The Global Startup Awards (GSA), one of the most prestigious events for independent startups, will be held in Türkiye for the first time on September 24-25. With Garanti BBVA as the lead sponsor, GSA aims to recognize innovative startups in the Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem, while bringing together a large community of entrepreneurs, investors, VCs, thought leaders, industry benchmarks, ecosystem partners, and other key stakeholders.

The city of Barcelona is hosting the first edition of this event in Spain, which ran from August 25 to 29. Within the broad program of activities, BBVA sponsored its Finance Day, which focused on the applications of AI and machine learning within the financial industry.

Around 40 percent of BBVA’s business customers in Spain have upgraded to the Android PoS terminal, which offers more functionalities than a traditional device. Its operation is intuitive and resembles that of a mobile phone. The main screen displays applications for business management and a payment option. Merchants can easily process returns and view their transaction history.

BBVA’s AI Factory, a center dedicated to developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, expands to Mexico and Türkiye in order to create products globally and leverage knowledge across the Group. With these new centers, BBVA aims to accelerate the adoption of AI-based solutions to improve customer experience and optimize internal processes. In addition, the bank has hired 230 AI experts, doubling the headcount of these ‘factories’ to more than 400 professionals.

Deep learning is a subset of IA within the broader concept of machine learning, so both concepts have a good deal in common, though also differences. Deep learning uses neural networks to draw complex conclusions in a human-like manner. Meanwhile, machine learning is able to make predictions from patterns, although it requires a higher level of human input.

David Puente has been heading up Client Solutions at BBVA for five years. It is an area which, in his words, “drives growth and innovation” at BBVA. He is tasked with developing the value proposition for private and corporate clients, as well as non-clients. His remit includes overall product design, customer experience, relationship and distribution model, as well as building new capabilities and exploring new business opportunities.