How Itaú is building generative AI for its entire customer base

Itaú’s new generative AI platform, ia.i, integrates a conversational interface with its IARA governance system to serve millions of customers in Brazil’s highly regulated banking environment. The bank’s CTO, Carlos Eduardo Mazzei, emphasizes simplicity and direct utility over complex models, aiming to solve everyday financial problems with minimal friction. A study by Itaú and Grupo Consumoteca found 80% of Brazilians want better financial organization and 65% seek AI-driven financial guidance, reinforcing the need for accessible solutions.

The ia.i platform consolidates interactions across accounts, credit, cards, insurance, and other services into a single text or voice-activated environment, connecting users to human support when necessary. Itaú chose OpenAI’s models for their ability to handle both cost-efficient, low-latency tasks and complex reasoning across diverse financial contexts. Customer DNA, a financial context layer, powers personalized interactions for approximately 70 million customers, with GPT models enriching this representation under strict governance and responsible AI controls.

In its first phase, ia.i reached about 300,000 customers, enabling transactions, investment advice, and WhatsApp-based interactions while the bank studies usage patterns to refine the experience. Behind the scenes, the IARA platform orchestrates model access, cost control, and governance, supporting teams across the bank, including a legal department solution that processes over 2 million tasks monthly on a 90-million-document repository with efficiency gains of 20% to 80%.

Itaú’s AI First strategy extends beyond customers to internal teams, automating routine tasks and enabling specialists to prepare summaries, analyze issues, and develop plans more efficiently. The bank projects threefold more time for customer relationships, twice as fast service, and three times more effective conversations. Responsible AI principles guide the entire lifecycle, ensuring safety, transparency, and regulatory compliance as the technology scales across the institution.