Carlos Torres Vila: “Artificial intelligence gives Europe and Spain a historic opportunity to boost competitiveness”
Publish Date: 2026-06-22 05:12:00
Source Domain: www.bbva.com
Carlos Torres Vila began his remarks in Santander with an overview of the Spanish and European economies. The BBVA Chair highlighted that Spain has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for growth in recent years, outperforming the European average and generating significant employment. However, the main structural challenge remains increasing productivity: “We need to ensure that every worker, every company and every euro invested generates more value.” In this regard, he noted that productivity is key to both prosperity and the sustainability of the European social model. “This is not only a Spanish challenge. It is also Europe’s great challenge,” he stated.
Based on this assessment, he stressed the need to enhance Europe’s competitiveness in an increasingly demanding international environment. To achieve this, he called for greater investment and innovation, faster technology adoption and deeper integration of the single market to strengthen the European economy’s growth potential.
In his view, Europe’s challenge goes beyond economic growth. Europe needs to increase its capacity to finance major transformations such as the energy transition, digitalization, security and defense, while preserving its social model and strengthening its strategic autonomy for future generations. In this context, he believes that “if the major economic challenge is to increase productivity, artificial intelligence can become one of the most powerful tools to achieve it.”
Carlos Torres Vila compared AI to other major technological revolutions that marked turning points in history. However, beyond the speed at which it is evolving, he emphasized its ability to amplify people’s cognitive capabilities and improve decision-making. “AI can help us work better. That is where its enormous economic potential lies.”
Addressing the concerns that this technology may raise, he called for “responsibility” and stated that “it will be necessary to…
