# Wells Fargo: AI strategy

Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/wells-fargo
Last updated: Oct 21, 2026

*Google-first agents on a cloud-agnostic platform, run by a newly named head of AI, with headcount managed down through attrition.*

## How is Wells Fargo using AI?

Wells Fargo's AI strategy is defined by three choices made since 2021: a deep relationship with Google Cloud (alongside Microsoft Azure) that powers both the Fargo consumer assistant and the enterprise agent rollout; an AI platform its payments chief describes as model- and cloud-agnostic so newer models can be swapped in; and, since November 2025, a single accountable executive — Saul Van Beurden, named head of AI while co-running consumer banking. Freed from the Federal Reserve's asset cap in 2025, the bank pairs that build-out with an explicit efficiency agenda: CEO Charlie Scharf says engineers are 30–35% more efficient writing code with AI and that the workforce, already down from 275,000 to about 210,000 since 2019, will keep shrinking, mostly through attrition.

## At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Lead bank | Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. |
| Ticker | WFC |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA |
| Consolidated assets | $1,852,239 million |
| Federal Reserve rank | 4 |
| Charter | National bank (OCC) |

## What AI partnerships and patents does Wells Fargo have?

Wells Fargo's named AI partners are Google Cloud (Fargo, Agentspace, Gemini Deep Research, NotebookLM), Microsoft (Azure since 2021 and 365 Copilot), BlackRock (Aladdin Wealth, with an 'Auto Commentary' generative feature) and the Agentic AI Foundation, where it is a Gold member. It describes its AI platform as model- and cloud-agnostic. Google Patents lists six published AI applications assigned to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., on fraud, language-model compression, threat mitigation, document chatbots, ML pipelines and personal advice. No GPU vendor or AI capex figure is public. ([Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/financial-services/wells-fargo-agentic-ai-agentspace-empowering-workers), [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/11/20/from-legacy-to-frontier-how-100-year-brands-are-leading-ai-innovation/), [InvestmentNews](https://investmentnews.com/wirehouses/wirehouse-watch-wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-advisor-platform/266496), [Agentic AI Foundation (PR Newswire)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agentic-ai-foundation-welcomes-57-new-members-gaining-major-financial-services-players-and-apac-leaders-302850143.html), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250252445A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119582A1/en))

| Item | What it is | Status | Date | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Google Cloud | Fargo assistant, Agentspace agents, Gemini Deep Research and NotebookLM for employees | In production | 2025-08-05 | [Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/financial-services/wells-fargo-agentic-ai-agentspace-empowering-workers), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/how-wells-fargo-is-building-agentic-ai-into-its-workflows) |
| Microsoft | Azure since 2021; 365 Copilot for more than 30,000 employees | In production | 2025-11-20 | [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/11/20/from-legacy-to-frontier-how-100-year-brands-are-leading-ai-innovation/), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/how-wells-fargo-is-building-agentic-ai-into-its-workflows) |
| BlackRock Aladdin Wealth | Portfolio analytics inside Advisor Gateway, including generative 'Auto Commentary' | In production | 2026-05-08 | [InvestmentNews](https://investmentnews.com/wirehouses/wirehouse-watch-wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-advisor-platform/266496) |
| Agentic AI Foundation | Gold membership in the neutral home of MCP and agent standards | Member | 2026-08-12 | [Agentic AI Foundation (PR Newswire)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agentic-ai-foundation-welcomes-57-new-members-gaining-major-financial-services-players-and-apac-leaders-302850143.html) |
| US 2025/0252445 A1 | Fraud assistant large language model (chatbot-based fraud assistance) | Published application | filed 2025-02-05 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250252445A1/en) |
| US 2025/0384221 A1 | Compression of models for natural language processing | Published application | filed 2025-08-22 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250384221A1/en) |
| US 2025/0284801 A1 | Threat mitigation using artificial intelligence | Published application | filed 2025-05-27 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250284801A1/en) |
| US 2026/0119582 A1 | Document set interrogation tool (chatbot over an ad hoc document set) | Published application | 2026-04-30 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119582A1/en) |
| US 2026/0099305 A1 | Universal machine learning pipeline execution (automated model development) | Published application | 2026-04-09 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260099305A1/en) |
| US 2026/0087043 A1 | Model-based personal advisor (multimodal interactive personal advisor) | Published application | filed 2025-09-23 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260087043A1/en) |

## Flagship platform: Fargo and the Google Cloud agent stack

Fargo, the consumer virtual assistant built on Google's conversational AI, went from 21.3 million interactions in 2023 and 245 million in 2024 to more than 1 billion in total by March 2026, without customer data reaching a large language model; in August 2025 the bank began rolling Google Cloud's Agentspace, Gemini Deep Research and NotebookLM to all 215,000 employees. ([Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/assets/pdf/about/investor-relations/earnings/fourth-quarter-2023-financial-results.pdf), [VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/business/wells-fargos-ai-assistant-just-crossed-245-million-interactions-with-zero-humans-in-the-loop-and-zero-pii-to-the-llm), [Wells Fargo (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide))

## Key points

- Fargo: full rollout in 2023 with Spanish-language capability; 21.3 million interactions in 2023, 245 million in 2024 and more than 1 billion in total by March 2026, with a privacy-first pipeline that keeps personal data away from the LLM.
- August 2025: generative and agentic AI to all 215,000 employees via Google Cloud's Agentspace, Gemini Deep Research and NotebookLM — one of the first enterprise-wide agent rollouts at a large bank.
- November 2025: Saul Van Beurden named head of AI; Kleber Santos and Van Beurden become co-CEOs of a combined consumer banking and lending unit. January 2026: Faraz Shafiq hired from AWS as Head of AI Products and Solutions.
- Consumer CIO and head of generative AI Tracy Kerrins manages a $4 billion budget and about 7,000 people; the AI platform is designed to be model- and cloud-agnostic.
- Most active US bank investor in AI companies: 81 venture deals since 2019, per Evident.
- Efficiency is stated plainly: 30–35% coding efficiency gain, $612 million of severance in Q4 2025, headcount expected to fall further.
- March 2026: Fargo passes 1 billion customer interactions in under three years; more than 3 million Spanish-speaking customers have used it. July 2026: AI Teammate, a generative-AI chat tool, for wealth advisers inside the new Advisor Gateway desktop.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot alongside Google: more than 30,000 employees since June 2025, 92% active usage. August 2026: a Gold member of the Agentic AI Foundation, home of MCP.
- Headcount 197,000 at mid-2026 after 24 straight quarterly declines; in August 2026 Scharf said automating roles will mean 'tens of thousands of fewer positions'. Open AI roles include an AI solutions director, principal AI engineers and an agentic identity security lead (listed below, as of 24 September 2026).
- Payments: Ather Williams said in May 2026 that the bank has run 335 AI experiments, with 26 live in production, and that its model- and cloud-agnostic AI platform enables 85% of use cases; a bank tool already summarises banker calls for the CRM.
- Technology scale: Head of Technology Bridget Engle runs a budget of more than $10 billion and a 30,000-strong technology team; AI tools now reach nearly 200,000 employees, and she reports software-engineering productivity gains have 'more than double[d]' on last year. She has two pending generative-AI patent applications filed in 2026.
- Wealth: Advisor Gateway launched on 8 May 2026 with more than 200 tools and a BlackRock Aladdin Wealth 'Auto Commentary' generative-AI feature. Andre Mansour, a nine-year Google veteran, joined in May 2026 as head of AI for wealth and investment management, reporting to chief product officer Evelyn Varner, and says long-running agents for beneficiary changes and money movement come next, with a human in the loop.
- Scharf, 27 May 2026: AI is 'both' a threat to and a boost for employment; he named auditing, testing, legal, contracts, patent filings, investment-banking pitchbooks and credit memos as targets, and said 'people don't go away'. The bank has cut about $15 billion of expenses and reinvested about $9 billion since 2019.
- Q3 2026 results (13 October 2026): Scharf says 'significant management time and resources' go to AI, with agents already used to write code, launch marketing campaigns, close unknown cyber vulnerabilities and speed underwriting and complaint responses. Headcount is down 8% on a year earlier.
- Intellectual property: Google Patents lists at least six AI-related published applications assigned to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. since 2025, covering a fraud-assistant LLM, model compression for NLP, AI threat mitigation, a document-interrogation chatbot, ML pipeline automation and a multimodal personal advisor.
- Cyber: Scharf was among the bank CEOs Treasury Secretary Bessent and Fed Chair Powell briefed in April 2026 on Anthropic's Mythos model; the Q2 2026 10-Q now states that AI has enhanced the ability to find and exploit unknown cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

