In recent years, Brazilian entrepreneurship has undergone strong expansion. Driven by the search for autonomy and new opportunities, millions of people have decided to start their own businesses, in a movement that has changed the country's economic landscape.
The advancement, in fact, goes beyond the growth in the number of CNPJs (Brazilian business tax IDs). It reshapes business dynamics, intensifies the need for financial management tools, and increases the demand for more efficient banking services.
It was based on this analysis that Itaú decided to create Itaú Emps, a segment within Itaú's corporate ecosystem that expands its advisory services to small businesses.
The bank realized that, despite representing the majority of companies in the country, this segment still faced barriers to accessing credit, organizing cash flow, and obtaining qualified advisory guidance.
“Emps was created to fill exactly that gap, democratizing access to financial and consulting solutions, previously restricted to larger companies, and placing small entrepreneurs at the center of a complete ecosystem,” says Gabriela Ferreira, director of Itaú Emps.
Based on this premise, Itaú Emps emerged as a way to bring the consulting DNA of Itaú Empresas to a much wider audience, translating this model into a fully digital, simple, and low-cost format, tailored to the real needs of small businesses.
The new segment brings together an account with no monthly fees, unlimited Pix payments, invoice issuance, payments, receipts, sales tracking, and cash flow tools – all integrated into an app designed to simplify the entrepreneur's daily life.
The big difference, however, lies in the use of generative artificial intelligence, which functions as a highly effective digital advisor. "It's an agent capable of understanding the company's financial behavior, interpreting income and expense data, and transforming that information into practical recommendations, using simple and natural language," says Gabriela.
The system operates on tens of petabytes of proprietary data accumulated by Itaú Unibanco over decades, reflecting the financial trajectory of millions of clients and the real behavior of the Brazilian market.
The result is something rare in the financial system: the possibility of scaling a consulting experience to the vast audience of small entrepreneurs.
In other words, Itaú Empresas' customer service is now being replicated through technology for millions of businesses, 24 hours a day.
Itaú Emps emerged as a way to bring the consulting DNA of Itaú Empresas to a much wider audience, translating this model into a fully digital, simple, and low-cost format, tailored to the real needs of small businesses.
“When entrepreneurs need human assistance, the support is quick and efficient, with an average wait time of around 30 seconds,” emphasizes the director of Itaú Emps. “Thus, the client has autonomy, but is not alone.”
Since its launch, Itaú Emps has shown that its proposition has found immediate acceptance. In the first months of operation, the segment registered accelerated growth in account openings and recurring use of the app.
Engagement is also noteworthy: more than half of the user base accesses the app daily, and interactions with the AI assistant have exceeded internal projections. The primary account indicator – customers who use Itaú as their primary account – is above expectations.
“More than growth in subscriber base, the focus is on the quality of the relationship. Indicators show that the model has found its product-market fit and is ready to expand,” says Gabriela.
In addition to its advisory services, Itaú Emps offers essential products for early-stage companies, such as overdraft facilities, business credit cards, and financing.
One of the highlights is access to Pronampe, a fundamental line of credit for micro and small businesses. Although it is an attractive financing option, its application process is often complex.
At Itaú Emps, the process has been simplified: entrepreneurs find real-time guidance to update data, simulate scenarios, and understand the conditions before finalizing the transaction – all made possible by generative AI.
The expansion of Itaú Emps is progressing on two fronts. The first is broadening the target audience: account opening is already available for companies with single or multiple partners and, starting in 2026, will also include MEIs (Individual Microentrepreneurs) – a step that multiplies the segment's potential reach.
The second focus is on technological improvement. The bank is working to integrate artificial intelligence into its main day-to-day operations – statements, credit, merchant acquiring, cards, and tax obligations – making them faster and smarter.
Gabriela emphasizes that the goal is to eliminate friction, automate time-consuming tasks, and consolidate scattered information, offering the entrepreneur a complete view of the business's financial health.
The strategy is completed with a model that supports the entrepreneur at every stage of their development. At the foundation, Itaú Emps organizes finances, structures the start of operations, and helps the business gain predictability.
As the company grows and its demands become more complex, the transition to Itaú Empresas occurs naturally, where human-centered, consultative service and more structured credit solutions come into play.
In the more advanced stages – when expansion plans, mergers, fundraising, or even an initial public offering (IPO) emerge – the ideal partner becomes Itaú BBA, which completes this journey with access to the capital market and support for different types of operations.