BBVA Technology’s purpose to put people first

In the dynamic global context of battling for IT talent, where ​​in Spain alone new estimates from DigitalES show there are up to 120,000 unfilled positions, BBVA Technology has made the problem its main strength. Since last year, the digital bank has grown its employee base by around 30% across its offices in Madrid, Bilbao, and Barcelona. And following the recent completion to integrate its three technology companies — Next Technologies, IT España and Datio — it’s now fortified with the in-house talent that can maximize software development and tech skills.

“We needed an attractive brand to serve as a foundation for the growth we’ve experienced in our workforce,” says CEO Ricardo Jurado. But while the merger process wasn’t easy, it was essential to build consistent processes and culture. “We also suffered from the skills gap,” he adds, but the key to addressing it was having an attractive value proposition for employees and potential recruits, while improving employment metrics for underrepresented groups.

Recipe for success

Jurado details a team composed of approximately 50% developers, 15% technical architects, and a deep bench of different types of data, systems, and security engineers. “We have reason to be proud because we’ve grown and we’ve done so with quality,” he says.

Compared to how things were structured before, with three separate tech companies, the current consolidated BBVA Technology focuses on the bank itself without having to provide external services to the market. “Our employees are involved in the technological foundation of any project the bank has,” he says.

Above all, the company’s most visible, and most competitive, feature is the app, due to its operational efficiency and mobile capabilities. And a recent updated version of it powered by AI marks a turning point in digital banking, Jurado says, with a firm commitment on improved user experience, from a financial coach and personalized savings plans, to more intuitive and simple ways to make payments.

The paradigm of AI

When applied to BBVA Technology’s operations and its talent, Jurado sees AI use in everything related to staff retention and attraction. “We’ve adjusted our training offering with new content almost immediately,” he says. “In this sense, we believe it’ll help us detect knowledge gaps and propose customized paths for each person.” Steady progress is essential, though, without getting overwhelmed with tools that might not be practical. Bottom line is progress has to be compatible with concepts of the business plan, such as security, ethics, and responsibility.

It’s important to stay grounded with AI, and be confident it won’t replace software developers, but rather empower BBVA’s entire global software development unit, which identifies best practices and guarantees productivity. “From Spain, we’ve been driving many of these, such as agile methodologies or DevOps,” he says. “AI is just another addition to all of this.”

After all, Jurado sees all technology as an enabler. For the past decade, he says, the bank has thrived with digitalization. “I think the turning point was when we realized digital transformation for the business is always ongoing,” he says. “This is a long-distance race.”