## Timeline

- Oct 13, 2026 — **Q3 2026 call: AI agents in code, marketing, cyber, underwriting** Scharf cites 'significant management time and resources' on AI and says the Wealth tool is 'the first of several capabilities' in a broader AI strategy; the earnings release reports headcount down 8% year on year. ([PYMNTS](https://pymnts.com/earnings/2026/wells-fargo-enhances-banking-capabilities-using-ai-and-digital-assets), [Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/assets/pdf/about/investor-relations/earnings/third-quarter-2026-earnings.pdf))
- Oct 1, 2026 — **Engle: $10 billion technology budget, nearly 200,000 staff with AI tools** The technology team of 30,000 is expanding cloud-based data-centre capacity for AI work; Engle holds two pending generative-AI patent applications filed in 2026. ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-11-bridget-engle-wells-fargo))
- Oct 1, 2026 — **Securities trader on AI and liquidity** Managing director Annie Cheslin says the municipal-bond desk uses AI tools to be a better liquidity provider and tighten bid-ask spreads, and expects it to become a bigger tool for data management. ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-next-21-annie-cheslin-wells-fargo-securities))
- Sep 29, 2026 — **Cyber chief on AI-enabled social engineering** Sarah Gosler, head of Cyber Human Defense, says AI lowers the barrier to cybercrime and 'humans now represent the largest attack surface'; Wells Fargo advises clients to equip staff with AI defences. ([Wells Fargo Stories](https://stories.wf.com/our-impact/ai-cyber-defense-cross-border-payments))
- Sep 29, 2026 — **Ranks 53rd in Fortune's AIQ 75** Fortune and ServiceNow's expanded 2026 AI-impact ranking of Fortune 500 companies places Wells Fargo 53rd, behind fellow US banks JPMorgan Chase (1st), BNY (15th), Bank of America (19th) and Citigroup (51st). ([Fortune](http://fortune.com/2026/09/29/how-banks-are-using-ai-agents-copilots-roi))
- Sep 18, 2026 — **Ranks second-worst of seven banks on AI-judged reputation** A RepTrak study averaging scores across Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini gives Wells Fargo 22.2 out of 100, ahead of only TD Bank (19.4) and well behind Ally (52.1), Chase (50.3), Truist (42.6), Bank of America (39.6) and Chime (37.3). ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/people-use-ai-to-gauge-banks-reputations-and-its-verdicts-are-harsh))
- Aug 12, 2026 — **Joins the Agentic AI Foundation as a Gold member** The neutral home of MCP and other agent standards; CIO Chintan Mehta cites interoperability and governance. ([Agentic AI Foundation (PR Newswire)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agentic-ai-foundation-welcomes-57-new-members-gaining-major-financial-services-players-and-apac-leaders-302850143.html))
- Aug 4, 2026 — **Scharf: automation will cut 'tens of thousands' more roles** On CNBC's Squawk on the Street the CEO separates past cuts from the AI-driven reductions still to come. ([CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/08/04/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-wells-fargo-ceo-charlie-scharf.html), [24/7 Wall St. (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/wells-fargo-ceo-says-ai-152502628.html))
- Aug 3, 2026 — **BioCatch customer as Visa buys the vendor** Covering Visa's $2.4 billion deal for BioCatch, American Banker reported that Wells Fargo signed on with the behavioural-biometrics fraud vendor in 2025 (per a January BioCatch release), making it one of three of the four largest US banks running BioCatch software. ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/what-visas-2-4b-biocatch-deal-means-for-your-bank))
- Jul 28, 2026 — **Q2 2026 10-Q adds AI cyber-risk language** Management notes that advances in AI have enhanced the ability to identify and exploit previously unidentified cybersecurity vulnerabilities; AI and digital assets listed as a forward-looking risk. ([Wells Fargo (SEC filing)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72971/000007297126000302/wfc-20260630.htm))
- Jul 15, 2026 — **AI Teammate for wealth advisers** Plain-language chat over the Advisor Gateway platform; users created thousands of prompts soon after launch, per chief product officer Evelyn Varner. ([CIO Dive](https://www.ciodive.com/news/wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-teammate-financial-advisers/825353/))
- Jul 14, 2026 — **Q2 2026 call: Advisor Gateway with generative AI; headcount 197,000** More than $1 billion spent modernising the wealth platform; headcount down 79,000 in six years; CFO sees more automation ahead. ([The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q2-2026-194712683.html))
- Jun 19, 2026 — **Mansour sets out wealth AI roadmap** Live tools include the Intelligent Banker book and a credit-memo desk tool; next are agentic systems for beneficiary changes and money movement, with humans overseeing, over a three-to-five-year horizon. ([Financial Planning](https://financial-planning.com/news/200-000-reasons-to-thoughtfully-integrate-ai-q-a-with-wells-fargos-ai-chief))
- May 27, 2026 — **Scharf at Bernstein: AI is both a threat and a benefit to jobs** Names auditing, testing, legal, contracts, patent filings, pitchbooks and credit memos as areas for AI; headcount about 205,000, down from 275,000; $15 billion cut and $9 billion reinvested. ([Banking Dive](https://bankingdive.com/news/wells-fargo-ceo-scharf-ai-employment-banking-jobs/821368))
- May 27, 2026 — **Andre Mansour hired as head of AI for wealth** Joins from Google, where he led AI work for capital markets and asset management clients; reports to Evelyn Varner. ([WealthManagement.com](https://wealthmanagement.com/career-moves/wells-fargo-hires-former-google-ai-leader))
- May 8, 2026 — **Advisor Gateway goes live with generative AI** More than 200 tools in one desktop; Proposal and Portfolio Analytics uses BlackRock's Aladdin Wealth and a new 'Auto Commentary' generative-AI capability; product of a $1 billion multi-year investment. ([InvestmentNews](https://investmentnews.com/wirehouses/wirehouse-watch-wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-advisor-platform/266496))
- May 5, 2026 — **Payments head: 335 AI experiments, 26 in production** Ather Williams says the AI platform enables 85% of use cases and a call-summary tool supports bankers; 'Everyone has Co-pilot at their desk. Everyone messes around with Claude.' ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments))
- May 5, 2026 — **Payments AI platform is model- and cloud-agnostic** Ather Williams at American Banker's Payments Forum. ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments))
- Apr 30, 2026 — **Document-interrogation chatbot application published** US 2026/0119582 A1 describes a chatbot workflow over an ad hoc set of documents that searches for relevant passages and generates a response; filed 30 September 2025. ([Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119582A1/en))
- Apr 29, 2026 — **Wall Street expansion post asset cap** Freed from the Fed cap in 2025, the bank invests in trading and crosses $2 trillion of assets. ([The Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/wells-fargos-long-anticipated-wall-street-expansion-is-here-459201d2))
- Apr 20, 2026 — **Most active US bank AI venture investor** 81 AI venture deals since 2019. ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-citi-and-goldman-lead-in-ai-venture-investment))
- Apr 14, 2026 — **Q1 2026 call: more spending on AI, 23rd quarter of headcount cuts** Scharf says investment in technology including AI is rising; headcount fell by 4,199 in the quarter. ([The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q1-2026-193034273.html), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/ai-is-starting-to-replace-humans-in-operations-analyst-jobs))
