Own the assistant, insist on perfect data, scale one proven model across 30 billion interactions.
How is Bank of America using AI?
Bank of America's AI strategy is the opposite of a big-bang rollout: a decade of one assistant, Erica, extended step by step into employees' tools, treasury products and advisor workflows, funded by a $13 billion technology budget of which $4 billion goes to new capabilities. Management measures it in interactions and hours rather than headlines — 2 million Erica conversations a day doing the work of 11,000 people, 400,000 employee prompts a day, more than 300 approved use cases 'all of which have good economics'. CEO Brian Moynihan's stated constraint is accuracy: 'the data has to be perfect', and the bank keeps hiring 4,000 interns and campus recruits a year despite the automation. Its Q2 2026 earnings deck puts numbers on the programme: about 200,000 active users of general-purpose AI tools, 114 live generative-AI use cases of which 34 are fully deployed, about 19,000 developers using coding assistance with productivity up more than 20%, and more than 600,000 AI training courses completed. The 2025 10-K flags expanded use of 'autonomous AI agents' and reliance on third-party AI models as risks.
Lead bank
Bank of America, N.A.
Assets (lead bank, Mar 31, 2026)
$2.67 trillion
Charter
National bank (OCC)
Headquarters
Charlotte, NC
Flagship platform
Erica (and EricaAssist)
AI leadership
Hari Gopalkrishnan · Nikki Katz · Kevin Milsom · Brian Moynihan · Dean Athanasia · Jim DeMare · Abbey Novack
- Technology budget of $13 billion in 2025, with $4 billion set aside for new technology including AI.
- Erica: launched 2018; nearly 50 million users, 3 billion-plus interactions, 58 million a month by August 2025; 20 million regular users and 2 million interactions a day by the January 2026 investor day.
- AI runs in four declared domains — intelligent agents, search and summarisation, content generation, operations and coding — and the bank holds nearly 1,100 AI and machine-learning patents and applications.
- Employees generate more than 400,000 prompts a day; more than 300 AI use cases are approved (Q2 2026 earnings call).
- Advisor tools: an AI meeting journey for 15,000 Merrill and Private Bank employees in the first phase (March 2026); CashPro Forecasting saved corporate clients 250,000 hours in 2025.
- Governance posture is conservative by design: 'zero tolerance for things like hallucinations, bias', per the CTO; the CEO frames AI as a management responsibility, not a technology one.
- Q2 2026 earnings deck: ~200,000 active users generating 400,000-plus prompts a day; 2,000-plus departmental AI templates; 20,000-plus wealth professionals and ~4,000 investment bankers using AI; ~19,000 developers with coding assistance (productivity up 20%-plus); ~5,000 call-centre agents on real-time AI recommendations; 114 live generative-AI use cases, 34 fully deployed.
- AI in coding took 30% out of the development stream in 2025, saving about 2,000 people's worth of work, and Microsoft 365 Copilot is out to 200,000 teammates; the CEO puts direct AI spend at 'several hundred million dollars' (Q4 2025 call).
What is Erica (and EricaAssist)?
The AI virtual assistant launched in 2018 — nearly 50 million users and more than 3 billion interactions by August 2025 — now also runs as EricaAssist, an employee-facing agent that summarises why a client is calling and recommends next steps; the CEO calls it, in effect, a small language model.[1][2][12]
What has BofA done on AI, and when?
- Sep 28, 2026
AskGPS Intelligence Hub and CashPro Payments Insights launch[37]
Global Payments Solutions rolls out Payments Insights, a CashPro feature analysing payment efficiency, cross-border flows and working-capital performance, alongside the AskGPS Intelligence Hub for GPS staff — Intelligent Treasury Management Reviews and Digital Account Schematics that build on the bank's existing AskGPS generative-AI assistant.
- Sep 22, 2026
Principles for AI shopping agents[33]
With NatWest, ING, Capital One, ASB and Commonwealth Bank, the bank warns AI shopping agents raise scam, fraud and data-privacy risks and proposes disclosure when an agent is in a transaction.
- Sep 14, 2026
Moynihan: AI budget to double in 2027[36]
At a Barclays conference, Moynihan says about 140 AI applications are implemented at a cost of $400 million, generating a benefit of $800 million, and that the bank expects to double its AI expense budget next year; headcount has eased from 213,000 to 209,000 through attrition, 'we're not laying off anybody'.
