Bank of America is investing in AI, deploying it for internal and external uses across the bank, looking to the next use cases. 

Last year, the $3.4 trillion bank invested more than $4 billion in its technology efforts, Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick said Sept. 16 during the Bank of America Securities Financial CEO Conference. Investments include new technology, new code and new capabilities to enhance the client experience. 

With AI in action at the bank and money allocated to technology development and enhancement, Borthwick said the bank is looking at its next AI deployment plans in the following areas:   

• Services centers;

• Fraud prevention; and   

• Providing an improved client experience.  

In terms of investing in new tech, “we’re committed to those investments, we’re committed to adding to that over time, year after year after year,” Borthwick said. 

Already, the bank is investing in AI, and has deployed it for: 

• Consumer-facing chatbot; 

• Corporate-facing chatbot; and 

• Coding assistance.  

Erica use signals CX win

The bank’s AI-driven chatbot, Erica, has been used more than 3 billion times by more than 20 billion customers, and now is seeing rising demand for its AI tools from its more than 40,000 corporate clients that use the CashPro digital banking platform, Borthwick said.  

“We’re increasingly deploying AI for the commercial side, based on the experience that the consumers have asked for and they’re already getting,” he said. 

For example, the bank’s CashPro Chat, an AI-driven virtual assistant for corporate clients built on the same proprietary AI and machine learning capabilities as Erica, is seeing increased adoption, Borthwick said.  

Sixty-five percent of the bank’s corporate, business and commercials clients use the AI-driven CashPro Chat, he said. That’s up from 60% adoption in 2024, Tom Durkin, global head of CashPro, previously told Bank Automation News. 

Additionally, the bank’s coders are using GitHub, and other coding platforms, to develop software at scale, Borthwick said. The technology allows coders “to be much more productive,” he added. 

With productivity, and efficiency, in mind with AI deployment, the bank will continue to invest in the platform every year and look for added efficiencies, “recognizing that there are efficiencies we can gain from things like digital, from things like AI in the future,” Borthwick said. 

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