- Apr 9, 2026 — **Wells Fargo CEO briefed on Anthropic Mythos cyber risk** Bessent and Powell convened bank CEOs at Treasury; Bloomberg, via Reuters, listed the Wells Fargo CEO among those present. Wells Fargo declined to comment. ([Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bessent-powell-warn-bank-ceos-about-anthropic-model-risks-bloomberg-news-reports-2026-04-10/))
- Mar 26, 2026 — **Fargo passes 1 billion interactions** Less than three years after launch; 3 million Spanish-speaking customers have used it more than 160 million times. ([Wells Fargo (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones), [The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q1-2026-193034273.html))
- Feb 24, 2026 — **2025 10-K spells out AI model risk** AI informs or automates business decisions, risk management and models; biased or inaccurate data and limited transparency named as risks. ([Wells Fargo (SEC filing)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72971/000007297126000133/wfc-20251231.htm))
- Feb 9, 2026 — **Shafiq starts as Head of AI Products and Solutions** Announced 26 January, effective 9 February, reporting to Van Beurden from San Francisco; he owns the vision, roadmap and development of enterprise-wide AI products. ([Wells Fargo (Business Wire via Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-names-faraz-shafiq-130000132.html))
- Jan 26, 2026 — **AWS executive hired to expand AI use** Faraz Shafiq to study company-wide needs for generative and agentic AI and manage those products. ([Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-26/wells-fargo-taps-amazon-web-services-executive-to-expand-ai-use))
- Jan 14, 2026 — **Q4 2025 call: 'especially with AI'** Scharf says the bank has more tools to get more efficient than ever, and will weigh how much of the savings to reinvest in growth. ([The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-wfc-q4-2025-183742966.html))
- Jan 14, 2026 — **$612 million severance in Q4 2025** Streamlining under Scharf; the stock falls 4.6% on the miss. ([Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-profit-climbs-rising-interest-income-2026-01-14/))
- Dec 9, 2025 — **AI makes engineers 30–35% more efficient** Scharf at the Goldman Sachs conference; more job cuts and higher severance expected. ([Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-09/wells-fargo-ceo-sees-ai-impacting-companies-workforce-decisions), [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-sees-more-job-cuts-going-into-2026-2025-12-09/))
- Nov 20, 2025 — **Van Beurden named head of AI** Santos and Van Beurden become co-CEOs of consumer banking and lending. ([Wells Fargo via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202511201615BIZWIRE_USPRX____20251120_BW971693-1), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-taps-head-of-consumer-banking-to-lead-on-ai))
- Nov 5, 2025 — **Scharf: headcount will keep falling** From 275,000 in 2019 to a little over 210,000; further declines 'through attrition as possible'. ([Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-ceo-says-bank-not-under-pressure-make-acquisitions-2025-11-05/))
- Nov 3, 2025 — **Kerrins at Money20/20: developer platform plus Google employee tools** Kerrins says the bank runs a developer platform and a Google partnership for employee capability; Deep Research and NotebookLM reached about 2,000 employees first. She flags agent-to-agent banking and customer 'AI buddies' as next. ([American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/how-wells-fargo-is-building-agentic-ai-into-its-workflows))
- Oct 14, 2025 — **Q3 2025 call: efficiency through automation and AI** Scharf points to headcount, third-party spend and real estate; the focus is on automating processes and leveraging AI. ([GuruFocus (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-co-wfc-q3-210049483.html))
- Aug 5, 2025 — **Agentic AI to all 215,000 employees** Google Cloud Agentspace, Gemini Deep Research and NotebookLM; Kerrins: 'a big deal for us'. ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide))
- Jun 1, 2025 — **Microsoft 365 Copilot rolled out to employees** More than 30,000 users and a 92% active usage rate among enabled employees by November 2025, per CIO for Enterprise Functions Ken Meyer. ([Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/11/20/from-legacy-to-frontier-how-100-year-brands-are-leading-ai-innovation/))
- Dec 31, 2024 — **245 million Fargo interactions in 2024** 336 million since launch; speech transcribed locally, no personal data sent to the LLM. ([VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/business/wells-fargos-ai-assistant-just-crossed-245-million-interactions-with-zero-humans-in-the-loop-and-zero-pii-to-the-llm))
- Dec 31, 2023 — **Fargo fully rolled out: 21.3 million interactions** Includes a Spanish-language capability, per the 4Q23 results. ([Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/assets/pdf/about/investor-relations/earnings/fourth-quarter-2023-financial-results.pdf))
- Dec 20, 2022 — **CFPB order over auto loan servicing** The CFPB finds 'systematic failures' in auto servicing (misapplied payments, improper fees and interest, wrongful repossessions, unrefunded GAP fees) that caused $1.3 billion in harm across more than 11 million accounts, and orders more than $1.3 billion in auto redress within a $1.7 billion penalty for the whole order. ([Consumer Financial Protection Bureau](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-wells-fargo-to-pay-37-billion-for-widespread-mismanagement-of-auto-loans-mortgages-and-deposit-accounts/))
- Oct 28, 2022 — **Wells Fargo Auto reaches 70% automated credit decisioning** Head of Auto Tanya Sanders told the Auto Finance Summit that credit decisioning had reached 70% automation, up from 50% in 2021, after two years of 'improving our credit score cards and improving our credit decision automation', per Bank Automation News; no machine-learning or AI system is named. ([Bank Automation News](https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/wells-fargo-auto-credit-decisioning-reaches-70-automation/))
- Jan 1, 2022 — **Fargo to be powered by Google Cloud AI** The virtual assistant is built on Google's conversational product. ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-hires-aws-exec-to-lead-ai-strategy))
- Sep 1, 2021 — **Real-time auto credit decisioning on AutoFi** Wells Fargo joins AutoFi's lender network: shoppers at dealers, digital retailers and online marketplaces on the platform get real-time credit decisioning from Wells Fargo and can complete financing online. ([Wells Fargo Newsroom](https://newsroom.wf.com/news-releases/news-details/2021/Wells-Fargo-and-AutoFi-Team-up-to-Provide-Car-Buyers-and-Dealers-with-Fast-and-Easy-Online-Sales-and-Financing/))
- Jan 19, 2021 — **CFO targets more than 70% automated auto credit decisions by 2022** On the Q4 2020 call CFO Mike Santomassimo set a goal to lift auto decision automation to more than 70% by 2022 from 59% in 2020, with investment in the origination system and credit decision tools, as reported by Bank Automation News; the bank does not describe the tools as AI. ([Bank Automation News](https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/lending/wells-fargo-looks-to-increase-vehicle-loan-automation/))
- Jan 1, 2021 — **Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure chosen as cloud partners** The relationship that later carries Fargo and the agent rollout. ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide))

