Itaú Rolls Out OpenAI-Powered ia.i to 300,000 Customers

Brazilian bank Itaú is deploying generative AI built on OpenAI models across its customer base and internal operations, through a conversational interface called ia.i and a governance platform called IARA.

The first phase of ia.i reached about 300,000 customers. It works by text or voice, covers checking accounts, credit, cards and insurance, and hands over to human support when needed. Itaú's goal is 100% of its customer base by the end of 2026. Planned additions include product simulations, sign-ups and recurring analysis of income, expenses and habits.

ia.i draws on Customer DNA, a layer holding financial context for about 70 million customers, which GPT-5.x models help maintain and enrich under governance controls. CTO Carlos Eduardo Mazzei said the bank uses a range of models, balancing cost and latency on simple tasks against deeper reasoning on complex financial questions.

IARA controls model access, token costs, response accuracy and responsible-AI policy across teams. In the legal department, a system connected to it works over a repository of more than 90 million documents and runs more than 2 million tasks a month, with efficiency gains of 20% to 80% across the department's processes.

Internally, the same layer supports specialists, managers and service teams with meeting preparation, summaries and planning. Itaú expects three times more time for customer relationships, service up to twice as fast and conversations up to three times more effective. Its first Inteligência Itaú capabilities launched in 2024.