Bank of America prioritizes bigger AI initiatives, as annual spending on new tech increased by 44% over the past decade

Core Insights - Bank of America has significantly increased its annual spending on strategic technology initiatives, reaching $4 billion in 2025, a 44% increase over the past decade [1] - The company has made a total of $118 billion in technology investments over the last ten years, with a focus on leveraging technology across all business lines [2][3] - The banking sector is rapidly adopting generative AI, with projections indicating it could create up to $340 billion in annual value for the industry [6] Investment Strategy - Hari Gopalkrishnan, the newly appointed chief technology and information officer, is leading the strategic technology investments at Bank of America [1] - The company’s total technology spending has reached $13 billion annually, with $4 billion specifically allocated for strategic growth initiatives [3] AI Implementation - The AI virtual assistant, Erica, has achieved over three billion client interactions since its launch in 2018, averaging more than 58 million interactions per month [4] - An internal version of Erica for employees has been adopted by over 90% of Bank of America's 213,000 global workforce, resulting in a 50% reduction in IT service desk calls [5] Industry Trends - The banking sector is embracing generative AI technologies more rapidly than other sectors, focusing on applications such as AI-enabled chatbots and fraud monitoring [6]