## Where AI runs

| Use case | What | Status | Detail | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Customer-facing chatbots](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#customer-chatbots) | Fargo | In production | Consumer virtual assistant: bill pay, transfers, transaction lookups; 245 million interactions in 2024 and more than 1 billion in total by March 26, 2026. | [VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/business/wells-fargos-ai-assistant-just-crossed-245-million-interactions-with-zero-humans-in-the-loop-and-zero-pii-to-the-llm), [Wells Fargo (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Agentspace agents for employees | Rolling out | Agents to summarise complex FX inquiries and navigate compliance policies; research tools for all staff. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-hires-aws-exec-to-lead-ai-strategy) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | AI coding assistants | In production | 30–35% efficiency gain for engineers. | [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-09/wells-fargo-ceo-sees-ai-impacting-companies-workforce-decisions) |
| [Fraud detection](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#fraud) | Payments fraud defence | In production | AI on payment flows of more than $1 trillion a day; guidance to corporate clients on generative-AI fraud. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargos-ather-williams-is-32-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking), [Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/com/insights/protect-payments-as-ai-changes-landscape/) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Integrated receivables | In production | Automation and AI match electronic payments to remittance data for commercial clients. | [Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/com/insights/how-ir-takes-pain-from-receivable-posting/) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Microsoft 365 Copilot | In production | More than 30,000 employees since June 2025; 92% active usage among enabled staff, used for content, summaries and research. | [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/11/20/from-legacy-to-frontier-how-100-year-brands-are-leading-ai-innovation/) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Advisor Gateway and AI Teammate | In production | Generative-AI desktop for financial advisers; AI Teammate answers product, workflow and process questions in plain language. | [CIO Dive](https://www.ciodive.com/news/wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-teammate-financial-advisers/825353/), [The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q2-2026-194712683.html) |
| [Model risk management](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#model-risk) | AI risk-factor disclosure | In production | The 10-K says AI helps inform or automate decisions, risk management and models, and names biased outputs and model opacity as risks. | [Wells Fargo (SEC filing)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72971/000007297126000133/wfc-20251231.htm) |
| [Fraud detection](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#fraud) | Behavioural biometrics (BioCatch) | In production | BioCatch software that reads signals such as keystrokes, touch gestures and phone orientation to catch account takeovers, scams, money mules and fake account applications; Wells Fargo signed on in 2025, according to American Banker. Wells Fargo has not described the deployment. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/what-visas-2-4b-biocatch-deal-means-for-your-bank) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Intelligent Banker book | In production | AI-generated unified customer overview from a CRM perspective for wealth bankers. | [Financial Planning](https://financial-planning.com/news/200-000-reasons-to-thoughtfully-integrate-ai-q-a-with-wells-fargos-ai-chief) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Credit memo desk tool | In production | AI that shortens credit-memo preparation, improves consistency and reduces risk in wealth lending. | [Financial Planning](https://financial-planning.com/news/200-000-reasons-to-thoughtfully-integrate-ai-q-a-with-wells-fargos-ai-chief), [WealthManagement.com](https://wealthmanagement.com/career-moves/wells-fargo-hires-former-google-ai-leader) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Auto Commentary in Advisor Gateway | In production | Generative AI inside Proposal and Portfolio Analytics (BlackRock Aladdin Wealth) that turns risk analytics, holdings and preferences into structured insights for client meetings. | [InvestmentNews](https://investmentnews.com/wirehouses/wirehouse-watch-wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-advisor-platform/266496) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Banker call summaries and payments intelligence | In production | A tool that summarises banker-client calls beyond a CRM dump; payments AI turns balance, receivable, payable, FX and liquidity data into cash-flow forecasts and risk flags. 26 of 335 experiments live by May 2026. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Vendor-contract agent | Rolling out | A custom Agentspace agent to query roughly a quarter of a million vendor-agreement documents for clauses, payment terms and contract types. | [Google Cloud](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/financial-services/wells-fargo-agentic-ai-agentspace-empowering-workers), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/how-wells-fargo-is-building-agentic-ai-into-its-workflows) |
| [Generative & agentic AI](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#generative-agentic-ai) | Long-running agents for advisers | Announced | Planned agentic systems for multi-step workflows such as changing beneficiaries or moving funds, with guardrails and a human in the loop. | [Financial Planning](https://financial-planning.com/news/200-000-reasons-to-thoughtfully-integrate-ai-q-a-with-wells-fargos-ai-chief) |
| [Cybersecurity](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#cybersecurity) | AI to close cyber vulnerabilities | In production | Scharf says the bank uses AI and, in some cases, autonomous agents to close previously unknown cyber vulnerabilities. | [PYMNTS](https://pymnts.com/earnings/2026/wells-fargo-enhances-banking-capabilities-using-ai-and-digital-assets) |
| [Credit scoring & underwriting](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/by-use-case#credit-underwriting) | Automated auto credit decisioning (dealer channel) | In production | Credit scorecards and decision tools in the indirect auto origination system decide about 70% of applications automatically (October 2022); Wells Fargo describes this as decision automation and has not said whether the scorecards use machine learning. | [Bank Automation News](https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/wells-fargo-auto-credit-decisioning-reaches-70-automation/), [Bank Automation News](https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/lending/wells-fargo-looks-to-increase-vehicle-loan-automation/) |

