Deutsche Bank is turning to artificial intelligence to handle a growing share of its banking operations, starting with corporate lending, where some loan decisions that once took weeks are now delivered within minutes.

Germany's largest bank is also developing technology that could one day allow its AI systems to interact directly with clients' personal digital assistants — a step toward agentic AI, in which software agents carry out tasks autonomously rather than simply responding to prompts.

Lending Decisions Shrink From Weeks to Minutes

Marie-Jeanne Deverdun, Deutsche Bank's technology chief, told Reuters that the new lending system began operating this summer. The biggest gains have come among smaller businesses with relatively simple corporate structures, whose financing requests are easier to assess. Corporate lending has traditionally relied on manual reviews of financials, legal structures, and documentation — a large part of why turnaround times have long been measured in weeks or months.

"For smaller corporates, which are less complicated in their setup and their legal structure, we're talking weeks to minutes," Deverdun said.

Larger companies are benefiting as well. Multinational corporations that previously waited months for lending decisions can now expect answers in weeks.

The bank plans to invest a further €2.5 billion ($2.8 billion) in technology between 2026 and 2028, though it has not disclosed its total technology budget. By comparison, JPMorgan has budgeted $20 billion for technology investment in 2026 — figures that show the scale at which the world's major lenders are now investing in technology.

Deutsche is not alone in pursuing automation aggressively. Barclays recently announced plans to lay off roughly 5,000 employees, about 5% of its workforce, while expanding its use of AI. Citi says technology allows its teams to build products 40% faster and more cheaply.

ADA Platform Anchors the AI Ambition

Chief Executive Christian Sewing wants Deutsche Bank to become a fully AI-powered bank — an ambitious goal for an institution whose previous leadership complained in 2015 about technology systems that were disconnected, outdated, and incompatible with one another.

The challenge grew more complicated after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which forced the bank to relocate technology workers out of Russia. While the retail division has reported recent improvements, the lender is still working to simplify its existing platforms.

The latest effort is ADA, an internal platform named after computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, the 19th-century mathematician widely credited as the author of the first published computer program. ADA lets Deutsche develop, monitor, and control AI agents while managing security risks and switching between different AI models.

"We're already preparing for an agentic economy where our agents interact with the agents of our clients with clear accountability and the right controls," Deverdun said.

The agent-to-agent focus reflects a broader shift in AI development, from chat-based assistants toward autonomous systems that can complete multi-step tasks on a user's behalf.

Regulators Urge Caution as Adoption Accelerates

Regulators are increasingly focused on cybersecurity, financial stability, and whether banks will earn enough from their AI investments. Major American banks have also begun blocking unauthorized external AI agents from accessing customer accounts. Banking is among the most heavily supervised industries, and AI-driven lending decisions and account access sit squarely within supervisors' remit.

Deverdun acknowledged the risks. "We are watching that debate carefully. These are very valid concerns, and, obviously, the management of cyber risk is my number one priority," she said, adding that Deutsche is committing substantial resources to protecting its banking systems against emerging threats.

With its technology spending program running through 2028 and agent-to-client-agent interactions still in preparation, Deutsche has set out a multi-year runway for extending AI from lending decisions toward the fully AI-powered bank Sewing has described.