Iberdrola AI Strategy: 500 Agents and a Certified Rulebook

Iberdrola has built the rulebook before the scale. A board-approved AI policy dates from 2022, and in 2026 its AI management system was certified to the ISO/IEC 42001 standard. On that base, it now counts nearly 500 AI agents deployed or in development and more than 450 projects. It is also investing in data centers and supplying power to Microsoft. What it has not published is the value AI creates.

The ambition has a name. In a July 2026 statement, Iberdrola said its goal is to become the “AI Utility of the Future.” At its June 2026 Digital Summit, it said it aims to embed AI across all its businesses with a clear focus on business value. Pedro Azagra, group CEO since June 2025, opened the summit with a keynote on how AI is changing business, technology and workplace culture.

The corporate strategy mentions AI only through demand. The 2025 to 2028 strategic plan, presented in September 2025, centers on grids and renewables, and plans for rising electricity use from data centers.

The focus covers every business. Iberdrola’s August 2026 update lists where agents work:

• Networks: anticipating incidents, detecting them in real time and restoring supply within minutes
• Generation: work planning, maintenance coordination and access to technical knowledge about assets
• Customers: voicebots and chatbots for enquiries, complaints and documents
• Corporate functions and IT: administrative, financial and legal work, and IT incident management

Outside, AI is a growth market. In November 2025, Iberdrola and Echelon formed Echelon Iberdrola Digital Infra, a joint venture planning more than €2 billion of data center investment in Spain, starting with its Madrid Sur site, with 144 megawatts of capacity. Iberdrola also supplies Microsoft under power purchase agreements totaling about 500 megawatts in the US and Spain (December 2025).

Governance came first. Iberdrola’s board approved a Policy on the Responsible Development and Use of AI Tools in May 2022 and last amended it in December 2025. It sets ten principles, from transparency to accountability, and generally rules out high-risk AI systems unless an exception is approved. A Security, Resilience and Digital Technology Committee in the IT division puts the policy into practice and reports to the board’s Audit and Risk Supervision Committee. Iberdrola has also published an AI manifesto built on the same ten principles.

The rulebook is certified. In February 2025, two Spanish units certified their AI management systems to ISO/IEC 42001 with the standards body AENOR, including GregorIA, a generative AI tool that classifies and analyzes complaints that reach the company through public bodies. By January 2026, Iberdrola had certified its global AI process. It also runs a Global AI Centre for secure platforms and responsible AI, and signed the European Commission’s AI Pact in September 2024 (Digital Summit 2025).

People stay in charge of decisions. Iberdrola says it adds agentic AI “always ensuring that people retain control over and responsibility for decisions” (August 2026). Its governance model covers risk management, human oversight, transparency and regulatory compliance across the AI lifecycle.

Platforms come from two partners. AWS and Microsoft are Iberdrola’s strategic technology partners. Under the December 2025 Microsoft agreement, Iberdrola is expanding its use of Azure and Microsoft’s data and AI products and deploying Microsoft Copilot. It has not said how many employees use Copilot.

Use cases run in every main market. Named examples from July 2026 include:

• Spain: GregorIA, for faster complaint handling
• United States: First Time Right, which helps field teams resolve more problems on the first visit
• Brazil: vegetation management to make networks safer and more resilient
• United Kingdom: generative AI and agents in retail and corporate systems
• Group procurement: automation and generative AI to speed up decisions and investment plans

Training is open to all. Every employee has access to AI training tailored to their profile and skill level, through masterclasses, workshops, hackathons and communities of practice. Iberdrola has not published how many people have completed it.

The workforce is growing. Iberdrola hired about 4,500 people in 2025 and ended the year with about 45,400 employees. It has not linked AI to job cuts.

AI fluency, coded against the Lead with AI Fluency Matrix (September 2026 edition):

• Fluency floor: Not published. Training is offered to every employee, and the AI policy commits to train developers and users on AI risks, but there is no required standard or completion figure.
• Highest level evidenced: Level 3 (Integrating), company-claimed. Agents are built into grid operations, customer service and IT. Iberdrola keeps people responsible for decisions, and the sources reviewed do not show AI running a process end to end, so Level 4 is not evidenced.
• Portfolio design: Governed and decentralized. A Global AI Centre and a certified management system set the rules, and the country businesses deliver use cases on AWS and Microsoft platforms.

Iberdrola reports counts, not value. The counts grow fast, but the unit keeps changing:

• June 2025: more than 150 AI use cases at group level (Digital Summit 2025)
• June 2026: more than 300 AI projects underway (Digital Summit 2026)
• July 2026: more than 450 projects combining AI and human talent (company statement)
• August 2026: nearly 500 AI agents, deployed or in development (company update)

An agent count is hard to read. The word covers everything from scripted workflows to systems that act on their own, which makes agent-washing a risk for any company that reports one. Iberdrola’s total also includes agents still in development.

