Bank of America says its employees are using artificial intelligence at scale to improve productivity and enhance client service, with more than 90% of its 213,000 global employees now using an internal AI-driven virtual assistant.
The bank’s AI efforts span multiple business lines, from operations and training to client engagement. “AI is having a transformative effect on employee efficiency and operational excellence,” said Aditya Bhasin, chief technology and information officer. “Our use of AI at scale and around the world enables us to further enhance our capabilities, improve employee productivity and client service, and drive business growth.”
Bank of America introduced Erica®, its AI-driven virtual assistant, in 2018. Since then, clients have engaged with Erica more than 2.5 billion times, and 20 million clients now actively use the service.
Building on Erica’s success, the bank launched Erica for Employees in 2020, an internal tool that gained rapid adoption during the pandemic. It assists staff with IT tasks, HR questions, and more. The tool has reduced calls to the IT help desk by more than 50%, and further enhancements are planned this year to expand its capabilities using generative AI.
Other AI tools include ask MERRILL® and ask Private Banking®, which help financial teams quickly access curated information. These tools facilitated more than 23 million interactions in 2024, an increase of 1 million from the previous year.
The company is also using generative AI to summarize call center interactions and streamline research processes, while software developers use AI to boost coding efficiency by over 20%.
Bank of America’s training division, The Academy, uses AI to run over 1 million interactive simulations annually, helping employees improve client conversations through real-time feedback.
Additional AI initiatives include:
- Automated material generation for client meetings, saving tens of thousands of employee hours.
- Guided desktop assistance for contact center staff, reducing call times and improving customer experience.
- A GenAI platform for sales and trading teams to synthesize market research more efficiently.
Bank of America holds nearly 7,400 patents and applications, including more than 1,200 related to AI and machine learning. The company plans to invest $13 billion in technology in 2025, with about $4 billion directed toward new initiatives.
Bank of America serves approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients through 3,700 financial centers and 58 million verified digital users, operating in over 35 countries.
