Santander Open Academy: A lifelong learning

Ana Botín, Executive Chair of Banco Santander, presented the Tomorrow’s Skills report in Brussels, she sent a strong message: in a world shaped by automation and artificial intelligence, the future of work requires a renewed and inclusive approach to learning.

As the report highlights, one in three people believe AI could replace their job, while 70% think the roles of the future don’t yet exist.

The role of Santander Open Academy: real-time learning for real-world impact

A core part of Santander’s response is the Santander Open Academy, a global learning platform built in close partnership with universities. With a clear focus on AI, digital literacy, and business skills, the platform reaches thousands of students through micro-courses that are continuously shaped by real-time feedback.

“We get real-time feedback from individuals so it’s not what we Santander want to teach but it’s what people need for them to be more productive”

What do people need to learn today to be more productive tomorrow?
That is the guiding question behind the Academy’s model.

This data-driven approach all owes Santander to stay aligned with both labour market trends and learner needs. Courses are tailored to rapidly changing demands, removing the lag between education and employability.

Reaching out to the future workforce

What sets the Open Academy apart is not only content quality, but its proactive engagement with universities producing the next wave of employees. Santander embraces linguistic and geographical diversity, ensuring that people from different backgrounds and regions can access training.

Removing barriers to learning and mobility

A key theme in the interview was the need to remove barriers that often prevent individuals from moving, adapting, and upskilling across regions.

Santander’s Tomorrow’s Skills report, and its ongoing efforts via the Open Academy, echo broader priorities shared by European policymakers and initiatives:

• Lifelong learning as a cornerstone of digital transformation
• Inclusive, multilingual education that reduces inequalities
• Public-private partnerships that enable agile, scalable solutions

 

The future of skills cannot be left to chance. As roles evolve and technologies reshape industries, the imperative is clear: we need systems that learn as fast as people do. And for that, platforms like Santander Open Academy are paving the way: by listening, adapting, and building bridges between learning and opportunity.