# Santander US: AI workforce and talent

Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us/ai-workforce
Last updated: Oct 31, 2026

*Part of the [Santander US AI strategy profile](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us).*

## How is AI changing Santander's workforce in the U.S.?

Santander's AI workforce program is run by the group, and the U.S. figures on record are headcount and merger savings. The group extended AI access to all 185,000 employees on June 22, 2026, up from nearly 40,000 active users; between 2025 and April 2026 some 35,000 group employees received over 125,000 hours of AI training, centered on the AI DO Academy, and in August 2025 the group said a mandatory AI training plan for all employees would start in 2026 with a 'Responsible AI' module. In May 2026 more than 17,000 people worked with agentic AI in software development, and 40% of all code in June was developed by AI. None of this is broken out for the U.S. There, Santander Holdings USA reported approximately 11,800 employees at the end of 2023, 10,700 at the end of 2024 and 10,300 at the end of 2025. The Webster acquisition, closed on August 20, 2026, takes the combined workforce to around 14,000, and the $800 million of savings targeted by the end of 2028 is to come mainly from integrating technology platforms and 'de-duplication' of back-office jobs, U.S. CEO Christiana Riley told American Banker. The group expects data and AI to produce more than €1 billion of annual business value by 2028, about €700 million of it from lower costs. No U.S. AI training figures or AI-attributed job cuts are disclosed. ([Banco Santander](https://www.santander.com/en/stories/santander-turns-its-ai-first-strategy-into-measurable-impact-and-extends-ai-access-to-all-185000-employees), [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/stories/ai-at-santander-from-learning-to-practical-use), [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/stories/santander-data-ai-first-strategy-accelerates-through-openai-collaboration), [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183024000010/sov-20231231.htm), [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183025000012/sov-20241231.htm), [Santander Holdings USA (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183026000005/sov-20251231.htm), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/with-webster-in-hand-santander-says-its-poised-for-growth), [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/press-room/press-releases/2026/02/2026-santander-investor-day), [Bloomberg](https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-25/santander-s-botin-sees-1-billion-ai-boost-amid-efficiency-push))

## How has Santander's U.S. headcount changed, and what will Webster mean for jobs?

Year-end figures are from the Santander Holdings USA (SHUSA) 10-K human capital sections; the 2023 figure covers 'all of Santander U.S.'.

| As of | Measure | Value | Source | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| December 31, 2023 | Employees | Approximately 11,800; 12-month voluntary attrition 10.6% | 2023 Form 10-K | [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183024000010/sov-20231231.htm) |
| December 31, 2024 | Employees | Approximately 10,700; voluntary attrition 10.2% | 2024 Form 10-K | [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183025000012/sov-20241231.htm) |
| December 31, 2025 | Employees | Approximately 10,300; voluntary attrition 9.5% | 2025 Form 10-K | [Santander Holdings USA (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183026000005/sov-20251231.htm) |
| August 20, 2026 | Combined with Webster | Around 14,000 people, per Christiana Riley | American Banker | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/with-webster-in-hand-santander-says-its-poised-for-growth) |
| August 20, 2026 | Where the savings come from | $800 million by the end of 2028, mainly integrating technology platforms and 'de-duplication' of back-office jobs such as accounting and risk management; branch closures 'not a meaningful part' | American Banker | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/with-webster-in-hand-santander-says-its-poised-for-growth) |
| October 29, 2026 | Job cuts | Savings from technology integration and vendor consolidation; job cuts expected in back-end roles | Boston Business Journal | [Boston Business Journal](https://bizjournals.com/boston/news/2026/10/29/santander-expects-webster-merger-savings.html) |

## What AI tools and training does Santander give its employees?

Group-wide figures (Europe and the Americas) unless marked U.S.; Santander does not publish a U.S. share.