- Sep 14, 2026
Moynihan on agent risk: 'we just don't do that'[19]
After a weekend of public alarm over autonomous AI agents, the CEO says the bank keeps agents under control rather than 'left to operate'.
- Sep 3, 2026
Senior bankers assigned to the 'AI ecosystem'[32]
Gregg Nabhan, Jill Schwartz and Ray Wood work across industry groups to cover companies financing and building around AI, per an internal memo.
- Jul 21, 2026
EricaAssist gets generative AI[2]
Employee-facing agent summarises the call reason and recommends next steps; average call time falls by nearly a minute.
- Jul 17, 2026
New heads of digital assets and AI transformation[18]
Kevin Milsom named head of platforms AI transformation.
- Jul 16, 2026
Moynihan on Mythos: 'a big change'[31]
The CEO joins bank chiefs warning that frontier models such as Anthropic's Mythos change how fast system vulnerabilities must be fixed.
- Jul 15, 2026
Q2 call: 400,000 prompts a day, 300+ use cases[14]
Executives attribute revenue and efficiency improvements to AI; every approved use case has 'good economics'.
- Jul 14, 2026
- Jun 8, 2026
Moynihan: 'the data has to be perfect'[15]
The CEO emphasises model accuracy over efficiency and cost savings.
- Jun 3, 2026
4,000 interns and campus hires despite AI[10]
2,000 full-time recruits and 2,000 internships, a signal on entry-level roles.
- Apr 15, 2026
Q1 2026 call: all 200,000 teammates have AI access[26]
Moynihan cites 90 AI installations working and says the bank will be 'more agentic versus prompt' as its 90,000-strong sales force moves to agent tools.
- Mar 26, 2026
- Mar 10, 2026
30 billion digital client interactions in 2025[29]
20.6 million users interacted with Erica nearly 700 million times in 2025; cumulative Erica interactions passed 3.2 billion.
- Feb 25, 2026
2025 10-K: autonomous AI agents and third-party models as risks[20]
The annual report says expanded use of AI, 'including emerging third-party AI services and autonomous AI agents', may bring data risk, unpredictable system interactions and AI failure, and notes internal AI governance frameworks.
- Jan 22, 2026
Erica 'does the work of 11,000 people'[12]
Investor-day disclosure: 20 million regular users, 2 million interactions a day.
- Jan 14, 2026
Q4 2025 call: coding 30% faster, Copilot for 200,000[25]
Moynihan says AI took 30% out of the coding stream for the bank's 18,000 coders, saving about 2,000 people, that Microsoft 365 Copilot is out to 200,000 teammates, and that direct AI spend is 'several hundred million dollars'.
- Nov 17, 2025
AI is boosting bankers' productivity and revenue[9]
The CTIO says the bank will spend billions on AI to raise banker productivity and bring in revenue.
- Oct 27, 2025
CashPro Chat usage at a record[30]
Client use of the AI-driven chat up 21% year on year, with nearly 70% of corporate clients using it; 43% containment rate in Q3 2025.
- Oct 15, 2025
Q3 2025 call: headcount down from 285,000 to 213,000[24]
Moynihan credits applied technology, including AI, for 15 years of headcount reduction and says Erica already handles millions of interactions a day, while stressing precise implementation in a regulated business.
- Sep 30, 2025
CashPro gets a generative-AI assistant[4]
The bank restates its four AI domains: intelligent agents, search and summarisation, content generation, operations and coding.
- Sep 12, 2025
Co-presidents named, AI tools in their brief[23]
Dean Athanasia and Jim DeMare become co-presidents; the CEO lists 'the continued expansion of AI-based tools and innovation for our clients' among the company-wide efforts they will drive.
- Aug 20, 2025
$13 billion tech agenda, $4 billion for new capabilities[8]
New CTIO Gopalkrishnan tells the Wall Street Journal to expect a steady stream of AI releases, doubling down on high-value use cases.
- Aug 1, 2025
Erica passes 3 billion interactions[1]
Nearly 50 million users since launch; more than 58 million interactions a month.
