Top 10 Companies Hiring AI Engineers in Spain in 2026

Table of Contents

• Spain's AI Job Market: A Tasting Menu
• Repsol
• Amazon Spain
• Iberdrola
• Microsoft Spain
• Banco Santander
• Google Spain
• Telefónica
• Glovo
• BBVA
• Indra
• Choosing Your AI Career in Spain
• Frequently Asked Questions

Repsol

Repsol has matured into a global exemplar of industrial AI, where the craft lies not in isolated models but in sophisticated orchestration. The company treats AI as a core discipline, operating a dedicated Generative AI Competence Center and deploying what it terms an intelligent multi-agent platform to reinvent workflows. Engineers here build and deploy hundreds of collaborative AI agents for real-time incident response and predictive maintenance across global operations, a testament to applied, high-stakes problem-solving.

This focus on tangible impact within Spain's strategic energy transition attracts professionals seeking more than theoretical work. The compensation reflects this premium on industrial-scale AI expertise, with an average gross salary for ML roles around €68,000 and senior positions in Madrid reaching €85,000+. As highlighted in a case study by Accenture, Repsol's approach represents a fundamental shift in how a workforce can be augmented by AI.

The interview process is designed to identify talent suited for this collaborative, systems-oriented environment, often involving behavioral rounds and technical deep-dives on optimization. It’s the ideal terroir for those who want their code to have a direct effect on the efficiency and safety of critical national infrastructure, aging their skills in the cask of real-world industrial transformation.

Amazon Spain

For the AI engineer craving the ultimate challenge of consumer-scale systems, Amazon Spain operates at a breathtaking altitude. From its Madrid hub, teams optimize models where minute improvements directly affect millions of daily transactions on Amazon.es, from hyper-personalized recommendations to the real-time orchestration of the Iberian delivery network. The work demands mastery of a tech stack deeply integrated with the full spectrum of AWS services, including SageMaker, within high-availability, distributed systems.

Compensation reflects this peak-scale challenge, ranking among the highest in the country. Median total compensation sits around €74,000, with senior (L5/L6) roles frequently exceeding €135,000. This investment in talent is part of a broader commitment, as Amazon continues to expand its infrastructure footprint in Spain, including a massive €33.7 billion investment in AWS data centers in Aragón.

The rigorous interview process, featuring its famous Leadership Principles behavioral rounds and complex system design problems, is engineered to identify those who thrive under immense pressure. It’s a terroir defined by global impact, offering the unique intensity of shaping a platform serving a vast European market, where latency and precision are everything.

Iberdrola

Iberdrola represents the pinnacle of purpose-driven AI, where engineering prowess is directed squarely at the sustainable energy transition. The company operates a dedicated AI Centre of Excellence, building the intelligent core for the modern smart grid. Engineers here work on predictive maintenance for thousands of wind and solar assets, sophisticated demand forecasting, and real-time grid management, blending software with industrial IoT hardware.

The technical stack is built for resilience and scale, leveraging both Azure Cloud and AWS to handle massive streams of operational data. This focus on systemic efficiency for green tech commands highly competitive compensation, with entry-level roles starting near €48,000 and senior positions often surpassing €77,000. As noted in a recent technology modernization report, such partnerships are crucial for deploying AI at the scale required for decarbonization.

The interview process seeks minds geared toward optimization, typically focusing on time-series analysis and complex problem-solving within physical systems. For professionals motivated by measurable environmental impact, Iberdrola offers a career aging in the cask of Spain's leading green initiatives, where your models directly contribute to national and European climate goals.

Microsoft Spain

Microsoft Spain occupies a uniquely influential position as the primary architect of enterprise AI transformation for the nation's corporate sector. Acting as the key cloud and AI partner for most IBEX 35 companies, engineers in Madrid don't just build products - they architect the intelligent futures for flagship Spanish clients like Iberdrola and Repsol. The work centers on enterprise-grade solutions using the Azure OpenAI Service and PyTorch, often involving the localization of global platforms like Copilot for the Spanish market.

