Banking transformation in action: CaixaBank
CaixaBank in Spain presented the incredible transformation work they have accomplished.
As part of the Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2026, we selected a few of the banks whose projects impressed us the most. Among them, CaixaBank in Spain presented the incredible transformation work they have accomplished.
What transformation strategy has your organization led in recent years?
After over-delivering on 2022-24 Strategic Plan targets, with a RoTE of 16.9% exceeding the 12% objective, the 2025-27 ambition geared towards maintaining these high levels of profitability sustainably, over time as the leading bancassurance Group in Spain and Portugal, through three main pillars.
Hence, Transformation is one of these three pillars, with more than €5 billion in technology investment, renewal of digital channels, advanced AI capabilities and talent development. This ambition is operationalized through Cosmos Program, the Group’s processes, technology and AI roadmap:
(1) leveraging technology to boost commercial capabilities and quality of service.
(2) redesigning our digital channels to enhance customer experience and boost digital sales.
(3) transforming operations and boosting productivity through AI
(4) investing in specialized talent (upskilling and hiring).
All in all, the vision seeks to reshape the Organization to boost growth and permanent transformation.
What prompted this strategic transformation?
The transformation is driven by a clear conviction: the future of banking leadership will not depend on the ability to turn scale into personalization, speed of execution and a better customer experience.
CaixaBank operates in an increasingly competitive environment, with more digital customers, higher expectations of immediacy and new relationship models powered by data, artificial intelligence and hybrid channels. In this context, the bank identified the need to accelerate its technological and operational evolution while preserving its key differentiating strength: combining digital leadership with physical proximity and territorial reach.
The transformation also aims to support profitable and sustainable growth. In 2025, CaixaBank attracted 390,000 net new customers in Spain, reached a business volume of €1.1 trillion and strengthened its financial position with a RoTE of 17.5% and a cost-to-income ratio of 39.4%.
What have been the most significant changes implemented, and how were they led?
The most significant change has been the shift from transformation based on individual initiatives to an industrialized, cross-functional and measurable model at Group scale. The bank has structured a roadmap across 8 transformation domains, 3 Group companies and 105 projects underway, mobilizing between 1,500 and 2,000 people.
This transformation has translated into concrete progress: renewal of digital channels, improved app experience, deployment of generative AI capabilities for employees and customers, process automation, new commercial capabilities and greater integration across physical, remote and digital channels.
Leadership has been supported by a cross-functional governance model, with business-technology co-leadership, functional and technical Design Authority, an integrated PMO, dependency management and value-based monitoring. This turns transformation into a structural, scalable capability that is difficult to replicate.
What unique or key transformation practices do you follow to ensure success?
CaixaBank’s distinctive practice is to manage transformation as a complete system: strategy, governance, execution, measurement and scaling. Each initiative is connected to business objectives, owners, metrics, data sources and monitoring mechanisms.
The model combines corporate vision with end-to-end execution, integrating business, technology, operations, channels and customer experience teams. This approach enables prioritization by impact, dependency management, reuse of capabilities and faster transition from pilot to scale.
In addition, CaixaBank is industrializing the adoption of emerging technologies, particularly generative artificial intelligence, automation, cloud, data and conversational and operational capabilities for employees and customers. The transformation is also based on a continuous improvement logic: simplifying processes, strengthening technological resilience, improving operational efficiency and raising service quality.
How has your workforce been engaged and transformed through this journey?
CaixaBank understands that technological transformation is only sustainable if it also transforms talent, culture and ways of working. For this reason, the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan foresees the recruitment of 3,000 young professionals, mostly with technical profiles, to strengthen the Group’s digital capabilities and combine internal experience with new skills.
The bank is evolving towards a more agile, collaborative and data-driven organization. Teams increasingly work in multidisciplinary models, with closer connection between business and technology, a focus on impact and an end-to-end vision.
Artificial intelligence is also redefining the role of employees: not only as users of tools, but as protagonists of new ways of advising, operating and making decisions. The ambition is to release operational workload, increase commercial capacity and improve service quality, especially across the commercial network and service channels.
What measurable outcomes demonstrate the success of your transformation?
The 2025 results show that the transformation is already generating tangible impact. CaixaBank achieved a net profit of €5.891 billion, business volume of €1.1 trillion, RoTE of 17.5%, a cost-to-income ratio of 39.4%, an NPL ratio of 2.1% and a coverage ratio of 77%.
The impact is also remarkable in key commercial and digital business KPIs: in Spain, the bank attracted 390,000 net new customers in 2025, while digital onboarding increased by 30% and digital sales grew by 23.1%.
The transformation has strengthened key capabilities for the future: renewal of channels, generative AI applied to customers and employees, operational automation, greater omnichannel integration and a more agile, secure and resilient technology platform. These advances show that CaixaBank is not only improving its results, but also building a structural competitive advantage for the next stage of banking.
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