“AI is the point of no return in collections, it eliminates most traditional costs.”

A conversation with Flaviana Sallowicz, Head of Collections at Banco BV, on moving early in AI

Flaviana Sallowicz has spent more than 25 years in collections in Brazil, the last three of them at Banco BV. For her, bringing AI into collections isn't a trend to test cautiously. It's a one-way door.

"Using AI in the financial market is a path with no return, especially on the economics. The cost base in traditional collections is huge, and AI takes most of it away."

Why a mid-sized bank moved first

Banco BV was one of the earliest adopters of agentic AI in Brazil and Flaviana is candid about why. As a mid-sized bank competing against the country's giants, it doesn't enjoy the same low cost of funds, which makes efficiency a matter of survival rather than preference. That pressure, plus a leaner structure that lets it adopt new technology quickly, made moving first the logical choice rather than the risky one.

"As a medium-sized bank, our cost of funds isn't as cheap as the big banks'. We needed a more efficient cost base and that's what pushed us to be a first mover."

The collections agent built with Domu became Banco BV's first major agentic-AI initiative, and, in Flaviana's words, a benchmark both inside the bank and for the Brazilian market; a rare example of agentic AI in a live, client-facing process.

Building it to be trusted

Collections is one of the most sensitive conversations a bank ever has, and Flaviana treated it that way. The rollout came wrapped in guardrails, so much so that Banco BV's Responsible AI function grew directly out of this project.

"Collecting is a stressful moment for the customer. We built a lot of guardrails - in fact, our Responsible AI area was created out of this collections experience."

We ask her what actually keeps financial executives up at night, and the answer is immediate: hallucination. An agent that invents a 100% discount, or drifts into language it should never touch. Her response wasn't to avoid AI, but to obsess over the controls around it and, so far, the fear has stayed hypothetical.

"The biggest fear for any financial executive today is hallucination - an agent offering a 100% discount, or saying something it never should. So we focus intensely on the Risk Mitigation piece which with Domu, it has been easy to handle and we simply haven't seen those problems."

One finding genuinely surprised her and comes with its own responsibility: most of their customers don’t even realize they’re talking to an AI agent.

Making it work

Flaviana frames the real work in three pillars. The first was technology, cutting the latency between exchanges, which early on made conversations feel slow. The second was continuous tuning: listening to real collection calls and adjusting in partnership with Domu, like the moment they noticed the agent was taking too long to offer a renegotiation option and fixed it mid-flight. The third she calls "operational intelligence" - knowing the best time to call, the best number, and the best channel to actually reach each customer.

Cost down, performance held

For Flaviana, the test was never just efficiency. Cheaper only counts if the results hold.

"In less than four months we had the full benefit of AI; lower cost, while maintaining the same performance as our traditional human and agency operations. In collections, it's not only about efficiency. It's about performance."

Her advice to other leaders in Brazil weighing the same move is refreshingly blunt.

"Be fast. Don't be afraid. You won't have all the answers so start anyway. The technology evolves together with you, and it's the future."

And on the relationship itself, she's clear it's a two-way build.

"For me it's a pleasure to have you as a partner. It's a real partnership and be able to evolve together."

About Banco BV

Banco BV is one of Brazil's largest privately held banks, with a strong presence in consumer and vehicle financing. It has positioned itself as an early adopter of AI in the Brazilian financial market.

About Domu

Domu is a voice AI platform built for regulated, high-volume interactions. Domu's agents handle servicing, collections, and customer communication autonomously inside client policy, with full traceability on every conversation, so financial institutions can scale AI without giving up compliance or control.