| Date | Measure | What was said | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| August 2025 | ChatGPT Enterprise | Rolled out to nearly 15,000 employees in Europe and the Americas in two months; 30,000 users expected by year-end, approximately 15% of the workforce | [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/stories/santander-data-ai-first-strategy-accelerates-through-openai-collaboration) |
| August 2025 | Training plan | Tailored AI training by role and market (learning capsules, workshops, hackathons); a mandatory AI training plan for all employees from 2026, with a core 'Responsible AI' module | [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/stories/santander-data-ai-first-strategy-accelerates-through-openai-collaboration) |
| February 25, 2026 | Value target | More than €1 billion of annual business value from data and AI by 2028, about €300 million of revenue and €700 million of cost savings, with AI-powered frontline productivity as one lever | [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/press-room/press-releases/2026/02/2026-santander-investor-day), [Bloomberg](https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-25/santander-s-botin-sees-1-billion-ai-boost-amid-efficiency-push) |
| June 9, 2026 | AI DO Academy | Some 35,000 employees received over 125,000 hours of AI training between 2025 and April 2026; over 42,000 people in the global AI community; over 600 trained as AI Catalysts; the Data & AI operating model has over 4,500 employees | [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/stories/ai-at-santander-from-learning-to-practical-use) |
| June 22, 2026 | Coding | Over 17,000 people working with agentic AI in software development in May 2026; 40% of all code in June developed by AI | [Banco Santander](https://www.santander.com/en/stories/santander-turns-its-ai-first-strategy-into-measurable-impact-and-extends-ai-access-to-all-185000-employees) |
| June 22, 2026 | AI for all | AI access extended to all 185,000 employees, from nearly 40,000 active users; Microsoft Copilot for productivity, plus OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini for specialized uses | [Banco Santander](https://www.santander.com/en/stories/santander-turns-its-ai-first-strategy-into-measurable-impact-and-extends-ai-access-to-all-185000-employees) |
| October 1, 2026 | U.S. CEO | Riley is using AI to 'vibe code' a custom CRM tool for the Webster integration: 'the actual technology production is now right there' (U.S.) | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-women-to-watch-1-christiana-riley-santander-u-s) |

## What is disclosed about AI and jobs at Santander's U.S. business specifically?

The U.S. filing describes training in general terms: compliance curriculums, workplace safety awareness, specialized job role training and information security training, with no AI program named. The group's AI DO Academy is described as a global space for all employees, so U.S. staff are in scope, but no U.S. participation figure is given. ([Santander Holdings USA (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183026000005/sov-20251231.htm), [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/stories/ai-at-santander-from-learning-to-practical-use))

The U.S. headcount fell from approximately 11,800 at the end of 2023 to 10,300 at the end of 2025, before Webster added scale. The filings do not attribute the decline to AI, and the 2025 10-K's AI discussion is about risk: AI 'designed to improve the customer experience and reduce operational risk', and models that 'may be flawed, trained on insufficient or poor-quality data, reflect unwanted forms of bias'. ([U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183024000010/sov-20231231.htm), [Santander Holdings USA (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183026000005/sov-20251231.htm))

Not disclosed: the U.S. share of the 185,000 employees with AI access or of the training hours, how many Webster and Santander roles the back-office de-duplication will remove, and whether AI is used to absorb that work. ([Banco Santander](https://www.santander.com/en/stories/santander-turns-its-ai-first-strategy-into-measurable-impact-and-extends-ai-access-to-all-185000-employees), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/with-webster-in-hand-santander-says-its-poised-for-growth))