## Disclosed numbers

| Measure | Value | As of | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fargo interactions, 2024 | 245 million (2024); 336 million since launch at the time | Apr 8, 2025 | [VentureBeat](https://venturebeat.com/business/wells-fargos-ai-assistant-just-crossed-245-million-interactions-with-zero-humans-in-the-loop-and-zero-pii-to-the-llm) |
| Employees in the agent rollout | 215,000 | Aug 5, 2025 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide) |
| Consumer technology / gen-AI budget | $4 billion (Kerrins' organisation) | Sep 24, 2025 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2025-the-most-powerful-women-to-watch-no-6-tracy-kerrins-wells-fargo) |
| Coding efficiency gain | 30–35% | Dec 9, 2025 | [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-09/wells-fargo-ceo-sees-ai-impacting-companies-workforce-decisions) |
| Headcount | ≈ 210,000, from 275,000 in 2019 | Nov 5, 2025 | [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-ceo-says-bank-not-under-pressure-make-acquisitions-2025-11-05/) |
| AI venture deals since 2019 | 81 (most of any US bank) | Apr 20, 2026 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-citi-and-goldman-lead-in-ai-venture-investment) |
| Fargo interactions since launch | > 1 billion (in under three years) | Mar 26, 2026 | [Wells Fargo (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones) |
| Spanish-speaking Fargo users | > 3 million customers; > 160 million interactions | Mar 26, 2026 | [Wells Fargo (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones) |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot users | > 30,000; 92% active usage | Nov 20, 2025 | [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/11/20/from-legacy-to-frontier-how-100-year-brands-are-leading-ai-innovation/) |
| Headcount, Q2 2026 | 197,000 (24 consecutive quarterly declines) | Jun 30, 2026 | [The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q2-2026-194712683.html) |
| AI experiments in payments | 335 run; 26 live in production | May 5, 2026 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments) |
| Use cases enabled by the AI platform | 85% (payments business) | May 5, 2026 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments) |
| Technology budget and team | > $10 billion a year; 30,000 technologists | Oct 1, 2026 | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-11-bridget-engle-wells-fargo) |
| Employees with AI tools | nearly 200,000 | Oct 1, 2026 | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-11-bridget-engle-wells-fargo) |
| Wealth platform investment | > $1 billion; Advisor Gateway has > 200 tools | May 8, 2026 | [InvestmentNews](https://investmentnews.com/wirehouses/wirehouse-watch-wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-advisor-platform/266496) |
| Expenses cut and reinvested since 2019 | about $15 billion cut; about $9 billion reinvested | May 27, 2026 | [Banking Dive](https://bankingdive.com/news/wells-fargo-ceo-scharf-ai-employment-banking-jobs/821368) |
| Headcount, Q3 2026 vs Q3 2025 | down 8% | Sep 30, 2026 | [Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/assets/pdf/about/investor-relations/earnings/third-quarter-2026-earnings.pdf) |
| AI-related published patent applications verified | 6 (2025 to 2026 publications) | Oct 13, 2026 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250252445A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250384221A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119582A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250284801A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260099305A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260087043A1/en) |
| Auto credit decisions automated | 70% (up from 50% in 2021; target set in January 2021 was more than 70% by 2022) | Oct 28, 2022 | [Bank Automation News](https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/wells-fargo-auto-credit-decisioning-reaches-70-automation/), [Bank Automation News](https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/lending/wells-fargo-looks-to-increase-vehicle-loan-automation/) |

## Quotes

> "It's likely we'll have less headcount as we look forward … we'd like to do much of it through attrition as possible." — Charlie Scharf, CEO, Nov 5, 2025 ([Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-ceo-says-bank-not-under-pressure-make-acquisitions-2025-11-05/))

> "Our goal overall is to get generative AI tools in the hands of all of our employees." — Tracy Kerrins, Head of Enterprise Generative AI, Aug 5, 2025 ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide))

> "We think we have more tools on a going-forward basis to get more efficient than we've ever had and especially with AI." — Charlie Scharf, CEO, Jan 14, 2026 ([The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-wfc-q4-2025-183742966.html))

> "When we think about the ability to automate roles... it's going to result in tens of thousands of fewer positions." — Charlie Scharf, CEO, Aug 4, 2026 ([24/7 Wall St. (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/wells-fargo-ceo-says-ai-152502628.html))

> "It reflects our disciplined approach to responsibly scaling AI and delivering experiences that make banking easier, smarter, and more personal." — Michelle Moore, Head of Digital, Data and Artificial Intelligence, Mar 26, 2026 ([Wells Fargo (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones))

> "We believe open collaboration and interoperability are essential to unlocking the technology's potential while maintaining strong governance, transparency, and accountability." — Chintan Mehta, CIO and Head of Digital Technology & Innovation, Aug 12, 2026 ([Agentic AI Foundation (PR Newswire)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agentic-ai-foundation-welcomes-57-new-members-gaining-major-financial-services-players-and-apac-leaders-302850143.html))

> "We are definitely using AI tools to be a better liquidity provider for our customer to provide tighter bid-ask [spreads]." — Annie Cheslin, Managing Director, High-Grade Municipal Trading, Wells Fargo Securities, Oct 1, 2026 ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-next-21-annie-cheslin-wells-fargo-securities))

> "We allow people to experiment, build, test and deploy, while maintaining security governance and oversight at scale." — Ather Williams III, Head of Global Payments and Liquidity and Wholesale Digital, May 5, 2026 ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments))

> "It's so obvious to me, looking at the way we're using AI inside the company, it is both of those things." — Charlie Scharf, CEO, May 27, 2026 ([Banking Dive](https://bankingdive.com/news/wells-fargo-ceo-scharf-ai-employment-banking-jobs/821368))

> "The coming three-to-five years are about long-running agents." — Andre Mansour, Head of AI, Wealth & Investment Management, Jun 19, 2026 ([Financial Planning](https://financial-planning.com/news/200-000-reasons-to-thoughtfully-integrate-ai-q-a-with-wells-fargos-ai-chief))

> "We're excited by the opportunities AI presents for our clients and our company, and we're taking a disciplined approach to managing risk." — Charlie Scharf, CEO, Oct 13, 2026 ([PYMNTS](https://pymnts.com/earnings/2026/wells-fargo-enhances-banking-capabilities-using-ai-and-digital-assets))

> "This is the first of several capabilities planned as part of our broader AI strategy in Wealth and Investment Management." — Charlie Scharf, CEO, Oct 13, 2026 ([PYMNTS](https://pymnts.com/earnings/2026/wells-fargo-enhances-banking-capabilities-using-ai-and-digital-assets))

## Who runs AI

- **Saul Van Beurden** — Head of AI; co-CEO, Consumer Banking and Lending ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/saulvanbeurden/)) ([Wells Fargo via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202511201615BIZWIRE_USPRX____20251120_BW971693-1), [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-26/wells-fargo-taps-amazon-web-services-executive-to-expand-ai-use))
- **Tracy Kerrins** — CIO, Consumer Technology; Head of Enterprise Generative AI ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracymkerrins/)) ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2025-the-most-powerful-women-to-watch-no-6-tracy-kerrins-wells-fargo))
- **Faraz Shafiq** — Head of AI Products and Solutions (from AWS); reports to Van Beurden ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/fshafiq/)) ([Wells Fargo (Business Wire via Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-names-faraz-shafiq-130000132.html), [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-26/wells-fargo-taps-amazon-web-services-executive-to-expand-ai-use), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-hires-aws-exec-to-lead-ai-strategy))
- **Ather Williams III** — Head of Global Payments and Liquidity and Wholesale Digital ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/atherw/)) ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments))
- **Bridget Engle** — Senior EVP and Head of Technology ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridgeto1/)) ([Wells Fargo (SEC filing)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72971/000007297126000133/wfc-20251231_d2.htm), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-11-bridget-engle-wells-fargo))
- **Chintan Mehta** — CIO and Head of Digital Technology & Innovation ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chintanm/)) ([Agentic AI Foundation (PR Newswire)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agentic-ai-foundation-welcomes-57-new-members-gaining-major-financial-services-players-and-apac-leaders-302850143.html))
- **Michelle Moore** — Head of Digital, Data & Artificial Intelligence, Consumer Banking and Lending ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellecalarcomoore/)) ([Wells Fargo (Business Wire)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones), [American Banker](https://the-most-powerful-women-in-banking.americanbanker.com/profile/michelle-calarco-moore))
- **Ken Meyer** — CIO, Enterprise Functions ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-meyer-a27a733)) ([Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/11/20/from-legacy-to-frontier-how-100-year-brands-are-leading-ai-innovation/))
- **Evelyn Varner** — Chief Product Officer, Wealth & Investment Management ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelynvarner/)) ([CIO Dive](https://www.ciodive.com/news/wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-teammate-financial-advisers/825353/))
- **Annie Cheslin** — Managing Director, High-Grade Municipal Trading, Wells Fargo Securities ([American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-next-21-annie-cheslin-wells-fargo-securities))
- **Charlie Scharf** — Chairman and CEO ([Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/assets/pdf/about/investor-relations/earnings/third-quarter-2026-earnings.pdf), [PYMNTS](https://pymnts.com/earnings/2026/wells-fargo-enhances-banking-capabilities-using-ai-and-digital-assets), [Banking Dive](https://bankingdive.com/news/wells-fargo-ceo-scharf-ai-employment-banking-jobs/821368))
- **Michael Santomassimo** — Chief Financial Officer ([The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q2-2026-194712683.html))
- **Kleber Santos** — Co-CEO, Consumer Banking and Lending ([Wells Fargo via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202511201615BIZWIRE_USPRX____20251120_BW971693-1))
- **Andre Mansour** — Head of AI, Wealth & Investment Management (from Google); reports to Evelyn Varner ([WealthManagement.com](https://wealthmanagement.com/career-moves/wells-fargo-hires-former-google-ai-leader), [Financial Planning](https://financial-planning.com/news/200-000-reasons-to-thoughtfully-integrate-ai-q-a-with-wells-fargos-ai-chief))
- **Sol Gindi** — Head of Wells Fargo Advisors and the WIM Client Relationship Group ([InvestmentNews](https://investmentnews.com/wirehouses/wirehouse-watch-wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-advisor-platform/266496), [InvestmentNews](https://investmentnews.com/fintech/wells-fargo-touts-ai-teammate-to-streamline-advisors-workloads/267464))
- **Sarah Gosler** — Head of Cyber Human Defense ([Wells Fargo Stories](https://stories.wf.com/our-impact/ai-cyber-defense-cross-border-payments))

