Abu Dhabi, UAE — Abu Dhabi-based technology group G42 and Spanish banking giant Santander have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore strategic cooperation in artificial intelligence, the companies said on Wednesday.
The agreement establishes a framework for evaluating and developing joint AI initiatives, including AI-enabled advisory and savings solutions for banking customers and an intelligence platform spanning Santander’s global operations.
The collaboration will combine Santander’s banking scale, customer relationships and regulatory expertise with G42’s artificial intelligence, cloud and infrastructure capabilities.
Two G42 subsidiaries, Inception and Presight, are expected to play key roles in the partnership, with their contributions to be formalized through separate agreements as individual workstreams advance.
Ricardo Martín Manjón, Santander’s chief data and AI officer, said the bank viewed artificial intelligence as foundational to the future of banking and described the agreement as a long-term strategic partnership.
Ali Al Amine, chief commercial officer at G42 International, said the collaboration reflected a co-development approach focused on building AI capabilities jointly rather than deploying off-the-shelf solutions.
The companies said any commercially binding arrangements would remain subject to internal approvals and compliance with legal, regulatory, transparency and data protection requirements.
