In the competitive benefits market, Flash invests in the "AI voucher".

The change in rules for meal vouchers and food vouchers in Brazil increases competition in the corporate benefits market and may expand the profit margins of companies that manage to operate more efficiently.

This is one of the points highlighted by Ricardo Salem, CEO of Flash, in an interview with Revolução IA , a NeoFeed program about the impact of artificial intelligence on business, with support from Magalu Cloud.

“In a transforming market, the winner is the one who delivers the best product and the best service. Artificial intelligence is fundamental to this,” says Salem.

The debate gained momentum after the courts reinstated the application of the new rules of the Worker's Food Program (PAT), which limit the fees charged by operators and reduce the time for payments to establishments. The decree set a ceiling of 3.6% on the fees charged to restaurants and supermarkets, in addition to requiring greater interoperability in the system.

Today, the Brazilian voucher market moves around R$ 170 billion per year and is dominated by large operators such as Ticket (Edenred), Pluxee (Sodexo), Alelo and VR, which together concentrate about 85% of the market share.

In this scenario, Salem states that technology has become a strategic weapon for gaining efficiency and, above all, profit margin. According to him, Flash has been incorporating artificial intelligence into various areas of its operation, from customer service to data analysis and sales. It's a kind of "AI voucher" that benefits the business.

One example is the use of predictive models to identify customers at risk of cancellation or dissatisfaction. By anticipating these signs, the company can act before losing the account, which has already helped protect around R$ 10 million in gross margin, according to the entrepreneur.

Artificial intelligence is also being used to boost revenue within existing customer bases. In recent years, Flash has expanded its operations, moving beyond simply providing benefits to position itself as a broader platform for managing the employee journey, with products in HR, corporate finance, and expense management.

To accelerate this expansion, the company developed an algorithm that analyzes different attributes of companies already using its benefits and identifies which other products are most likely to be adopted. The tool guides sales teams on where to focus their efforts and has helped increase conversion rates in cross-selling strategies by approximately 40%, according to Salem.

“We believe that artificial intelligence is inseparable from the core business or the product. It is part of the product and the way the customer interacts with it. It's a way to create functionalities that simplify the customer journey and generate more efficiency,” he says.

Another pillar of this strategy was the creation of artificial intelligence agents to automate processes and increase operational efficiency. Flash has already developed around 70 agents, used in activities ranging from customer service to data analysis and support for sales teams.

For Salem, the dissemination of these tools within the company is part of an effort to keep innovation at the heart of the business and gain a competitive advantage over the main incumbents in the benefits market.