Santander, Standard Chartered, Novartis Report AI Payoffs

In Short

Santander, Novartis and Standard Chartered are starting to report financial gains from artificial intelligence, or AI, spending.

What Happened

Santander said its AI initiatives generated 194 million euros in business value in the first nine months of 2026.

Santander Chief Financial Officer José García Cantera told CNBC that AI is helping the bank reduce low value tasks so employees can focus on higher value work. “This affects both revenue and costs, so we are actually in the quarter where we can actually link directly to AI a positive contribution,” Cantera said. He added that AI is being embedded across the bank’s processes, which makes it hard to isolate exactly how much comes from AI.

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan told CNBC that AI was beginning to contribute to the company’s bottom line, meaning profits after costs. Novartis reported third quarter core operating income of $6.04 billion, up 10% year on year at constant currencies, which means the comparison removes currency swings. The company did not quantify how much of that was attributable to AI, but Narasimhan said, “I think this is the first quarter I’ve really seen AI start to improve actually our P&L on a tangible basis.”

CNBC also reported that Standard Chartered CFO Manus Costello described AI as contributing to the bank’s top line growth and operating leverage, meaning the business can grow income faster than costs. CNBC said Costello pointed to AI helping managers build customer relationships and generate income.

Why It Matters

Companies have spent heavily on AI, but investors want proof the spend is improving revenue, costs, or profitability.

CNBC pointed to broader AI spending trends, citing the Stanford HAI 2026 AI Index report, which said corporate AI investment reached $581.7 billion in 2025, up 130% from the previous year.

As more companies put numbers and executive statements behind AI’s financial impact, earnings discussions are shifting from promises to measurable results.