BBVA is working to create, deploy and manage AI agents at scale — a vital step in the Spanish bank’s AI roadmap.

Creating these AI agents at scale “is a key milestone in the industrialization of AI agents across BBVA,” Chief Executive Onur Genc said during today’s second-quarter earnings call. “It will provide a common framework for governance, architecture, security and performance measurement of agents, allowing us to accelerate implementation while maintaining rigorous control over risks, costs and outcomes.”

Genc could not give a timeline for launching the AI agents at scale as “it’s still a new development.”

“At BBVA, our DNA has innovation and transformation written all over it, and we are determined to lead the AI transformation in banking,” Genc said.

BBVA and Visa completed their first AI agent-initiated transactions in June, making purchases in commercial environments. This follows the $1 trillion bank giving nearly its entire staff access to OpenAi’s ChatGPT tools in December 2025.

“Today, these tools are part of our team’s daily work, with more than 100,000 teammates already actively using AI,” Genc said.

OpenAI and BBVA also agreed to create a digital alter ego, essentially a “second self that learns each employee’s way of working, remembers their projects and executes tasks with their authorization and oversight,” according to a Dec. 12, 2025, release.

In addition to streamlining workflows, BBVA and OpenAI agreed to create an intelligent conversational assistant to support customers in their day-to-day financial activities, according to the release.

New CFO named

Gonzalo Rodriguez will succeed Luisa Gomez Bravo as chief financial officer, effective Sept. 1, according to a July 29 release. Rodriguez has been head of retail banking at BBVA Spain since August 2024 and has been with the bank for nearly 14 years. Gomez Bravo has been CFO since September 2023 and has been with BBVA for more than 26 years.

BY THE NUMBERS: BBVA reported in Q2:

• Profit of 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion), up 12.5% year over year;
• Operating income of $7.6 billion, up 19.5% YoY; and
• Efficiency ratio of 37.8% for the first half of 2026, unchanged YoY.

Shares of BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) were up 7.52% from market open to $27.59 at market close today. The bank has a market capitalization of $ 153.2 billion.

Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars.

Register here for the FinAi Lending Summit, set for Oct. 7-8 in Las Vegas. This inaugural event will include speakers from Fifth Third, Chase and Capital One, as well as a fireside chat with Piermont Bank founder and Chief Executive Wendy Cai-Lee.