Banco Inter reduces operational workload and accelerates go-to-market with Microsoft Azure AI

Inter is a financial app and one of the leading fintechs in Brazil. The bank has been in the market for 29 years, but it became a pioneer in the fintech segment in 2015, when it became the first institution to launch a 100% digital, no-fee account. 

The organization was facing challenges to manage and update its banking systems. The need for optimization became crucial as the volume of accounts and transactions grew rapidly. In response, Inter decided to adopt AI solutions, which led to significant gains in efficiency and productivity.

Context and challenges

With a business model that relies on an array of third party systems, Inter applies patches and updates for approximately 40 different modules on a regular basis. A dedicated team was in charge of manually managing those updates, while assessing the impact of each update on system performance.

Guilherme Aparecido Batista, Executive IT Manager at Inter, described the initial challenge: “We used to receive update packages almost on daily basis, so we had to analyze their impact individually, in a process that involved several repetitive steps, such as collecting performance metrics before and after each package was installed. Every millisecond was crucial, especially considering the potential impact on more than 30 million account holders.”

Manual process

The process was labor-intensive and not scalable. Leonardo Pereira Ferretti, another Executive IT Manager at Inter, pointed out that the repetitive tasks and dependence on multiple teams gave rise to dissatisfaction among analysts: “The dreary work of manually evaluating each update was not only time-consuming, but it also affected the team's morale.”

The solution: Implementing Microsoft AI

To address these challenges, Inter has taken an innovative approach when implementing AI solutions. They kicked-off the project with a proof of concept (PoC) to automate the analysis of update packages.

A robust platform

The Microsoft Azure tools used in the project were Microsoft Azure AI Infrastructure and Microsoft Azure AI Services, to provide the scalable infrastructure foundation; and Microsoft SQL Server, to manage and optimize data storage.

Samara de Souza Vilefort, IT Analyst at Inter, highlighted the efficiency of the automated process: “Because we implemented AI to validate the execution plan for update packages, the time required to analyze their impact was significantly reduced.”

Process automation

The solution automated the reading and interpretation of update documents, which could be up to 80 pages long, summarizing critical information in a few lines. Leonardo Ferretti explained: “AI analyzes the document, identifies changes in the impacted systems, and creates summaries that streamlines decision-making by the analytics team.”

In addition, the solution can run scripts automatically and compares the results of performance tests run before and after updates, according to the execution plan for Database Procedures, thus eliminating the need for manual interventions. AI was also able to identify potentially critical issues and suggest fixes, speeding up the process of reviewing and implementing updates.

Benefits achieved

The main benefit was time savings. The time required to analyze and install an update was reduced by 70%, as Guilherme Batista pointed out: “We moved from a process that used to take weeks to only a few hours, freeing up our team to focus on more strategic tasks.”

Some numbers exemplify the productivity boost for Inter teams. The process to install small release packages that used to take 25 hours, was cut short to five hours with AI. Medium-size releases are now installed in 15 hours, instead of 50, while large scale releases went down from 87.5 hours to 25 hours.

The number of releases that the team of 30 IT analysts can process on a monthly basis has also increased. Small releases jumped by 266%; medium releases by 200%; large ones increased by 395%.

Automation has also enhanced productivity by enabling new employees, even those that lack technical expertise, to be quickly onboarded into the process. Edgard Taylor Dias Vieira, IT Analyst at Inter, added: “The tool allows even an intern to carry out analysis effectively, without requiring advanced technical knowledge.”

Automation of repetitive processes also increased team satisfaction, as Leonardo Ferretti pointed out: “Eliminating monotonous and repetitive tasks had a positive impact on team morale and allowed them to focus on more exciting and intricate activities.”

Future and expansion

Based on such positive results, Inter plans to expand the use of AI to other areas. Gustavo Cunha Borges, Head of Financial Technology at Inter, mentioned: “We're now exploring how AI can be used for continuous improvement, from inbound to deployment to rollback, in addition to incorporating contextual insights for better informed decisions.”

Leonardo Ferretti added that the goal is to focus on the context of the analyses performed, so that AI can learn from each analysis and provide increasingly accurate and valuable suggestions.

Conclusion

The implementation of AI solutions resulted in a significant transformation in system update management at Inter. With 70% savings in time, 280% increase in productivity, and rising team satisfaction, Banco Inter has demonstrated how technology can be a powerful catalyst for innovation and operational efficiency. The partnership with Microsoft continues to be a key element for the bank’s continuous growth and success in today's competitive financial market landscape.