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Societe Generale just laid out a roadmap to cut its cost base below €16.3 billion by 2029, and artificial intelligence is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. The French bank expects AI initiatives alone to trim roughly €500 million from its IT spending, part of a broader plan targeting €1.9 billion in gross savings over the next few years.
The numbers behind the overhaul
SocGen’s strategic roadmap, unveiled on September 21, paints a picture of a bank trying to do more with less. The €16.3 billion cost base target represents roughly a 2% decrease from the bank’s estimated 2026 figures. On a net basis, after reinvestment and other adjustments, the savings come to approximately €300 million.
SocGen is aiming to push its cost-to-income ratio below 55% by 2029, down from roughly 60% today. On the revenue side, the bank is targeting a compound annual growth rate of about 3% through 2029. Return on tangible equity is pegged at 13-14% for 2029, with ambitions to push it above 15% after that.
Workforce changes are part of the equation too. SocGen plans to reduce approximately 1,800 roles in France, primarily through natural attrition rather than layoffs.
From homegrown AI to Anthropic and Microsoft
SocGen’s AI journey has already had a few plot twists. The bank initially developed its own internal AI tool called SoGPT, but earlier in 2026, the bank decommissioned SoGPT in favor of Microsoft’s Copilot after performance gaps became apparent.
Now the bank has gone a step further by signing a strategic partnership with Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude. The agreement is designed to accelerate AI integration across SocGen’s operations, with a focus on boosting productivity and improving client services.
The projected €500 million in IT cost reductions would bring SocGen’s IT intensity ratio down to 12%.
Krupa’s turnaround enters a new phase
This roadmap represents the latest chapter in CEO Slawomir Krupa’s turnaround effort, which began when he took the reins in 2023. His tenure has been defined by a focus on cost discipline, profitability improvement, and strategic simplification.
What to watch from here
The gap between €1.9 billion in gross savings and €300 million in net reductions implies roughly €1.6 billion in reinvestment and transition costs. The Anthropic partnership will be worth monitoring closely, particularly given the European regulatory environment’s assertive stance on AI governance. For SocGen’s stock, the 2029 targets give the market a clear set of benchmarks: a cost-to-income ratio below 55% and return on tangible equity above 13%.
The workforce reduction of 1,800 roles through attrition also bears watching, as managing capability gaps while simultaneously deploying new AI tools across the organization presents significant execution challenges.
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