M&T Bank has significantly expanded its use of artificial intelligence, deploying AI copilots to more than 15,000 employees. The regional US bank is applying the technology across internal operations, customer service, software development, and risk management, according to reports from Fast Company and American Banker.
AI Applications Across Banking Operations
The bank is using AI to analyze call-center conversations, draft reports, generate code, identify customer needs, and flag portfolio risks. These use cases were highlighted in a September report by Fast Company. M&T is also exploring agentic AI applications in cybersecurity and fraud detection.
American Banker reported in September 2025 that 16,000 of M&T’s roughly 22,000 employees were already using Microsoft Copilot for tasks such as drafting emails and reports and summarizing call-center conversations. Before this broad rollout, M&T had initially restricted employee access to public large language models.
Chief data officer Andrew Foster told American Banker that the bank blocked these tools because employees could potentially enter sensitive company information into public-facing services. After evaluating enterprise providers, M&T selected Microsoft Copilot, beginning with a pilot involving about 800 employees before expanding access across the organization.
Foster noted that using generative AI to summarize call-center conversations saves approximately six minutes per call. Software developers at the bank also use GitLab tools to generate code, but employees remain responsible for reviewing AI-generated work.
Human Oversight and Governance Policies
M&T’s human-review requirement is reflected in its 2026 Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The policy mandates that employees use only approved AI tools and prohibits entering confidential, proprietary, customer, employee, or regulated information into unapproved systems. Employees are held accountable for the accuracy and appropriateness of AI-assisted work.
Technology Foundation Built Over Years
M&T’s AI deployment follows a technology overhaul that began in 2018. At that time, more than half of the bank’s technology specialists were external workers. Today, 80% of its technology workforce is in-house. The bank now has about 2,000 technologists working across more than 300 agile teams and has hired over 1,000 technology specialists during the program.
The bank has replaced dozens of older platforms. M&T reports that technology outages have fallen by more than 80% since 2018, while the number of system upgrades completed annually has increased by 300%. Technology spending exceeded $1.2 billion in 2025, nearly three times its 2017 level.
Wisler, who joined M&T as chief information officer in 2018 and became senior executive vice-president for technology and operations in 2025, told Forbes in August 2026 that annual technology releases grew from about 15,000 in 2018 to 65,000 in 2025. His current remit covers both technology and operational functions.
Data Governance and the Edison Repository
M&T’s data program developed alongside the technology overhaul. Andrew Foster, who joined the bank in 2023, began building a data-lineage program to track where information originates, how it is used, and how it moves between systems. Foster told American Banker that this work was not created in response to generative AI but is a core capability for understanding M&T’s data estate.
The bank established a Data Academy focused on data governance and skills, with around 2,000 employees participating. M&T also created an internal repository called Edison, which contains authoritative documents and information on bank policies. The bank uses data-lineage software from Solidatus and Monte Carlo to trace information as it passes through databases, applications, and business-intelligence systems.
According to Foster, the lineage work gives M&T visibility into the source, meaning, quality, and governance of individual data elements. One application of this governed data is the bank’s use of Copilot. M&T also uses retrieval-augmented generation with internal, governed data, as reported by American Banker.
Scaling AI into Daily Banking Operations
Wisler told Forbes that M&T is pursuing generative AI through three routes: general employee use, AI capabilities embedded in existing applications, and proprietary systems built around the bank’s own data and processes.
M&T operates more than 1,800 applications, many supplied by third-party vendors. Wisler said one pathway is identifying useful AI capabilities already embedded within those applications. The third pathway involves proprietary AI development around the bank’s own data and processes. Early applications include repetitive operational work, software development, fraud prevention, and cyber defense, according to Forbes.
Fast Company’s September report also noted that M&T continues to assess both internally developed AI systems and external tools, including general enterprise software and technology designed specifically for banks. Earlier workforce use cases centered on drafting, summarization, call-center work, and software development. Newer applications include identifying customer needs and flagging portfolio risks.
Industry Context: AI Adoption at Other Major Banks
Other large US banks have also expanded generative AI across employee workflows. JPMorganChase launched its internal LLM Suite platform to more than 200,000 employees in 2024. By 2025, over 65,000 employees in its Corporate and Investment Bank were actively using the platform, and more than 90% of its engineers were using AI coding assistants. The bank also reported that AI-based transaction screening allowed it to review more than twice the previous transaction volume while reducing manual operator checks by half.
Bank of America is using a generative AI-enabled system called EricaAssist with more than 18,000 customer service employees. The tool summarizes why a customer is calling, retrieves relevant information, and recommends possible next steps while keeping the employee responsible for the interaction. Bank of America said in July 2026 that EricaAssist can deliver contextual guidance in under three seconds and has reduced average call times by nearly one minute. The bank plans to extend the system to additional servicing scenarios and business lines later in 2026.
