Brazil’s banking sector plans to invest nearly BRL3bn ($583mn) in artificial intelligence, analytics and big data in 2026, an 8% increase from the previous year, banking federation Febraban said.

The investment forms part of a broader technology budget of about BRL50bn ($9.7bn), according to a Deloitte survey released during the Febraban Tech 2026 event in São Paulo, Xinhua reported.

Banks expect AI spending to improve operational processes, data analysis, customer service and fraud prevention. Some 92% of institutions surveyed identified faster completion of routine tasks as AI’s main benefit.

Investment in cloud infrastructure is expected to reach BRL3.9bn, up 30% from 2025. Spending on training professionals in AI and generative AI is projected to rise 31% to BRL29.4mn.

The sector is also expanding its technology workforce, with 42% of banks planning to increase IT staffing by an average of 22%. Demand is expected to focus on software developers, AI and data engineers, enterprise architects and DevOps specialists.