BNP Paribas has partnered with Google Cloud to expand its access to AI infrastructure, Gemini models, and Gemini Enterprise over five years.
The agreement is intended to support the growth of the bank's infrastructure and AI capabilities as it moves towards a broader deployment of agentic AI.
The partnership forms part of BNP Paribas' multi-cloud and multi-model strategy, which the bank will continue to operate within its existing security and data governance framework. According to Marc Camus, Group Chief Information Officer, BNP Paribas, this approach allows the bank to select the model, infrastructure, and level of control appropriate to each use case, weighing quality and security requirements against cost. Google Cloud described agentic AI as a shift in how financial institutions manage operations, assess risk, and serve clients.
Initial deployment in corporate and institutional banking
Under the agreement, BNP Paribas will use Gemini Enterprise to build, evaluate, and deploy agents designed for specific business needs. The first area of focus is the bank's Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) division.
Within CIB, the bank plans to deploy AI agents for targeted workflows, beginning with the preparation of corporate credit memos to assist teams. Further applications are expected across sales, trading, research, and structuring activities. Gemini models will also be integrated into LLM@CIB, the division's internal generative AI assistant, which is currently available to more than 65.000 employees.
Charles Holive, Chief AI Officer, BNP Paribas CIB, indicated that the bank's approach starts with the business requirement: each use case is assessed to determine which technology suits it, before deployment within the bank's governance framework. Agentic AI is expected to help teams handle more complex workflows while maintaining appropriate controls.
The partnership also builds on an existing deployment. Google Cloud and Gemini technologies are already in use at Nickel, BNP Paribas' payment account business within its Commercial, Personal Banking & Services (CPBS) division. Gemini serves as the foundational model for Nickel Assist, a tool that helps 200 customer advisers answer customer requests based on Nickel's procedures and operating guidelines.
Data governance and agent security
The use of Google Cloud will follow BNP Paribas' existing security and data governance requirements, which determine the types of data and workloads that can be processed in a public cloud environment. Certain categories of data will not be stored in the public cloud.
Security is presented as a central element of the bank's agentic AI strategy. Each agent will be authenticated and granted access only to the resources required to perform its assigned task. The connections between AI agents and the group's information systems, as well as the interactions between agents, will be monitored and controlled. This framework addresses a practical question for the bank as it moves from a generative AI assistant towards agents that operate within internal systems: how their access is scoped and supervised.
Skills and group-wide adoption
Beyond technology deployment, the partnership will contribute to BNP Paribas' existing group-wide AI adoption programme. It is set to complement ongoing initiatives that offer employees learning opportunities ranging from foundational AI literacy to specialised AI agent development.