## Open AI roles

12 open AI-related postings on [the careers site](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs) as of Sep 24, 2026. A snapshot of current openings, not a source: postings close.

- [Artificial Intelligence Solutions Director](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/CHARLOTTE-NC/Artificial-Intelligence-Solutions-Director_R-568862) — Charlotte, NC — posted Sep 17, 2026
- [Senior Lead Artificial Intelligence Solutions Consultant](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/CHARLOTTE-NC/Senior-Lead-Artificial-Intelligence-Solutions-Consultant_R-568851) — Charlotte, NC — posted Sep 17, 2026
- [Principal Engineer - Agentic Identity Security](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/IRVING-TX/Principal-Engineer---Agentic-Identity-Security_R-573156) — Irving, TX (+2 more) — posted Sep 23, 2026
- [Principal Engineer - AI Engineering Productivity Lead](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/CHARLOTTE-NC/Principal-Engineer---AI-Engineering-Productivity-Lead_R-576649) — Charlotte, NC — posted Sep 23, 2026
- [Principal AI Engineer](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/BOSTON-MA/Principal-Enigneer_R-569594) — Boston, MA — posted Sep 23, 2026
- [Principal Engineer (AI Engineering)](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/COLUMBUS-OH/Principal-Engineer--AI-Engineering-_R-576430) — Columbus, OH — posted Sep 18, 2026
- [Principal Engineer, AI Engineering](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/CITY-OF-LONDON/Principal-Engineer--AI-Engineering-_R-566959) — City of London
- [Principal Engineer - Gen AI, LLM, RAG, Agentic AI](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/Bengaluru-India/Principal-Engineer---Gen-AI_R-566518-1) — Bengaluru, India — posted Sep 8, 2026
- [Lead AI Software Engineer](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/CITY-OF-LONDON/Lead-AI-Software-Engineer_R-567021) — City of London
- [Lead Software Engineer - AIOps/Gen AI](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/Bengaluru-India/Lead-Software-Engineer---AIOps-Gen-AI_R-576243-1) — Bengaluru, India — posted Sep 21, 2026
- [Lead Software Engineer - Python/Gen AI/RAG](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/Hyderabad-India/Lead-Software-Engineer---Python-Gen-AI-RAG_R-572545) — Hyderabad, India — posted Sep 22, 2026
- [Senior Business Execution Consultant - AI Risk Consultant](https://wf.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WellsFargoJobs/job/Bengaluru-India/Senior-Business-Execution-Consultant_R-566213) — Bengaluru, India — posted Sep 2, 2026

## Which AI vendors and fintechs does Wells Fargo work with?

| Company | What Wells Fargo uses it for | Status | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [BioCatch](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/vendors/biocatch) | BioCatch behavioral and device fraud-detection software; named by BioCatch as a new customer in 2025, and by American Banker as one of three of the four largest US banks running BioCatch software. | In production | [Fraud detection](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-tools/fraud-detection) |
| [Microsoft 365 Copilot](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/vendors/microsoft-copilot) | Microsoft 365 Copilot since June 2025; more than 30,000 employees using it and a 92% active usage rate among enabled employees, per Microsoft. | In production | [Enterprise AI assistants](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-tools/enterprise-ai-assistants) |
| [Claude (Anthropic)](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/vendors/anthropic-claude) | Payments head Ather Williams, on the bank's AI platform: 'Everyone has Co-pilot at their desk. Everyone messes around with Claude.' | In production | [Enterprise AI assistants](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-tools/enterprise-ai-assistants) |
| [Gemini Enterprise (Google Cloud)](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/vendors/google-gemini-enterprise) | Google Cloud's Agentspace, Gemini Deep Research and NotebookLM being rolled out to all 215,000 employees, with agents the bank builds in Agentspace. | Rolling out | [Enterprise AI assistants](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-tools/enterprise-ai-assistants) |

Each vendor and fintech page cites the source for the relationship. [AI tools for banks](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-tools) · [fintech and neobank AI dossiers](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/fintech).

## Regulators it answers to

- [OCC](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/occ) — National bank; the revised model risk guidance and the interagency third-party guidance govern the Google Cloud dependency. See [OCC Bulletin 2026-13](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/occ-bulletin-2026-13), [OCC Bulletin 2023-17](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/occ-bulletin-2023-17).
- [Federal Reserve](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/federal-reserve) — The asset cap imposed in 2018 was lifted in 2025; SR 26-2 and SR 23-4 apply to vendor-supplied models. See [SR 26-2](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/fed-sr-26-2), [SR 23-4](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/fed-sr-23-4).
- [CFPB](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/cfpb) — Fargo is a consumer chatbot at scale; adverse-action duties apply to AI in consumer lending. See [CFPB Chatbots in Consumer Finance (issue spotlight, 2023)](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/cfpb-chatbots-in-consumer-finance-2023), [ECOA / Regulation B adverse action (15 U.S.C. 1691(d); 12 CFR 1002.9)](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/cfpb-ecoa-regulation-b-adverse-action).
- [Basel Committee](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/basel-committee) — A single-vendor agent platform is the concentration risk the Basel third-party principles address. See [BCBS Third-Party Risk Principles (Dec 2025)](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-regulation/documents/bcbs-third-party-risk-principles-2025).