## What does the Santander profile record on this topic?

| Date | Move | Detail | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 1, 2026 | Riley: AI lets her 'vibe code' a CRM tool herself | The US CEO says AI collapses the old technology development funnel, describing how she personally built a custom CRM tool with AI to help smooth the Webster integration. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-women-to-watch-1-christiana-riley-santander-u-s) |
| Aug 20, 2026 | Riley: core conversion by end of 2027, $800 million of savings | No system or brand changes for 12 months; savings come mainly from merging technology platforms and back-office roles; the combined workforce is about 14,000. | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/with-webster-in-hand-santander-says-its-poised-for-growth) |
| Aug 20, 2026 | Webster acquisition completed | Nearly eight million US customers; an expanded Northeast footprint. | [Business Wire via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/full?dockey=600-202608200334BIZWIRE_USPRX____20260820_BW118649-1) |
| Aug 12, 2026 | Q2 fixed-income deck: $585 million net income | Santander Holdings USA net income up 17.5% year on year; the deck shows SHUSA and Webster combined at $251 billion of assets, $142 billion of loans and $150 billion of deposits at 30 June 2026. | [Santander US](https://santanderus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Q226-SHUSA-Fixed-Income-Deck-Final-to-File-08122026-237PM.pdf) |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Q2 10-Q filed, again with no AI language | Santander Holdings USA's second-quarter 2026 10-Q describes the Webster merger and SBNA's Openbank platform but has no AI discussion. | [Santander Holdings USA (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811830/000081183026000029/sov-20260630.htm) |
| Jun 22, 2026 | AI tools for all employees | Toward the €1 billion 2026–2028 business-value goal. | [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/santander-equips-all-workers-with-ai-and-seeks-1-15-billion-business-value/) |
| Jun 3, 2026 | Group signs AI memorandum with G42 | Covers AI-enabled advisory and savings, a banking intelligence layer and agentic financial services, with G42's Inception and Presight; definitive agreements are still to be signed. | [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/press-room/press-releases/2026/06/banco-santander-and-g42-sign-memorandum-of-understanding-to-explore-strategic-cooperation-in-artificial-intelligence) |
| Apr 6, 2026 | Post-deal management named | Burchard to lead digital banking; Bhatia to leave; Webster's Motl to lead commercial. | [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/santander-webster-management-roles-swati-bhatia-leaving/816983/) |
| Feb 3, 2026 | Agrees to buy Webster for $12.3 billion | Riley stays US country head; Webster's Ciulla to run Santander Bank, N.A. | [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/santander-acquiring-webster-bank-12b/811270/), [Reuters](https://reuters.com/legal/transactional/santander-buy-webster-financial-122-billion-deal-2026-02-03) |
| Aug 13, 2025 | Group tie-up with OpenAI | ChatGPT Enterprise reaches nearly 15,000 employees across Europe and the Americas within two months; the group targets 30,000 users. | [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/stories/santander-data-ai-first-strategy-accelerates-through-openai-collaboration), [FinTech Global](https://fintech.global/2025/08/13/santander-partners-with-openai-to-drive-ai-first-banking) |
| Oct 21, 2024 | Openbank launches in the United States | A high-yield savings account opened in as little as five minutes through the app or openbank.us, on the proprietary cloud platform Santander is rolling out across its consumer businesses. | [Banco Santander](https://santander.com/en/press-room/press-releases/2024/10/santander-launches-openbank-in-the-us-expanding-its-consumer-banking-business-nationwide) |

## Common questions

### How many employees does Santander have in the U.S.?

Santander Holdings USA reported approximately 10,300 employees at December 31, 2025, down from about 10,700 a year earlier and 11,800 at the end of 2023. After the Webster acquisition closed on August 20, 2026, U.S. CEO Christiana Riley put the combined workforce at around 14,000.

### Will the Webster deal cut jobs at Santander US?

Some, in the back office. Riley told American Banker that the $800 million of savings targeted by the end of 2028 will come mainly from integrating technology platforms and de-duplicating back-office jobs such as accounting and risk management, and that branch closures are not a meaningful part. No number of roles has been given, and AI is not named as the cause.

### Do Santander US employees have AI tools?

Santander extended AI access to all 185,000 group employees on June 22, 2026, including Microsoft Copilot and, for specialized uses, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini; the U.S. is part of the group rollout, but no U.S. user count is published. Earlier, ChatGPT Enterprise reached nearly 15,000 employees across Europe and the Americas in two months in 2025.

### How does Santander train employees on AI?

Through the AI DO Academy and tailored programs: some 35,000 group employees received over 125,000 hours of AI training between 2025 and April 2026, more than 600 have trained as AI Catalysts, and a mandatory AI training plan with a Responsible AI module was set to start in 2026. U.S. training figures are not disclosed.

### Is Santander US hiring for AI?

Not visibly. BankingNewsAI's weekly read of santandercareers.com on October 27, 2026 found no open roles with AI in the title for the U.S. business. Postings change weekly and are not cited as sources; see /banks/ai-hiring for the current list across banks.
## Deeper on Santander

- [What is Santander's AI strategy in the United States?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us/ai-strategy)
- [What AI research, patents and partnerships does Santander have?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us/ai-research-patents-partnerships)
- [How does Santander govern AI responsibly?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us/responsible-ai)
- [What technology stack does Santander run in the United States?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us/technology-stack)
- [How does Santander US use AI in auto finance?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us/auto-finance-ai)
- [What proprietary AI has Santander built in-house?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/santander-us/proprietary-ai)


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