Bank of America says that over 90% of its 213,000 employees now use its AI-driven internal virtual assistant, cutting calls into the IT services desk by half.
BofA rolled out Erica for Employees in 2020. Adoption soared during the pandemic, as staffers working from home sought out tech support in areas such as mobile device password reset and device activation.
Since then, the assistant has added functionality and can now help employees with things like reviewing health benefits and locating payroll and tax forms.
The bank has also tapped the technology behind Erica for tools to help Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank teams curate information. When needed, the chat functionality can also connect teams with experts at the bank for help with more complex requests.
Meanwhile, BofA is using GenAI at call centres to summarise call recordings and to help developers with coding.
The bank is a heavy investor in AI, with more than 1200 AI and machine learning focused patents, more than half have already been granted.
“AI is having a transformative effect on employee efficiency and operational excellence,” said Aditya Bhasin, chief technology and information officer, BofA. “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 spends $13 billion annually on technology, of which approximately $4 billion will be directed to new technology initiatives in 2025.