- Jul 16, 2025
Q2 2025 deck maps AI across four domains[22]
Erica for Employees used by more than 90% of teammates, cutting service-desk calls by about half; an AI assistant for about 17,000 developers; more than 50 AI-enabled fraud-detection models; about 1,400 AI and machine-learning patents granted and pending.
- Apr 1, 2025
Workforce AI adoption: 1 million training simulations[5]
The Academy uses AI conversation simulators for coaching; employees completed more than a million simulations in a year.
- Oct 1, 2024
AI and ML patents up 94% since 2022[6]
Nearly 1,100 AI and machine-learning patents and pending applications.
- Jun 1, 2018
Erica launches[1]
The AI-driven virtual financial assistant that the bank calls a central gateway to serving clients.
Where does BofA use AI today?
| System | What it does | Status | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erica[12] | Consumer virtual assistant; 2 million interactions a day. | In production | Customer-facing chatbots |
| EricaAssist and employee tools[2][14] | Human-assisted AI agent for customer-service staff; Merrill advisor meeting journey; 400,000 prompts a day across the workforce. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| CashPro Forecasting and Data Intelligence[7] | AI cash forecasting for corporate clients; 3,000 companies, 250,000 hours saved in 2025. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| The Academy simulators[5] | AI conversation simulators for employee coaching. | In production | AI governance (general) |
| Frontier-model testing[11] | Part of Anthropic's Glasswing programme from the start; testing Mythos internally, per Reuters sources. | Pilot | Cybersecurity |
| AI-assisted software development[21][25] | About 19,000 developers use real-time coding assistance, raising productivity by more than 20%; AI took 30% out of the coding stream in 2025. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| AI fraud-detection models[22] | More than 50 AI-enabled fraud-detection models designed to detect fraudulent activity more quickly, accurately and at scale. | In production | Fraud detection |
| CashPro Chat for corporate clients[30][28] | AI-driven chat used by nearly 70% of corporate clients for account information, transaction tracking and service resolution, with a 43% containment rate in Q3 2025; the Q2 2026 earnings release counts 40,100 CashPro Chat interactions supported by Erica technology. | In production | Customer-facing chatbots |
| AI risk factors and model governance[20] | The 10-K covers autonomous AI agents, third-party AI models with limited visibility into training data, inaccurate outputs and bias, and says models may be ineffective if AI applications 'are not developed and trained properly or contain biases'. | In production | Model risk management |
| AskGPS Intelligence Hub and Payments Insights[37] | CashPro's Payments Insights analyses payment efficiency, cross-border flows and working-capital performance for corporate clients; the AskGPS Intelligence Hub gives Global Payments Solutions staff Intelligent Treasury Management Reviews and Digital Account Schematics built on the bank's AskGPS generative-AI assistant. | Rolling out | Generative & agentic AI |
| Behavioural biometrics (BioCatch)[35] | American Banker (March 2026) names Bank of America among banks using BioCatch, whose technology reads how a user logs in, the device, the angle the phone is held at, keystrokes and past behaviour to decide whether the user is a real customer, a fraudster or a bot; Bank of America has not described its deployment. | In production | Fraud detection |
Use-case links open the tracker's rules-by-use-case matrix: which documents govern each system type.
Treasury tools compared across banks: AI in bank treasury management.
Which AI vendors and fintechs does BofA work with?
| Company | What BofA uses it for | Status | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| BioCatch | Behavioral biometrics to tell genuine customers from fraudsters and bots in digital banking sessions (named as a user by American Banker, March 2026). | In production | Fraud detection |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft 365 Copilot rolled out to a total of 200,000 teammates, per the CEO on the Q4 2025 earnings call. | In production | Enterprise AI assistants |
| Claude (Anthropic) | Part of Project Glasswing and testing Mythos internally, according to a Reuters source. | Pilot | Enterprise AI assistants |
Each vendor and fintech page cites the source for the relationship, and vendor pages list products, pricing and other bank customers. Compare AI tools for banks by category, or read the fintech and neobank AI dossiers.