This role at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and widespread business adoption commands premium compensation. Senior-level AI professionals in Madrid see total compensation averaging €85,000-€90,000+, reflecting the strategic value of this work. Microsoft's commitment to the region is solid, having established a dedicated AI hub in Spain to drive this enterprise adoption forward.

The interview process evaluates both deep technical skill in system design and a product-minded approach to applying machine learning to real business challenges. It’s the ideal environment for engineers who want to shape how the entire Spanish enterprise landscape adopts AI, offering a terroir defined by strategic influence and scalable impact.

Banco Santander

In the high-stakes world of finance, Banco Santander offers a formidable proving ground for AI, where massive proprietary datasets meet stringent regulatory guardrails. Engineers leverage unparalleled financial data to build systems for real-time fraud detection, sophisticated credit risk modeling, and personalized retail banking at a scale few institutions can match. The work demands creating robust, explainable models that operate flawlessly within the strict confines of European GDPR and the AI Act, making integrity and compliance as crucial as innovation.

Compensation and career progression within the bank are robust, with analyst-level positions starting around €39,000 and senior engineering roles reaching €60,000-€80,000. This investment in AI talent is part of a strategic push, with the bank actively hiring AI Leads to spearhead generative AI deployments within its insurance and other domains. Salary benchmarks from industry surveys confirm Santander's competitive positioning in the Madrid market.

The interview process rigorously tests a candidate's ability to apply ML theory to problems of financial data integrity and system design. Choosing a career here means your algorithms directly safeguard and optimize one of the world's most important financial networks, offering a professional path defined by precision, immense data resources, and the weight of global trust.

Google Spain

Google Spain provides a coveted bridge between globally significant AI research and the vibrant pulse of the local tech scene. From offices in Madrid and Málaga, engineers contribute to world-class projects - from large-scale Search optimization to natural language processing for regional languages - while remaining embedded in Spain's innovative culture. The work utilizes industry-defining stacks like TensorFlow and JAX on Google Cloud Platform, often focusing on challenges unique to European and Spanish digital ecosystems.

The compensation reflects this elite positioning, with average salaries for ML Engineers in Madrid around €75,000 and specialized senior roles climbing significantly higher. This makes it a top destination for those seeking the resources and prestige of a foremost AI research organization without leaving the Iberian Peninsula. The path to joining is renowned for its rigor, involving the standard Google blend of data structures and algorithms coding, deep ML theory assessments, and evaluations of cultural fit.

For professionals who envision contributing to products used by millions in their home market while engaging with frontier technology, Google Spain offers a unique terroir. It’s the destination for those who want their work to have both a global resonance and a local palate, ensuring Spain's voice and needs are represented in the next generation of intelligent tools.

Telefónica

At Telefónica, AI is engineered directly into the backbone of one of Europe's largest telecommunications infrastructures, dealing with challenges of immense physical scale. The work revolves around optimizing vast networks, automating customer experience, and processing enormous streams of proprietary data like call detail records across Spanish-speaking markets globally. The enterprise-solid tech stack leans heavily on Azure Cloud, Docker, and Kubernetes, orchestrated through robust CI/CD pipelines.

Mid-level AI and software engineers can expect total compensation ranging from €35,000 to €42,000, as reflected in industry salary data for Spain. The interview process is designed to identify talent comfortable with these massive-scale systems, typically involving a take-home technical test and in-depth team interviews that probe for operational data expertise. Resources like candidate reviews highlight the practical, system-oriented nature of these assessments.

Choosing Telefónica is akin to selecting a classic, robust vintage - aged in the cask of legacy infrastructure but essential to modern connectivity. It's a foundational career path for those who want to master large-scale industrial AI, where models must be as reliable as the network they help manage, ensuring Spain remains at the forefront of digital communication.

Glovo

As Barcelona’s homegrown unicorn, Glovo offers a dynamic, fast-paced terroir where AI directly powers every real-time decision in a hyper-competitive marketplace. Engineers here tackle the exhilarating challenges of geospatial optimization for thousands of couriers, dynamic pricing algorithms, and low-latency recommendation systems - all requiring models that make split-second predictions. This environment is a sparkling testament to the vibrancy of Spain's AI startup ecosystem, where agility and visible impact are paramount.

