Nubank, Itau, Bradesco and Banco do Brasil Top the First AI Maturity Ranking Among Latin American Banks
The first Evident AI Index for Latin American banks, released on July 21, 2026, placed Nubank, Itau Unibanco, Bradesco and Banco do Brasil in the top four spots among the 20 largest regional banks evaluated. Brazil alone accounts for seven of the 20 institutions analyzed, and Nubank leads with the highest concentration of AI specialists on staff among every bank evaluated.
A First Snapshot of Latin American Banking AI
Evident Insights released the first edition of the Evident AI Index for Latin American banks on July 21, 2026, a ranking that scores the region's 20 largest banks across more than 60 indicators grouped into four pillars: Talent, Innovation, Leadership and Transparency. The methodology relies only on public data, which makes the index comparable across countries and institutions of different sizes.
Brazil Dominates the Top Four
Nubank, Itau Unibanco, Bradesco and Banco do Brasil occupy, respectively, the top four spots in the ranking, according to reporting from Diario do Grande ABC, Rio Times and E-Commerce Brasil. In total, Brazil accounts for seven of the 20 institutions evaluated in the index, a concentration that reflects the size of Brazil's banking market and the sector's relatively mature technology investment.
Why Nubank Came Out on Top
Nubank stands out for having one of the highest concentrations of AI specialized professionals among all banks evaluated: more than 5% of the digital bank's workforce works in technology related roles, roughly three times above the regional average for other banks, according to the index's data.
Itau and Bradesco, Each With Its Own Edge
Itau Unibanco has the largest absolute number of AI professionals among the evaluated banks and also stands out for mobilizing significant investment in governance and control mechanisms aimed at responsible AI use. Bradesco, meanwhile, strengthened internal technological capabilities and expanded AI use through initiatives like the Bridge platform and the BIA assistants, with AI supported credit analysis contributing more than R$1 billion in additional revenue for the bank.
A Technical Event Reinforces the Picture
The ranking lands the same week TDC Floripa 2026 brought together more than 22 companies, including Mercado Livre, Grupo Boticario, Nubank, Google, AWS, Oracle, Itau, Vivo, iFood, PagBank, Sicredi, QuintoAndar, Thoughtworks and John Deere, to share experiences from AI projects already in production, a sign that AI adoption in Brazil has moved past the pilot stage across several sectors, not just banking.
Why This Matters for Brazilian Agencies and SMBs
The Evident AI Index result works as a competitive benchmark reference: the country's largest banks already treat AI as a strategic area with a dedicated team, formal governance and measurable financial results, not as an isolated innovation experiment. For agencies selling AI automation and customer service projects to clients of any size in Brazil, pointing out that the Brazilian banking sector leads Latin America in AI maturity is a concrete sales argument: it reinforces that investing in applied AI has stopped being a bet and become established market practice among the country's largest institutions.