When Marco Santos officially assumed the role of Global CEO at digital transformation company GFT in January 2025, he not only took on the task of leading a global enterprise across 15 markets. He took on the self-imposed challenge of transforming the company from the inside out with AI, while simul...
When Marco Santos officially assumed the role of Global CEO at digital transformation company GFT in January 2025, he not only took on the task of leading a global enterprise across 15 markets. He took on the self-imposed challenge of transforming the company from the inside out with AI, while simultaneously expanding its work to modernize legacy technology for financial institutions, including HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Santander, and others.
In one of his first acts as CEO, Santos set this ambitious vision in stone: He would lead the 35+ year company’s transformation into an AI-centric organization within five years.
After nearly 13 years of scaling GFT across the Americas and serving as Co-CEO, Santos entered his new role with extensive organizational knowledge and a long-term vision–but also much to learn.
Following our first conversation with Santos last year, we sat down with him to discuss his transition to the Global CEO role, his long-term vision, and key trends he is hearing from banking leaders across markets.
A transition marked by a new strategy.
Santos began laying the groundwork for his Global CEO role last year. “I began building GFT’s long-term strategy in preparation for my transition to the full CEO position,” he said. Although he previously oversaw the Americas, he noted that taking on the global role meant he needed to quickly understand the nuances of every market in which GFT operates, notably across APAC and Europe.
“To do this, I spent a lot of time engaging with stakeholders. This included internal stakeholders such as country heads to understand each market’s nuances, company shareholders, clients, partners, and more,” said Santos. “Each of these conversations helped me re-shape my understanding of the GFT business on a global scale to more effectively put together my long term strategy.”
Those insights informed Santos’ five-year strategy for GFT to become “a fully AI-centric company.”
Executing on becoming a fully AI-centric company.
Santos’s mission in his first year in the role was to make meaningful headway on the company’s AI strategy, specifically outlining three specific goals that he guided the organization to achieve.
The first was equipping GFT’s global workforce with AI-driven capabilities. “We ensured all of our developers were trained on Wynxx, an AI software development tool GFT built that accelerates aspects of the software development lifecycle by up to 90%. To date, we have trained over 10,000 of our employees on how to use Wynxx.”
The second goal focused on expanding the number of AI projects GFT works on for clients. “We set out to finish the year with at least 3% of our global contracts dedicated to AI projects. We are on track to surpass this target,” he said, citing the example of Bradesco Seguros using Wynxx “to achieve 40% productivity gains in software development.”
The final goal aimed to broaden GFT’s AI footprint across its client base. “We initially set out to work with 20-30 clients on AI projects and we far surpassed that number, with over 50 clients globally,” he said.
Externally, Santos wants GFT to help companies reimagine modernization. “We want to challenge how the market thinks of legacy modernization with AI,” he said. By blending GFT’s own tools, such as Wynxx, with clients’ existing technologies, the company aims to accelerate transformation.
This year, GFT announced several large-scale AI projects. For example, the company spearheaded work with Google Cloud to bring new AI tools to manufacturers. Additionally, the company announced its work with Neura Robotics to bring physical AI to life.
Global banks want large-scale modernization – and GFT is prepared to guide them.
Across financial institutions, Santos said the appetite for modernization has grown significantly. “Clients are increasingly prioritizing large-scale modernization projects that were previously not feasible due to time and cost constraints,” he noted.
GFT now uses AI to help these institutions accelerate their digital transformation efforts while keeping costs at bay. “By using AI to automate aspects of the software development lifecycle, the time spent on modernization initiatives can be significantly reduced while still achieving high standards of output,” he said.
Looking ahead, Santos says banks understand the importance of AI initiatives, but they need to focus on foundational work first to drive meaningful impact. “Financial institutions want to modernize and leverage AI but oftentimes, these projects first need to start at the foundational level with underlying data,” he said.
Banks and financial institutions often rely on legacy systems that fragment data in ways AI systems can’t use, limiting their effectiveness. “That’s where GFT comes in,” he added. “Our strategy is based on making this possible with our own AI tools. Using AI to spur AI.”
By accelerating data readiness, Santos believes financial institutions can accelerate their digital transformation efforts and better position themselves for the future.
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think and learn like humans. AI can perform tasks such as problem-solving, understanding language, and recognizing patterns.
Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to create new or modify existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements.
Financial institutions are organizations that provide financial services, such as banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and investment firms. They play a crucial role in the economy by facilitating transactions and managing risks.
Legacy technology refers to outdated computing systems, software, or hardware that are still in use. These systems may be costly to maintain and can hinder modernization efforts in organizations.
Modernization in banking involves updating outdated systems and processes to improve efficiency, enhance customer experience, and integrate new technologies, such as AI and digital platforms.
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