Mila, Quebec AI Institute signed a partnership with Banco do Brasil (BB). The partnership is aimed at BB’s digital acceleration and is part of the organization's initiative to implement Applied Research Centers and develop cutting-edge technologies.
The Bank's presence in one of the most vibrant AI ecosystems in the world will allow collaborative projects involving Mila researchers and BB employees. Through this partnership, events in Brazil and abroad, symposiums, and other training activities will be organized.
According to Jennifer May, Ambassador of Canada to Brazil, the Government of Canada is very enthusiastic about this unprecedented and long-awaited partnership. “Brazil's largest bank joins one of the world's leading artificial intelligence research institutes, Mila, thus opening a new chapter in the commercial relations and partnership in cutting-edge innovation between our countries. Our desire is for a productive, long-term collaboration. We wish you all much success!”
“Our purpose is to deliver more value and convenience to our customers, and AI plays a key role in this process. Through this partnership with Mila, we want to further enhance the quality of our solutions to accelerate the digital transformation of Banco do Brasil and promote research and development solutions using artificial intelligence," highlighted Marcelo Cavalcante, VP of Digital Business and Technology.
“Organizations worldwide can benefit from artificial intelligence, and Mila, the world's largest deep learning research institute, can help them integrate it into their practice," said Stéphane Létourneau, Mila's executive vice president. “This agreement will allow us to explore exciting AI applications with Banco do Brasil, the largest financial institution in Latin America."
The first applied research project will focus on security with BB’s Cyber and Fraud Prevention Unit (UCF). Colleagues from UCF and Ditec – BB’s Board of Technology, in partnership with Mila researchers, will deepen studies on artificial intelligence topics and develop solutions. “We will work on the improvement of AI models in the Bank's cybersecurity domain,” explained Paulo Roberto Fachinetti, Ditec Team Manager.
“The use of Artificial Intelligence must be inherent. It is capable of generating exponential gains in the identification and detection of cyber attacks and increasing our cyber resilience. Thus, we always need to evolve in knowledge and encourage research and collaborative technical projects with the goal of excelling in the development of cybersecurity solutions,” said Rafael Giovanella, UCF’s General manager.
According to Rodrigo Mulinari, BB’s Director of Technology, one of Banco do Brasil's main objectives is to be at the forefront of the most advanced information technologies in the world. One way to do that is to develop close partnerships with the ecosystem formed by fintechs, institutes, and universities in Brazil and abroad. “Partnerships like this one are important in order to develop our ideas and apply the most advanced IT in the solutions out there to make life easier for our customers.”
Banco do Brasil is the first Latin American institution and the first bank in South America to join Canada’s AI ecosystem, which hosts industry leaders such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Samsung, AstraZeneca, Meta and Twitter. “We remain at the forefront of digital solutions, with the purpose of accelerating innovation and the digital transformation process. BB is attentive to the most advanced practices in the IT sector to continue being a reference when it comes to cybersecurity,” explained Paula Teixeira, VP of Internal Controls and Risk Management.
