EVIDENT AI INDEX | BANKS

NUBANK AND ITAÚ LEAD A BRAZILIAN TOP FOUR

Brazil’s Nubank and Itaú Unibanco claim the top two spots in the Evident AI Index for Latin American banks, with Banco Bradesco and Banco de Brasil close behind. 

A BRAVE NU WORLD

Digital challenger, Nubank, takes the #1 spot in three of the four pillars of the Index: Talent, Innovation and Leadership.

Its dominance signals a new era of AI-enabled banking in the region, with an AI-talent density of 5%, three times the average, underscoring a tech-first edge that regional incumbents can’t yet match.

BRAZILIAN BANKS GENERATE MORE USE CASES WITH OUTCOMES

Brazilian banks account for 7 of the 20 banks in the Index (35%), yet over the past two years they have produced nearly half (49%) of use cases with reported outcomes.

A CONSTRAINED REGIONAL TALENT LANDSCAPE, COMPLICATED BY GLOBAL PLAYERS

The 20 Latin American banks collectively employ more than 10 thousand AI professionals between them, competing for  a limited pool of specialized talent – not just with each other, but with other global financial institutions operating in the region.

The local subsidiaries of BBVA and Santander would rank as the region’s third and fourth largest AI workforces.

LATIN AMERICAN BANKS FAVOR "BUY" VS. "BUILD" INNOVATION STRATEGIES

Vendor partnerships remain the preferred approach to accessing frontier capabilities, even as hyperscaler infrastructure becomes more available across the region. 

Innovation strategies favour business oriented R&D, rather than publishing academic papers, to plug gaps.  

REALIZED ROI HAS NOT LADDERED UP TO THE ENTERPRISE LEVEL

Over two-thirds (70%) publish use cases with reported outcomes, and more than half (55%) disclose the total number of use cases in production. Yet none have shared realized or projected ROI across all AI activities - so far.

FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT: A LEADING USE CASE, PARTICULARLY FOR BRAZILIAN BANKS

Financial risk management is an area of high strategic importance throughout the region, against a backdrop of higher inflation, interest-rate volatility and exchange-rate fluctuations that is altering borrower capacity and asset quality.

BRAZILIAN BANKS CHANNEL RESPONSIBLE AI RHETORIC INTO IMPACTFUL INITIATIVES

While government-led AI policy remains patchy across the region, there is still a concerted focus on responsible AI (RAI) activities, with Brazil paving the way. 

16 banks (80%) reference RAI commitments in strategic documents, 10 banks (50%) offer RAI-specific training to employees, and nine banks have published formal RAI principles.