## What the record suggests

### Vendor concentration is the question examiners will ask

Fargo, the agent rollout and research tools all run on Google Cloud. The 'cloud-agnostic' platform language is the answer the bank has prepared; the exit plan behind it is what the third-party guidance requires.

### The privacy architecture is a differentiator worth publicising

Keeping personal data out of the LLM is exactly the design regulators describe for chatbots; it is also why Fargo scaled to hundreds of millions of interactions without a headline incident.

### One accountable executive for AI arrived late but decisively

Naming a head of AI who also runs consumer banking ties AI to the P&L rather than to the technology function — the structure supervisors say they want to see.

### Efficiency is the stated strategy, not a side effect

The severance charges and the attrition guidance mean AI productivity will show up in expense ratios first; the growth story is the newly uncapped balance sheet, not AI.

## FAQ

### What is Fargo at Wells Fargo?

Fargo is Wells Fargo's AI virtual assistant, built on Google Cloud's conversational AI and fully rolled out in 2023. It handles bill payments, transfers, transaction lookups and account questions by voice or text, and recorded 245 million interactions in 2024; on March 26, 2026 the bank said it had passed more than 1 billion interactions in less than three years. Its design keeps customers' personal data away from the language model.

### Who leads AI at Wells Fargo?

Saul Van Beurden was named head of AI in November 2025 while also becoming co-CEO of consumer banking and lending with Kleber Santos. Tracy Kerrins runs enterprise generative AI as consumer CIO, Faraz Shafiq, hired from AWS in January 2026, is Head of AI Products and Solutions, and Andre Mansour, hired from Google in May 2026, leads AI for wealth and investment management.

### How many Wells Fargo employees use AI?

The bank says generative and agentic tools reach nearly 200,000 employees, according to head of technology Bridget Engle in October 2026. In August 2025 it announced Google Agentspace, Gemini Deep Research and NotebookLM for all 215,000 staff, and more than 30,000 employees have used Microsoft 365 Copilot with 92% active usage. Engle runs a technology budget above $10 billion and a team of 30,000.

### Does Wells Fargo hold AI patents?

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. has at least six published AI-related US patent applications from 2025 filings: a fraud-assistant large language model, compression of models for natural language processing, AI threat mitigation, a document-set interrogation chatbot (published 30 April 2026), universal machine learning pipeline execution and a model-based personal advisor. Bridget Engle also reports two pending generative-AI applications she filed in 2026.

### What did Wells Fargo say about AI on its Q3 2026 earnings call?

On 13 October 2026 CEO Charlie Scharf said the bank devotes 'significant management time and resources' to AI. Agents and AI already help write code, launch marketing campaigns, close unknown cyber vulnerabilities, simplify risk management and speed underwriting and complaint responses. He called an AI tool for wealth advisers the first of several planned capabilities. The earnings release reports headcount down 8% on a year earlier.

