Bank of America Boosts AI Investment by 44%, Making Artificial Intelligence a Core Growth Engine
In a decisive move to harness the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI), Bank of America (BofA) has significantly expanded its technology investments, positioning AI as a central pillar of its future growth strategy. The bank’s annual strategic technology investment reached $4 billion (approximately 5.5 trillion won) this year, marking a 44% increase over the past decade.
Expanding AI Integration Across the Organization
BofA’s total technology budget currently stands at $13 billion annually, with roughly one-quarter allocated to what the bank terms "strategic growth sectors," prominently including AI initiatives. Hari Gopalkrishnan, BofA’s newly appointed Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTIO), who joined the leadership team in July, is spearheading this expansive AI integration. Gopalkrishnan has emphasized that AI investment is a company-wide imperative, not confined to a single department. Efforts under his direction focus on developing scalable AI infrastructure that spans the bank’s eight business divisions.
AI Virtual Assistant “Erica” Leads the Charge
One of the most notable AI implementations at BofA is its AI-powered virtual assistant, “Erica,” which was introduced in 2018. Since its launch, Erica has handled more than 3 billion customer interactions, averaging 58 million uses monthly. The assistant helps customers by monitoring spending patterns, alerting users to suspicious transactions, and detecting duplicate payments. Plans are underway to extend Erica’s availability beyond the mobile app to a desktop version in the coming year.
Internally, BofA deploys “Erica for Employees,” an AI assistant launched in 2020 that supports more than 90% of its 213,000 global staff. This internal tool has halved the volume of IT helpdesk inquiries, significantly improving employee efficiency.
Innovating with Generative AI and Data Science
Currently, BofA is piloting 45 applications based on generative AI technology, with 15 already operational in commercial settings. Among these is the “AskGPS” system, designed to aid investment banking and capital markets teams by summarizing and searching internal documents. Leveraging over 3,200 internal reports and presentations, AskGPS delivers real-time market insights and research results within seconds.
The firm has also invested an additional $1.5 billion over the past five years to bolster its data capabilities, providing a strong foundation to broaden AI adoption. Approximately 18,000 programmers at BofA now use AI coding assistants that have boosted development productivity by 20% in certain areas.
A Vision for AI as a Comprehensive Business Transformation Engine
Gopalkrishnan describes AI not merely as a tool for incremental efficiency gains but as an engine for reimagining the entire spectrum of business operations. “The true return on investment comes not from saving minutes on individual tasks, but from innovating the complete end-to-end customer journey,” he said.
To empower this vision, BofA has granted access to AI productivity tools to over 130,000 employees, planning to extend usage to the entire workforce by year’s end. The bank is also enhancing its employee education programs, offering stepwise training from fundamental AI literacy to hands-on prompt engineering.
By committing substantial resources and leadership focus to AI advancements, Bank of America underscores its belief that artificial intelligence constitutes a vital new axis of growth and innovation in the financial sector.