The tech stack is built for velocity, utilizing Python, PySpark, and TensorFlow on specialized real-time infrastructure. Reflecting its scale-up status and Barcelona base, compensation is attractive, with mid-level salaries ranging from €45,000 to €60,000 and senior roles reaching €70,000-€90,000. The interview process often involves a practical take-home assignment modeling a simplified logistics problem, seeking minds that thrive on optimization under constraints, much like the broader European push to develop strategic AI capabilities.

For those who thrive on velocity and seeing their code directly influence a live marketplace, Glovo presents a vibrant, agile alternative to corporate giants. It’s the career choice for engineers who want their work to have the immediate, tangible fizz of innovation, contributing to a platform that defines on-demand delivery across Southern Europe.

BBVA

BBVA stands out as a digital banking pioneer, often operating its AI division as an internal tech consultancy through its "BBVA Next Technologies" unit. This structure fosters remarkable variety and product ownership, with projects spanning advanced financial forecasting, digital advisor bots, and innovative applications of generative AI for internal workflows and customer service.

Compensation for mid-level AI engineers is competitive within the financial sector, typically ranging from €32,000 to €42,000. The interview process is notably practical; candidates often engage in workshops analyzing real data science cases, followed by in-depth discussions with team leaders about specific ML models, a approach highlighted in candidate reviews. This mirrors the bank's hands-on philosophy, seeking talent that can immediately translate theory into banking innovation.

For engineers drawn to driving change within a robust, established framework, BBVA offers a distinct terroir. It’s an environment where you can experiment with cutting-edge tools like generative AI while your work directly impacts one of Spain's most important financial institutions, offering a career that blends innovative agility with institutional scale.

Indra

For AI engineers drawn to defense, aerospace, and national infrastructure, Indra (including its tech unit Minsait) offers a distinctive and high-stakes path. Here, AI is integrated directly into mission-critical hardware and systems, from intelligent defense platforms to smart city transportation networks. The work involves a deep technical stack that bridges software and the physical world, including embedded systems, API development, and distributed computing, demanding a mindset that values precision and resilience above all.

Salaries reflect the project-based, industrial nature of the work, ranging from €24,000-€27,000 for junior roles to €35,000-€48,000+ for senior engineers, as detailed in industry compensation reports. The company is a key player in Spain's strategic tech landscape, actively recruiting for AI roles to implement complex MLOps pipelines. This aligns with the broader assessment that, as the Adecco CEO notes, Spain is well-positioned for its AI industrial transition.

The multi-stage interview process, including logical reasoning and technical assessments, seeks individuals capable of handling the profound responsibility this work entails. Choosing Indra is selecting a career of tangible, societal-scale impact, where your code doesn't just recommend a product - it helps secure a nation or streamline a metropolis. It's a robust, enduring vintage for those who want their engineering legacy built into Spain's most vital industries.

Choosing Your AI Career in Spain

The perfect choice in Spain's rich 2026 AI landscape is not about identifying a singular "best" employer, but discerning which ecosystem will allow your specific skills to ferment and mature most productively. Consider your professional palate: do you crave the agentic, industrial scale of Repsol, the consumer hyper-growth intensity of Amazon, or the purpose-driven green tech of Iberdrola? Perhaps the enterprise influence of Microsoft or the real-time dynamism of Glovo calls to you.

Your decision framework should evaluate the terroir - the company culture and tech hub - alongside the specific projects and stack that constitute the tasting notes. Most crucially, consider how you wish to age in the barrel: will your career mature through deep specialization in telecom-scale data at Telefónica, or through varied innovation cycles within BBVA's digital labs? Expert analysis suggests that Spain's strategic positioning as a European AI hub, reinforced by major investments from global players, creates a uniquely stable yet dynamic environment for long-term growth.

With Spain demonstrating leadership in organizational AI maturity and the market flourishing, the opportunity is not merely to find a job, but to curate a career. Each employer profiled offers a distinct blend of impact, culture, and challenge. The question is no longer if you should build your AI future in Spain, but rather, which of its remarkable vintages you will uncork to define your professional journey.

Frequently Asked Questions