In Argentina’s financial sector, software developers are partnering with AI to boost innovation

GitHub Copilot is built on GitHub, the leading developer platform to build, scale and deliver secure software, and integrates with popular code editors like Visual Studio, Xcode and Neovim. By the end of 2024, GitHub reported nearly 1.2 million developer accounts in Argentina.

GitHub Copilot offers three real-time chat modes: one for questions and code suggestions, another for editing and a third agent mode that can manage multistep tasks like building features or creating files across an entire project. Additionally, developers can delegate routine and specialized tasks to the GitHub coding agent to move projects forward, even while they're offline.

Powered by the latest generative AI models, GitHub Copilot prioritizes security, privacy, compliance and transparency. The tool encrypts data in transit and at rest on Microsoft Azure.

Galicia, which is part of Grupo Galicia, has over 5 million clients and adopted AI code assistants in early 2024 as part of a broader digital transformation. Today, around 500 developers at the bank actively use GitHub Copilot. "You simply can't succeed as a bank today without embracing an innovative mindset," Gross says. "It is mandatory."

Founded in 1905, the bank's core business has long centered on offering loans and managing deposits to medium- and high-income people and businesses.

At Naranja X, a fintech also under Grupo Galicia, the adoption of GitHub Copilot was in its DNA. Specializing in digital credit services, Naranja X manages more than 13 million credit and debit cards.

Sofía Baggini, DevOps and automation manager at Naranja X, says developers save two to three hours daily with GitHub Copilot. Time spent troubleshooting specific tasks dropped by 50%, she adds. A back-office developer even used Copilot to fix front-end connection problems outside of his usual expertise.

"The quicker the product reaches customers, the happier they'll be and the better their interaction," Baggini says. "If a click takes one second instead of five, that impacts the experience."

Javier Blanco, a Naranja X developer focused on automated testing, uses GitHub Copilot to suggest code, fix errors and test final products. He calls AI "a very good accelerator" that helps him juggle multiple projects simultaneously, get higher quality, find creative solutions and switch seamlessly between programming languages.

"It's like becoming bilingual, but in programming - you're learning a whole new language," Blanco remarks.

More than 80% of Naranja X developers - approximately 560 users - are now actively using GitHub Copilot, according to Pablo Fernández, the company's tech lead. "The impact is significant since access was granted to all; anyone can request and automatically receive a license without paperwork."