determined to explore the potential of this technology. We believe that Productive Artificial Intelligence, when used securely and responsibly, is game-changing in supporting our customers’ decisions and providing personalized services. We also encourage the productivity of our employees.”

OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap also expressed, “We are excited to collaborate with BBVA, one of Europe’s top banks. Artificial intelligence simplifies routine tasks, increasing productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.”

Garanti BBVA Deputy General Manager İlker Kuruöz, evaluating the agreement with OpenAI, said, “Over the past 1.5 years, Productive Artificial Intelligence, especially ChatGPT, has made a wide impact worldwide. The pioneering role of our majority shareholder BBVA and their rapid adaptation to technological advancements are very valuable to us. In this sense, we are pleased to be a part of the BBVA Group. Productive artificial intelligence adds intelligence to everything it touches and ensures efficiency. Moreover, through its learning capacity, it enables the personalization of all kinds of products and services. GenAI also brings a great efficiency opportunity to the software industry. As Garanti BBVA, we have two goals here; first, to create a personalized mobile branch for each of our customers, and second, for each of our employees to have their own personal assistant that makes their lives easier. We have already started using all these features in Garanti BBVA Technology. In this respect, we have developed our LLM models and made our virtual assistant Ugi smarter and more personalized, and we are in the pilot phase with internal users. We also aim to increase the effectiveness of our existing bots supporting employees. In addition, we have implemented the Co-pilot solution supported by LLM in software development processes and enabled our software engineers to produce code faster and of higher quality.”

BBVA Artificial Intelligence Usage Manager Elena Alfaro stated, “We see the initial use of ChatGPT Enterprise as an opportunity to verify how much these tools can increase our efficiency and to transform our way of working in the bank. Our goal is to enhance the capabilities of our employees, not to replace them.”