Luisa Gómez Bravo (BBVA): “AI Can Become a Driver of Innovation for Clients and Generate Significantly Greater Value for Our Shareholders”
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs investor conference on Wednesday, BBVA’s Global Head of Finance, Luisa Gómez Bravo, noted that AI will be one of the key forces shaping the future of banking and will drive a transformation that is greater, faster, and more disruptive than digitalization, benefiting clients in particular: “We believe AI can become a powerful engine for innovation and value creation for clients and, ultimately, generate significantly greater value for our shareholders.”
In this context, she said that BBVA expects to be one of the leaders of this transformation, just as it spearheaded the digital banking transformation: “We believe AI will be a key factor in strengthening our long-term competitive position in the market,” she remarked. To achieve this, the Group is following a roadmap structured around three major phases:
The first phase has focused on ensuring that the entire organization embraces AI as an everyday tool. As things currently stand, more than 100,000 BBVA employees regularly use solutions such as Google Gemini and ChatGPT Enterprise in their day-to-day work.
The second phase, which BBVA has been working on for the past year, centers on execution through eight cross-functional initiatives spanning all business units and functions. These initiatives target three main areas: transforming and enhancing the client experience, equipping relationship managers and other employees with AI-powered assistants, and simplifying and industrializing operations and processes such as risk management, fraud prevention, and regulatory compliance.
The third phase, which sets BBVA apart, involves standardizing and industrializing the creation, deployment, and ongoing management of intelligent agents across the organization. This includes building shared platforms, components, and capabilities that enable teams to develop solutions more efficiently, securely, and at scale. Gómez Bravo also noted that BBVA has recently created a new global area, known as AI Transformation, to scale up both its AI strategy and the bank’s broader transformation.
As for the financial impact, Gómez Bravo said that it is still too early to accurately quantify AI’s full potential, although productivity gains are already visible, particularly in software development, operations, and internal processes.
In her view, the medium and long-term opportunity extends far beyond cost savings, as AI also has the potential to drive revenue growth. Greater personalization, more advanced advisory capabilities, and higher commercial productivity are expected to build stronger client relationships, increase engagement levels, and support stronger long-term growth.
“We believe AI can become a powerful engine for innovation and value creation for clients and, ultimately, generate significantly greater value for our shareholders,” she remarked.
Profitability, efficiency, and capital generation targets
According to Gómez Bravo, the Group feels comfortable with current business trends and is confident of achieving its targets, including a return on tangible equity (ROTE) of approximately 22%¹, supported by the generation of around €48 billion in attributable profit between 2025 and 2028.
For this to happen, the Group plans to progressively become more profitable across all of its markets, supported by several factors: disciplined, profitable business growth; greater margin resilience as interest rates stabilize, particularly in Spain and Mexico; revenue diversification through fee-generating, low-capital-consumption businesses; and operational excellence, with the goal of achieving a cost-to-income ratio of 35% by 2028.
For BBVA, operational excellence is not solely about cost control. Maintaining positive jaws is a management mainstay across the organization and a key priority in each and every country.
Asked about the bank’s capital position, Gómez Bravo explained that there is no trade-off between growth, capital generation, and the shareholder return. The capital allocation framework is straightforward: first, fund profitable growth and then return excess capital to shareholders. Under the 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, the Group expects to generate approximately €49 billion of capital organically, of which at least €13 billion will be reinvested in the business to continue growing above market rates and gaining market share. The remaining €36 billion or so would be available for distribution to shareholders. She also reiterated the bank’s commitment to distributing all excess capital above a CET1 ratio of 12%, the upper end of its target range².
Strong outlook for its main markets: Spain, Mexico, and Türkiye
The Global Head of Finance pointed to BBVA’s strong profitability in Spain, which she said is supported by three pillars: compelling client acquisition and engagement, disciplined and profitable loan growth, and a highly scalable business model built on digitalization and a strong focus on client relationships. The bank aims to reduce its cost-to-income ratio to slightly above 30% by 2028, supported by revenue growth and productivity improvements in turn driven by AI, data, and technology, while maintaining a leading level of profitability in the Spanish market.
According to Gómez Bravo, BBVA continues to hold a very positive view of Mexico and believes the country continues to offer significant growth potential due to its low level of banking penetration and close ties to the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, rising real wages, strong consumer spending, and opportunities linked to infrastructure, energy, and Plan México are all expected to continue driving demand for financing from individuals and businesses alike.
She noted that BBVA continues to gain market share in both lending and deposits, supported by its scale, client acquisition and engagement capabilities, technological edge, and a strategy focused on segments and regions where it still sees opportunities for profitable growth.
Turning her attention to Türkiye, she noted that the country continues to represent a highly attractive value opportunity for BBVA as its economy steadily gets back on track. Although macroeconomic imbalances persist, Gómez Bravo praised the work of the government’s economic team, particularly in curbing inflation. Against this backdrop, BBVA continues to expect net profit in Türkiye of around €1 billion in 2026, albeit with downside risk, and remains confident that once the macroeconomic normalization process is complete, Garanti BBVA will be exceptionally well positioned to generate attractive and sustainable returns for its shareholders.