Today, BBVA AI Factory SL is incorporated as a new legal entity, and I am honoured to be writing to you as CEO. I am also very fortunate to be accompanied in this venture by our COO Marta Sanz.

We are not starting from scratch. Far from it. The step we are taking today is the result of several paths initiated more than a decade ago and has a direct precedent in the inauguration of BBVA's Artificial Intelligence Factory, almost two years ago. The AI Factory is now a reality, a space where talent from a variety of disciplines work together with the aim of using data and analytics to transform the financial sector based on two principles: ethics and responsibility. From the outset, our efforts have been focused on getting to know the customer better, personalising the customer experience, and improving the current relationship model. All this, while at the same time drastically improving operational efficiency.

Now begins a new stage of this vital journey. BBVA Data & Analytics SL, one of the cornerstones of the bank's transformation around data, becomes BBVA AI Factory SL. The new company incorporates the analytical talent of BBVA Data & Analytics and maintains its values and principles, which will continue to shape our character and our way of doing things. In addition, the entity adds the expertise of Madiva Soluciones in product creation and the technical capabilities of Data Engineering necessary to achieve our objectives.

Our mission as a company is to create data products aligned with the bank's strategic priorities, maximising the value creation for all the businesses and countries in which BBVA operates.

I do not see the step we are taking today as a U-turn. On the contrary, this is another step on a journey that began more than a decade ago. I feel committed, confident and grateful. I am accompanied by a great team of people who I know, respect and admire, and who have already more than demonstrated their value, talent and human qualities. I would like to thank Elena Alfaro, Jon Ander Beracoechea, Marcelo Soria and Marco Bressan for their vision and ambition, for their vision and ambition, as well as their hard work in bringing the impact of Artificial Intelligence to the entire Group. And to Juanjo Divassón, Fernando Alfaro, Paco Gonzalez and Alejandro Ruyra for their complicity, support and ability to "think backwards".

As my good friend says: "We all have a 10-year-old child inside and we have to feed it every day". For me, this "food" can be summed up by facing challenges that allow me to continue learning day by day.

I am convinced that we are going to work hard during this new phase, and that we will enjoy it and learn a great deal. And that it will be a shared success.