M&T Bank has deployed AI copilots to more than 15,000 employees as the US regional bank applies AI to internal operations, customer service, software development, and risk management.
The bank uses AI to analyse call-centre conversations, draft reports, generate code, identify customer needs, and flag portfolio risks, according to Fast Company. M&T is also examining 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 including drafting emails and reports and summarising call-centre conversations.
Before the wider rollout, M&T initially restricted employee access to public large language models. Chief data officer Andrew Foster told American Banker that the bank blocked the tools because employees could potentially enter sensitive company information into public-facing services.
M&T later evaluated enterprise providers and selected Microsoft Copilot, starting with a pilot involving about 800 employees before expanding access across the organisation.
Foster said using generative AI to summarise call-centre conversations saves about six minutes per call. Software developers at the bank also use GitLab tools to generate code, while employees remain responsible for reviewing AI-generated work.
M&T’s human-review requirement is also reflected in its 2026 Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The policy requires employees to use approved AI tools and prohibits confidential, proprietary, customer, employee, or regulated information from being entered into unapproved systems. Employees remain responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of AI-assisted work.
M&T’s AI deployment follows a technology overhaul that began in 2018. The bank said more than half of its technology specialists were external workers at the time, compared with an 80% in-house technology workforce today.
M&T now has about 2,000 technologists working across more than 300 agile teams and has hired more than 1,000 technology specialists during the programme.
The bank has also replaced dozens of older platforms. M&T said 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 told Forbes in August 2026 that annual technology releases increased from about 15,000 in 2018 to 65,000 in 2025.
Wisler joined M&T as chief information officer in 2018 before becoming senior executive vice-president for technology and operations in 2025. His current remit covers both technology and operational functions across the bank.