What has BofA disclosed in numbers?
| Metric | Value | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Technology budget | $13 billion, of which $4 billion for new technology[8][9] | Aug 20, 2025 |
| Erica interactions | 3 billion+ cumulative; 2 million a day[1][12] | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Employee prompts | 400,000+ a day[14] | Jul 15, 2026 |
| Approved AI use cases | 300+[14] | Jul 15, 2026 |
| AI/ML patents and applications | ≈ 1,100[6] | Oct 1, 2024 |
| Digital share of client interactions | 94%[17] | Jun 1, 2026 |
| Active users of general-purpose AI tools | ~200,000[21] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Generative-AI use cases | 114 live, 34 fully deployed[21][27] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Developers using AI coding assistance | ~19,000; productivity up more than 20%[21] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| AI training courses completed | 600,000+[21] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Active Erica users | 24 million+[27] | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Direct AI spend (CEO estimate) | several hundred million dollars[25] | Jan 14, 2026 |
| Implemented AI applications | ≈ 140, costing $400 million, generating $800 million in benefit[36] | Sep 14, 2026 |
| AI expense budget, 2027 plan | expected to double versus 2026[36] | Sep 14, 2026 |
“More than 300 AI use cases, all of which have good economics.”[14]
Brian Moynihan · Chairman and CEO · Jul 15, 2026
“We have zero tolerance for things like hallucinations, bias.”[16]
Hari Gopalkrishnan · CTIO · Jun 1, 2026
“This weekend was a lot about the risk in AI, and that largely is around agents just left to operate. We just don't do that.”[19]
Brian Moynihan · Chairman and CEO · Sep 14, 2026
“Our associates are generating more than 400,000 prompts a day, and as of last week, we had over 300 AI use cases approved, all of which have good economics, of which 114 are live generative AI use cases.”[27]
Brian Moynihan · Chair and CEO · Jul 14, 2026
“It is a big change in the amount of work that will have to go on and the pace of which these tools will affect vulnerabilities in your systems, and how fast you have to take care of that.”[31]
Brian Moynihan · Chair and CEO · Jul 16, 2026
“We're not laying off anybody. We don't have to do that.”[36]
Brian Moynihan · Chair and CEO · Sep 14, 2026
Who runs AI at BofA?
Hari GopalkrishnanLinkedIn ↗
Nikki KatzLinkedIn ↗
Head of Digital[17]
Kevin Milsom
Head of Platforms AI Transformation[18]
Dean Athanasia
Co-President (company-wide initiatives including the expansion of AI-based tools)[23]
Jim DeMare
Co-President (company-wide initiatives including the expansion of AI-based tools)[23]
Abbey Novack
CashPro Service Product Executive, Global Payments Solutions[30]
What AI roles is BofA hiring for?
12 open AI-related postings on BofA's careers site as of Oct 1, 2026. A snapshot of current openings, not a source: postings close.
Senior Principal Engineer (Generative AI Strategy)
New York · posted Sep 29, 2026
New York
Senior Architect – AI Solution Architecture
Charlotte (+2 more) · posted Sep 18, 2026
AI Security Standards Architect
Washington (+2 more) · posted Sep 23, 2026
Sr Data Architect - AI Controls, Governance & Capabilities
Charlotte · posted Sep 29, 2026
Which regulators govern BofA's AI?
| Authority | Why it matters here | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| OCC | National bank; revised model risk guidance in force, with generative AI governed outside it. | OCC Bulletin 2026-13 |
| CFPB | Erica is the largest consumer bank chatbot in the US — the CFPB's chatbot spotlight names the bank by user count. | CFPB Chatbots in Consumer Finance (issue spotlight, 2023) ECOA / Regulation B adverse action (15 U.S.C. 1691(d); 12 CFR 1002.9) |
| Federal Reserve | Holding-company supervisor; third-party guidance governs the models behind EricaAssist and advisor tools. | SR 26-2 SR 23-4 |
| FSB | G-SIB; the FSB's sound practices on human oversight and data governance map onto the bank's stated posture. | FSB AI sound practices consultation (June 2026) |
Side by side: SR 11-7 vs SR 26-2 · OCC vs CFPB on AI lending · PRA SS1/23 vs SR 26-2 · all comparisons.
What does the public record suggest about BofA's AI strategy?
Analysis by BankingNewsAI from the sources cited on this page. Observations, not advice.
01
A decade of one assistant is the moat
Erica's seven years of interaction data is what makes EricaAssist and the advisor tools credible quickly. Competitors launching gen-AI chatbots in 2026 start without that corpus.
