The banking sector in Latin America has shown a particular performance recently, marked by strong economic cycles, high inflation, and the emergence of neobanks, led by Brazil, which are driving regional financial inclusion projected to grow between 5% and 6% until 2030. A BCG report highlights that AI agents—autonomous systems combining generative and predictive AI—are already generating tangible results by executing workflows in areas like compliance, customer service, and risk management at a near-zero marginal cost. These agents have improved collection performance, reducing costs by 30-40%, and reconfiguring the economic model of retail banking. Although they were just a mention a year ago, AI agents now represent 17% of the value generated by AI across all industries. The report also provides a strategic roadmap for sector leaders looking to move beyond pilot programs to a full operational reinvention. The banking sector is positioned with a relatively advanced maturity in AI adoption, surpassing the cross-industry average and being surpassed only by the Software and Telecommunications industries. Slowing Growth and the Impact of AI Agents Despite global retail banking revenues growing at a 7.2% annual rate between 2019 and 2024, a marked slowdown is anticipated, with growth projected to slow to just a 4.2% annual rate by 2029. The report's findings underscore AI's ability to help financial institutions mitigate margin compression and rising operating costs, as well as counter the competitive risk of delaying digital transformation. The conclusions are derived from the BCG publication, "From Branches to Bots: Will AI Transform Retail Banking," which addresses the characteristics that define an "AI-First" retail bank and emphasizes the role of agentic AI as a crucial value enabler. The greatest gains are achieved when banks scale AI to transform end-to-end workflows and introduce new business models. BCG warns that banks that delay adoption risk being overtaken by faster competitors and could become "structurally irrelevant" as AI leaders establish a new pace of innovation. The report identifies three stages of AI maturity: Deploy, Reconfigure, and Invent. Only 56% of investment is directed toward the high-impact stages: "Reconfigure" and "Invent" (29%), where new business models are created. To lead in the age of AI, banks must build robust data foundations, scale capabilities, and integrate strong governance, adopting the approach with boldness and speed. Six characteristics of an "AI-First" bank According to the BCG report, AI-first banks will redefine market standards based on six main characteristics: 1. Autonomous Operations: Agentic AI will oversee and execute end-to-end workflows in key areas, driving a near-zero marginal cost at scale, always within clear policy frameworks and human oversight. 2. Hyper-Personalized Customer Interaction: The AI agent acts as a virtual branch manager, continuously anticipating the customer's financial needs and suggesting, or even executing with authorization, improvements in real-time. 3. Holistic and Individualized Financial Solutions: Traditional products will be replaced by adaptive financial solutions that adjust in real-time to the customer's behavior and immediate needs. 4. Real-Time Risk and Capital Allocation: AI agents will dynamically manage balance sheets, moving liquidity, financing, and risk-weighted assets (RWAs) between customers, portfolios, and geographies almost instantaneously. 5. Optimized Human Core (Lean): Organizations will reduce their workforce and costs but expand their reach, allowing human staff to focus on strategy, governance, creativity, and relationships. 6. Invisible and Integrated Interfaces: Payment, credit, and savings services will be seamlessly integrated into the customer's everyday ecosystems and applications (such as e-commerce, mobile, and social media). The result of this transition, according to BCG's analysis, is a complete redefinition of the banking model that goes far beyond mere cost efficiency. The transition to an "AI-First" model is established as a strategic imperative.