## Sources (60)

1. 4Q23 Financial Results — Wells Fargo, Jan 11, 2024. https://www.wellsfargo.com/assets/pdf/about/investor-relations/earnings/fourth-quarter-2023-financial-results.pdf
2. Wells Fargo Names Saul Van Beurden to Lead Artificial Intelligence — Wells Fargo via FT Markets, Nov 20, 2025. https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202511201615BIZWIRE_USPRX____20251120_BW971693-1
3. Helping you protect your payments as AI changes the fraud landscape — Wells Fargo, Jun 1, 2025. https://www.wellsfargo.com/com/insights/protect-payments-as-ai-changes-landscape/
4. How integrated receivables take the pain out of electronic payment posting — Wells Fargo, Jun 1, 2025. https://www.wellsfargo.com/com/insights/how-ir-takes-pain-from-receivable-posting/
5. Wells Fargo's AI assistant just crossed 245 million interactions – no human handoffs, no sensitive data exposed — VentureBeat, Apr 8, 2025. https://venturebeat.com/business/wells-fargos-ai-assistant-just-crossed-245-million-interactions-with-zero-humans-in-the-loop-and-zero-pii-to-the-llm
6. Wells Fargo plans to unleash Google's agentic AI bank-wide — American Banker, Aug 5, 2025. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-plans-to-unleash-googles-agentic-ai-bank-wide
7. The Most Powerful Women to Watch, No. 6, Tracy Kerrins, Wells Fargo — American Banker, Sep 24, 2025. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2025-the-most-powerful-women-to-watch-no-6-tracy-kerrins-wells-fargo
8. Wells Fargo taps head of consumer banking to lead on AI — American Banker, Nov 25, 2025. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-taps-head-of-consumer-banking-to-lead-on-ai
9. Wells Fargo hires AWS exec to lead AI strategy — American Banker, Jan 26, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-hires-aws-exec-to-lead-ai-strategy
10. How Wells Fargo deploys AI in payments — American Banker, May 5, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/how-wells-fargo-deploys-ai-in-payments
11. Ather Williams thinks unicorn fintechs have nothing on Wells Fargo's innovation — American Banker, Jun 1, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargos-ather-williams-is-32-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking
12. Wells Fargo, Citi and Goldman lead in AI venture investment — American Banker, Apr 20, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-fargo-citi-and-goldman-lead-in-ai-venture-investment
13. Wells Fargo CEO Sees AI Impacting Companies' Workforce Decisions — Bloomberg, Dec 9, 2025. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-09/wells-fargo-ceo-sees-ai-impacting-companies-workforce-decisions
14. Wells Fargo Taps Amazon Web Services Executive to Expand AI Use — Bloomberg, Jan 26, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-26/wells-fargo-taps-amazon-web-services-executive-to-expand-ai-use
15. Wells Fargo CEO expects bank's workforce to shrink further — Reuters, Nov 5, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-ceo-says-bank-not-under-pressure-make-acquisitions-2025-11-05/
16. Wells Fargo expects more job cuts, will roll out AI gradually in 2026 — Reuters, Dec 9, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-sees-more-job-cuts-going-into-2026-2025-12-09/
17. Wells Fargo misses profit estimates on severance costs, shares fall — Reuters, Jan 14, 2026. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/wells-fargo-profit-climbs-rising-interest-income-2026-01-14/
18. Wells Fargo's Long-Anticipated Wall Street Expansion Is Here — The Wall Street Journal, Apr 29, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/wells-fargos-long-anticipated-wall-street-expansion-is-here-459201d2
19. Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Highlights — GuruFocus (Yahoo Finance), Oct 14, 2025. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-co-wfc-q3-210049483.html
20. Wells Fargo WFC Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript — The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance), Jan 15, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-wfc-q4-2025-183742966.html
21. Wells Fargo & Company 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K, Exhibit 13): risk factors — Wells Fargo (SEC filing), Feb 24, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72971/000007297126000133/wfc-20251231.htm
22. Wells Fargo & Company Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 — Wells Fargo (SEC filing), Feb 24, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72971/000007297126000133/wfc-20251231_d2.htm
23. Wells Fargo Reaches Major Digital Milestones — Wells Fargo (Business Wire), Mar 26, 2026. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326542274/en/Wells-Fargo-Reaches-Major-Digital-Milestones
24. Wells Fargo (WFC) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript — The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance), Apr 14, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q1-2026-193034273.html
25. AI is starting to replace humans in operations, analyst jobs — American Banker, Jul 8, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/ai-is-starting-to-replace-humans-in-operations-analyst-jobs
26. Michelle Calarco Moore, The Most Powerful Women in Banking — American Banker, Jul 2, 2026. https://the-most-powerful-women-in-banking.americanbanker.com/profile/michelle-calarco-moore
27. Wells Fargo debuts AI-powered teammate for financial advisers — CIO Dive, Jul 15, 2026. https://www.ciodive.com/news/wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-teammate-financial-advisers/825353/
28. Wells Fargo (WFC) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript — The Motley Fool (Yahoo Finance), Jul 21, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/wells-fargo-wfc-q2-2026-194712683.html
29. Watch CNBC's full interview with Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf — CNBC, Aug 4, 2026. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/08/04/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-wells-fargo-ceo-charlie-scharf.html
30. Wells Fargo's CEO Says AI Will Erase Tens of Thousands of Jobs — 24/7 Wall St. (Yahoo Finance), Aug 5, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/wells-fargo-ceo-says-ai-152502628.html
31. Agentic AI Foundation Welcomes 57 New Members, Gaining Major Financial Services Players and APAC Leaders — Agentic AI Foundation (PR Newswire), Aug 12, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/agentic-ai-foundation-welcomes-57-new-members-gaining-major-financial-services-players-and-apac-leaders-302850143.html
32. From legacy to Frontier: How 100-year brands are leading AI innovation — Microsoft, Nov 20, 2025. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/2025/11/20/from-legacy-to-frontier-how-100-year-brands-are-leading-ai-innovation/
33. What Visa's $2.4B BioCatch deal means for your bank — American Banker, Aug 3, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/payments/news/what-visas-2-4b-biocatch-deal-means-for-your-bank
34. People use AI to gauge banks' reputations, and its verdicts are harsh — American Banker, Sep 18, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/people-use-ai-to-gauge-banks-reputations-and-its-verdicts-are-harsh
35. How bottom-line-focused financial firms are finding ROI in AI — Fortune, Sep 29, 2026. http://fortune.com/2026/09/29/how-banks-are-using-ai-agents-copilots-roi
36. The Most Powerful Women in Banking NEXT, #21, Annie Cheslin, Wells Fargo Securities — American Banker, Oct 1, 2026. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-next-21-annie-cheslin-wells-fargo-securities
37. How Wells Fargo is using Google Cloud AI to empower its workforce with agentic tools — Google Cloud, Aug 5, 2025. https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/financial-services/wells-fargo-agentic-ai-agentspace-empowering-workers
38. How Wells Fargo is building agentic AI into its workflows — American Banker, Nov 3, 2025. https://americanbanker.com/news/how-wells-fargo-is-building-agentic-ai-into-its-workflows
39. Wells Fargo Names Faraz Shafiq as Head of AI Products and Solutions — Wells Fargo (Business Wire via Yahoo Finance), Jan 26, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-names-faraz-shafiq-130000132.html
40. Bessent, Powell warned bank CEOs about Anthropic model risks, sources say — Reuters, Apr 9, 2026. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bessent-powell-warn-bank-ceos-about-anthropic-model-risks-bloomberg-news-reports-2026-04-10/
41. Wirehouse watch: Wells Fargo debuts AI-powered advisor platform — InvestmentNews, May 8, 2026. https://investmentnews.com/wirehouses/wirehouse-watch-wells-fargo-debuts-ai-powered-advisor-platform/266496
42. Wells Fargo CEO: AI's effect on employment is 'complicated' — Banking Dive, May 28, 2026. https://bankingdive.com/news/wells-fargo-ceo-scharf-ai-employment-banking-jobs/821368
43. People Moves: Wells Fargo Hires Former Google AI Finance Leader — WealthManagement.com, May 27, 2026. https://wealthmanagement.com/career-moves/wells-fargo-hires-former-google-ai-leader
44. 200,000 reasons to thoughtfully integrate AI: Q&A with Wells Fargo's AI chief — Financial Planning, Jun 19, 2026. https://financial-planning.com/news/200-000-reasons-to-thoughtfully-integrate-ai-q-a-with-wells-fargos-ai-chief
45. Wells Fargo & Company Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 — Wells Fargo (SEC filing), Jul 28, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72971/000007297126000302/wfc-20260630.htm
46. Wells Fargo touts AI Teammate to streamline advisors' workloads — InvestmentNews, Jul 17, 2026. https://investmentnews.com/fintech/wells-fargo-touts-ai-teammate-to-streamline-advisors-workloads/267464
47. Why AI is a Corporate Treasurer's Best Friend — Wells Fargo Stories, Sep 29, 2026. https://stories.wf.com/our-impact/ai-cyber-defense-cross-border-payments
48. The Most Powerful Women in Banking, #11, Bridget Engle, Wells Fargo — American Banker, Oct 1, 2026. https://americanbanker.com/news/2026-the-most-powerful-women-in-banking-11-bridget-engle-wells-fargo
49. Wells Fargo Reports Third Quarter 2026 Net Income of $6.0 billion, or $1.87 per Diluted Share — Wells Fargo, Oct 13, 2026. https://www.wellsfargo.com/assets/pdf/about/investor-relations/earnings/third-quarter-2026-earnings.pdf
50. Wells Fargo Enhances Banking Capabilities Using AI and Digital Assets — PYMNTS, Oct 13, 2026. https://pymnts.com/earnings/2026/wells-fargo-enhances-banking-capabilities-using-ai-and-digital-assets
51. US 2025/0252445 A1: Fraud assistant large language model — Google Patents (USPTO), Feb 5, 2025. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250252445A1/en
52. US 2025/0384221 A1: Compression of models for natural language processing — Google Patents (USPTO), Aug 22, 2025. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250384221A1/en
53. US 2025/0284801 A1: Systems and methods for threat mitigation using artificial intelligence — Google Patents (USPTO), May 27, 2025. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250284801A1/en
54. US 2026/0119582 A1: Document set interrogation tool — Google Patents (USPTO), Apr 30, 2026. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119582A1/en
55. US 2026/0099305 A1: Systems and methods for universal machine learning pipeline execution — Google Patents (USPTO), Apr 9, 2026. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260099305A1/en
56. US 2026/0087043 A1: Model-based personal advisor system — Google Patents (USPTO), Sep 23, 2025. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260087043A1/en
57. Wells Fargo looks to increase vehicle loan automation — Bank Automation News, Jan 19, 2021. https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/lending/wells-fargo-looks-to-increase-vehicle-loan-automation/
58. Wells Fargo Auto credit decisioning reaches 70% automation — Bank Automation News, Oct 28, 2022. https://www.bankautomationnews.com/allposts/wells-fargo-auto-credit-decisioning-reaches-70-automation/
59. Wells Fargo and AutoFi Team up to Provide Car Buyers and Dealers with Fast and Easy Online Sales and Financing — Wells Fargo Newsroom, Sep 1, 2021. https://newsroom.wf.com/news-releases/news-details/2021/Wells-Fargo-and-AutoFi-Team-up-to-Provide-Car-Buyers-and-Dealers-with-Fast-and-Easy-Online-Sales-and-Financing/
60. CFPB Orders Wells Fargo to Pay $3.7 Billion for Widespread Mismanagement of Auto Loans, Mortgages, and Deposit Accounts — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Dec 20, 2022. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-wells-fargo-to-pay-37-billion-for-widespread-mismanagement-of-auto-loans-mortgages-and-deposit-accounts/

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