AI adoption and regulation in Brazil

Artificial intelligence is becoming deeply integrated into professional workflows in Brazil, particularly within social media management. A study of over 4,000 practitioners found that 83% use AI in their daily routines and 84% utilize it for campaign ideation, emphasizing the importance of prompt engineering to ensure high-quality outputs.

Parallel to this professional adoption, the Brazilian federal government has moved to regulate AI in consumer-facing sectors. Decree No. 13.135/2026, effective November 2, establishes rules for Consumer Service (SAC) operations. While the decree permits the use of automated systems for screening and request resolution, it mandates that consumers must have the option for real-time assistance from a human being to ensure digital channels do not impede access to service.

The new regulations mandate human assistance from 8:00 to 20:00 daily via telephone and electronic channels. They also set a maximum waiting time of 20 seconds for at least 80% of calls and require a seven-day deadline for responding to complaints. These rules apply to providers of products and services regulated by the federal Executive Power, such as telecommunications, electricity, supplementary health, and civil aviation, as well as digital banks and fintechs supervised by the Central Bank. The measure follows research indicating that 51% of consumers prefer human interaction, with 62% citing the inability of automated systems to solve complex problems as a reason for rejecting AI.

In the advertising sector, new initiatives are leveraging AI to expand market reach and efficiency. Nizan Guanaes is launching an AI-driven project intended to democratize advertising access for small and medium-sized businesses in smaller cities by providing simple tools that avoid industry jargon. Additionally, the startup The Cursed Company is integrating AI into audiovisual production workflows to reduce the turnaround time for corporate videos and campaigns from approximately one month to just a few days.