\BBVA is expanding its rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise to all 120,000 employees across its operations in 25 countries, making this one of the largest enterprise deployments of generative AI in the financial services industry and an example of how AI can be used to improve workflows in a highly regulated environment Cryptopolitan. This tenfold expansion marks one of the largest enterprise deployments in the financial sector to date, with employees using the tools saving nearly three hours per week on routine tasks Artificial Intelligence News.

BBVA began working with OpenAI in May 2024, rolling out 3,300 accounts to test the waters, then expanding to 11,000 staff before scaling to the full workforce Artificial Intelligence News. Seven months ago, employees were reporting savings of nearly three hours per week on routine tasks, with some workflows showing efficiency improvements up to 80% CNBC.

Under this new agreement, OpenAI will help advance BBVA's AI strategy to transform the customer experience, enable new ways of working, and optimize internal operations, with BBVA creating new AI solutions with OpenAI to transform customer interactions, equip bankers to better support clients, streamline risk analysis, and redesign internal processes such as software development Cryptopolitan. BBVA is also exploring ways to integrate its products and services so customers can interact with the bank directly through ChatGPT Cryptopolitan.

Although BBVA and OpenAI did not disclose the financial terms of their agreement, typical enterprise pricing models suggest that rolling out AI tools at this scale can amount to a substantial annual expense for a global organization, with the investment highlighting how large banks are beginning to treat AI spending as part of core operating costs rather than short-term trials OpenAI.

BBVA has already deployed 'Blue,' a virtual assistant built on OpenAI models that helps customers manage cards and accounts using natural language Artificial Intelligence News. Blue is currently live in Spain and Mexico and can handle around 150 customer queries, with the bank now working to expand the assistant's capabilities so it can carry out transactions independently OpenAI. BBVA's head of global AI adoption noted the bank already employs more than 1,000 scientists running AI models alongside 2,500 data specialists IT Pro, positioning the organization to integrate general-purpose AI tools with specialized in-house capabilities.

Carlos Torres Vila, BBVA Chairman, stated: "We were pioneers in the digital and mobile transformation, and we are now entering the AI era with even greater ambition. Our alliance with OpenAI accelerates the native integration of artificial intelligence across the bank to create a smarter, more proactive, and completely personalised banking experience, anticipating the needs of every client" Artificial Intelligence News.

Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, commented: "BBVA is a strong example of how a large financial institution can adopt AI with real ambition and speed. With this expansion of our work together, BBVA will embed our AI into the core of their products and operations to enhance the overall banking experience for their customers" Artificial Intelligence News.

As part of this new agreement, BBVA will have a dedicated team working directly with OpenAI's product, research, and technology success teams to accelerate the bank's shift toward becoming an AI-native institution Cryptopolitan.

Deploying AI into a heavily-regulated environment like banking requires strict controls, with the global rollout including enterprise-grade security and privacy measures ensuring client data remains protected while staff access OpenAI's latest models Artificial Intelligence News. The rollout includes tools for creating internal agents connected to BBVA systems, with the two companies collaborating on specialized training programs and a structured adoption model to integrate these tools consistently and securely across all areas and functions Cryptopolitan.

This approach reflects growing pressure on banks to modernise workflows while managing costs and regulatory complexity, with governance frameworks and controls guiding employee use of ChatGPT to ensure responsible adoption across regulated banking environments globally OpenAI. The bank's comprehensive approachincluding training 250+ senior executives and creating internal AI communities provides a blueprint that other financial institutions might copy CNBC.

This type of functionality, often described as agentic AI, would allow systems to act on a user's behalf within set rules, potentially reshaping digital banking experiences OpenAI. The expanded deployment highlights the growing importance of generative AI in banking and other regulated sectors, with BBVA executives portraying the alliance as a competitive differentiator at a time when customer expectations and operational needs are shifting quickly Tekedia. Decision-makers should monitor whether BBVA's measured pilot-to-scale approach delivering documented productivity gains becomes the implementation blueprint for regulated industries, as the partnership's success validating AI integration within compliance-heavy environments will determine whether similar enterprise-wide deployments accelerate across global financial services.

Source & Date

Source: BBVA, OpenAI, Bloomberg, Invezz, eWEEK, Financial IT
Date: December 12-13, 2025