No savings, revenue or productivity figures have been published. Even GregorIA, the first use case to be certified, was described in February 2025 as having greatly reduced analysis time, with no number attached. A September 2026 update on Avangrid, the US business, also gave no figures. The nine-month results on October 21, 2026, did not mention AI. Moving from counts to value is the step from AI adoption to AI value.

Next markers: whether Iberdrola reports value from its agents, whether training completion is disclosed, and progress at the Madrid Sur data center.

Change log

• May 2022: The board approves the AI policy.
• September 2024: Iberdrola signs the European Commission’s AI Pact.
• February 2025: Two Spanish units certify their AI management systems to ISO/IEC 42001, including GregorIA.
• June 2025: Iberdrola reports more than 150 AI use cases; Pedro Azagra becomes group CEO.
• September 2025: The 2025 to 2028 strategic plan plans for data center demand.
• November 2025: Echelon Iberdrola Digital Infra plans more than €2 billion of data center investment in Spain.
• December 2025: Microsoft PPAs reach about 500 megawatts, with Azure and Copilot expansion; the board amends the AI policy.
• January 2026: The global AI process is certified to ISO/IEC 42001.
• June 2026: The Digital Summit reports more than 300 AI projects.
• July 2026: Iberdrola names its goal, the “AI Utility of the Future,” and reports more than 450 projects.
• August 2026: Nearly 500 AI agents are deployed or in development.

• Disclosure: 3 of 4. Iberdrola answers where it is going, where it will focus and what it will take. How it will know is not answered: it reports counts of projects and agents, not results.
• Governance is the most developed part. A board-approved policy, a committee that reports to the board and an externally certified management system came before the scale-up.
• Agents reach every business, from grid operations to legal work, with people kept responsible for decisions.
• AI is also a market: data centers in Spain and power for Microsoft.
• Headcount is growing, and AI has not been linked to job cuts.
• The say-do gap is measurement. Nearly 500 agents and no published value.
• Watch for the first value number. The test is whether the certified system produces results Iberdrola is willing to report.

What the numbers show: On a comparable basis, revenue rose 3% in 2025 while headcount grew 8% as Iberdrola hired about 4,500 people, so revenue per employee fell 5%. Iberdrola has not linked AI to job cuts. These figures do not show that AI caused any change.

Revenue, headcount and revenue per employee, FY2022 to FY2025

• FY2022: €53.95bn revenue, 40,721 employees, €1.32M per employee
• FY2023: €49.34bn revenue, 42,276 employees, €1.17M per employee
• FY2024: €42.99bn revenue, 42,208 employees, €1.02M per employee
• FY2025: €44.08bn revenue, 45,400 employees, €971k per employee

Change from FY2024, the first comparable year, to FY2025: revenue up 3%, headcount up 8%, revenue per employee down 5%.

Notes: Revenue is as reported. Headcount is employees at year-end, as reported in the June 2026 Factbook. Iberdrola agreed in July 2025 to sell its Mexican business and restated 2024 revenue to exclude it, so the comparable trend starts in FY2024. 2022 and 2023 are as originally reported and include Mexico. Utility revenue also moves with energy prices and regulated tariffs. Trend figures stay in € so exchange-rate moves do not distort them. At the 2025 average exchange rate, latest revenue per employee is about $1.10M.

These figures give context on scale and productivity. They do not show that AI caused any change. Sources: Iberdrola CNMV financial reports and Factbook 2026.

What is Iberdrola’s AI strategy?

Iberdrola aims to become the “AI Utility of the Future” by embedding AI across all its businesses, from grid operations to customer service and corporate functions. It reports more than 450 AI projects and nearly 500 AI agents, governed by a board-approved AI policy and a management system certified to ISO/IEC 42001.

‍

How does Iberdrola govern AI?

The board approved an AI policy in 2022 and amended it in December 2025. A committee in the IT division implements it and reports to the board’s Audit and Risk Supervision Committee. Iberdrola’s AI management system is certified to ISO/IEC 42001, and the company says people keep control over and responsibility for decisions.

‍

What is Iberdrola’s role in AI data centers?

Iberdrola and Echelon formed a joint venture in November 2025 that plans to invest more than €2 billion in data centers in Spain, starting near Madrid. Iberdrola also supplies Microsoft with renewable power under agreements totaling about 500 megawatts.

‍

Is Iberdrola cutting jobs because of AI?

No cuts linked to AI have been reported. Iberdrola hired about 4,500 people in 2025, and headcount reached about 45,400.

‍

How is this profile put together?

Lead with AI profiles use public sources only, such as annual reports, earnings materials, filings and on-record interviews, dated at the time of writing. AI fluency is coded against the Lead with AI Fluency Matrix. Company figures are marked as company-claimed unless they have been independently verified.