Generative AI capabilities added to Bank of America’s EricaAssist, an AI agent built to aid employees in their interactions with customers, now allow it to make recommendations in real time, the bank said.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender said the enhancements will provide personalized guidance within a few seconds, addressing customer needs more quickly.

“It's really about helping our employees better serve the clients and do it more efficiently and effectively,” said Ashley Ross, head of consumer client experience and business transformation at BofA, in an interview. “Anything that makes the engagement smoother for our clients and our associates is a win.”

While Erica is BofA’s customer-facing AI-powered virtual assistant, EricaAssist is used by about 18,000 bank customer service employees as they interact with clients. 

The AI agent runs as a desktop widget on an employee’s computer and works alongside staff, helping them access information in seconds, Ross said. EricaAssist shortens average call times by almost one minute per interaction, according to the bank.

EricaAssist tells an employee why the customer is calling and their tenure at BofA, among other details, and employees can ask the AI agent questions while they help customers.

New generative AI-powered capabilities that are now live “assist them specifically in that moment with what the best next recommendation could be,” said Tom Ellis, chief information officer and head of consumer technology at Bank of America, in an interview. 

That's where the bank expects to see “tangible benefits” in resolution time and customer experience, he added.

Before, customer service employees had to multitask, listening to customers while searching for policies, procedures and next steps, Ellis said. 

Now, “we have more capabilities to understand what's going on in the conversation,” Ellis said, “and then to take that conversation, summarize what's going on, and then make recommendations back.”

BofA plans to add more capabilities to EricaAssist, and the bank incorporates employee feedback in executing those plans, Ross said. 

The $3.5 trillion-asset bank plans to use EricaAssist to support additional servicing scenarios and business lines later this year. The lender spends about $14 billion annually on technology, with about $4 billion of that going toward new initiatives including AI. 

“Giving these advanced capabilities to our associates is now helping Ashley and I think about where we go next with digital,” Ellis said.