02
Accuracy-first is a regulatory posture as much as an engineering one
'Zero tolerance for hallucinations' and 'the data has to be perfect' are the language of UDAAP and adverse-action risk. Expect the bank to keep customer-facing generative AI narrower than peers.
03
The metrics to watch are hours and interactions, not headcount
The bank reports 250,000 client hours saved and calls handled, and keeps hiring at the entry level. If that changes, the strategy has changed.
04
Corporate treasury is the quiet AI product line
CashPro Forecasting and Data Intelligence are AI products sold to 3,000-plus corporate clients — a revenue line, not a cost line.
- How Bank of America is using AI to reinvent the customer experience
- Bank of America: Investors Overplay AI, Underestimate Consum…
- Bank of America and S&P Global on why AI success starts with governance and data
- AI in regulated industries: BofA and S&P on the huge gains to be had, and the risks of rushing in
- Can AI Agents Crack Bank of America’s $2 Trillion Deposit Moat? Here’s the Evidence So Far
What is Erica at Bank of America?
Erica is Bank of America's AI virtual financial assistant, launched in 2018. By August 2025 it had assisted nearly 50 million users and passed 3 billion interactions; by the January 2026 investor day it handled 2 million interactions a day, which the bank says is the work of 11,000 people. EricaAssist is the employee-facing version that supports customer-service staff during calls.
How much does Bank of America spend on technology and AI?
About $13 billion a year on technology in 2025, of which $4 billion was set aside for new capabilities including AI, according to the bank's CTIO in the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
How many Bank of America employees use AI?
About 200,000 teammates were active users of general-purpose AI productivity tools at the end of June 2026, generating more than 400,000 prompts a day, according to the Q2 2026 earnings presentation. The bank reported more than 300 approved AI and machine-learning use cases, 114 live generative-AI use cases with 34 fully deployed, and more than 600,000 AI training courses completed.
- A Decade of AI Innovation: BofA's Virtual Assistant Erica Surpasses 3 Billion Client Interactions
- Bank of America Enhances EricaAssist with Generative AI
- Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank Launch AI-Powered Meeting Journey
- BofA's New GenAI Assistant Transforms Global Payments Solutions
- AI Adoption by BofA's Global Workforce Improves Productivity, Client Service
- AI Patents at BofA Increase 94% Since 2022
- BofA's AI Solution CashPro Forecasting Helps Clients Navigate Year of Volatility
- The Man Behind Bank of America's $13 Billion Tech Agenda
- BofA says AI is boosting bankers' productivity, revenue
- Bank of America to hire interns, campus recruits despite AI threat
- Banking industry scrambles for Anthropic's Mythos as global regulators review risks
- How Bank of America's Erica does the work of 11,000 people
- Bank of America gives Merrill Lynch an AI makeover
- Bank of America's Moynihan touts 'good economics' of AI
- 'The data has to be perfect': BofA CEO Moynihan on AI
- Bank of America's CTO champions a disciplined approach to AI
- Nikki Katz's 'Big Year of Scale' at Bank of America
- BofA Promotes Leaders to Drive Adoption of Crypto, AI Technology
- BofA and PNC respond to rising AI fears
- Bank of America Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results presentation (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2)
- Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results presentation (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2)
- Bank of America Announces Senior Leadership Changes (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
- Bank of America Corp (BAC) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Highlights
- BofA (BAC) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
- BofA (BAC) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- Bank of America (BAC) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- Bank of America Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)
- BofA AI and Digital Innovations Fuel 30 Billion Client Interactions
- BofA's AI-Driven CashPro Chat and Transaction Search Capabilities Reach Record Usage by Corporate Clients
- BofA's Moynihan Joins Bank CEOs Warning About Mythos AI Risks
- BofA Taps Senior Bankers to Sharpen Focus On 'AI Ecosystem'
- Banks warn AI shopping bots raise scam, fraud and data-privacy risks
- Banks report operational changes driven by AI adoption
- Agentic AI shopping bots are coming. Banks need to be ready
- Bank of America plans to double AI budget next year
- BofA Debuts Intelligence Tools for CashPro Clients and GPS Staff
When BofA moves on AI, you'll read it here first.
when one of the banks we cover moves on AI, it is in the next morning's brief · six sourced stories · 7 am ET · free
plus every tracker, bank and agent page update, the morning after · leave any morning