BRAX: The Autonomous Agents Project That Transformed Vibra Energia’s Operations
The initial challenge was taking automation from concept to execution
In 2019, Vibra Energia had already conducted process diagnostics and identified automation opportunities, but it had not yet established a consistent implementation approach.
After benchmarking other companies and evaluating different technologies and partners, the company adopted a pragmatic strategy. Rafael Tonassi, Intelligent Automation Specialist at Vibra and project sponsor, recalls the first steps:
"There was already some preliminary work, but the decision was to simplify and start executing. Start small, test quickly, and scale based on results."
It was in this context that BRAX was created. Over seven years, the initiative evolved from isolated automations into a structured operational execution platform powered by autonomous agents.
The name BRAX was inspired by the Lubrax brand and by the concept of being an operational “arm” capable of supporting business areas in process execution.
Organic growth driven by results
The program started with an initial package of 1,000 hours, which was quickly consumed, demonstrating the initiative’s alignment with business needs.
The first area served was Finance, with a focus on Tax, an environment with a high operational workload and strong executive sponsorship.
Without a formal launch, BRAX expanded organically, driven by measurable results.
"BRAX built its own journey based on successful examples," explains Tonassi.
The initiative expanded into areas such as Commercial and Operations, the latter being critical due to the complexity of Vibra’s logistics network and its scale across B2B and B2B2C markets.
Today, the program is widely adopted across the company, with governance based on prioritization according to impact and value generation.
Tangible results and business impact
Today, BRAX has more than 160 autonomous agents active in production and exceeds 400,000 hours returned annually to the business, directly expanding Vibra’s operational capacity.
Among the most relevant use cases are:
The impact goes beyond efficiency: it lies in reducing the latency between demand and execution.
The role of partners throughout the journey
The evolution of BRAX combines internal capabilities and the support of strategic partners.
"At the beginning of the project, we received proposals from large consulting firms, but based on the alignment with what we were looking for, we chose Smarthis. The proximity, flexibility, and ability to deliver quickly were decisive factors in gaining speed and confidence," says Tonassi.
This model enabled the initiative to scale without compromising technical consistency, maintaining delivery speed even as project complexity increased.
Marc Chevallier, Managing Partner at Smarthis, has followed BRAX since its inception and highlights how the partnership evolved over time:
"The journey with Vibra reflects our own evolution: we moved from being only an execution arm to becoming a strategic partner. Today, our role goes far beyond development; we immerse ourselves in the business to identify bottlenecks, redesign processes, and ensure that each autonomous agent delivers not only efficiency, but also the best possible experience at the end of the process, whether for internal teams or the end customer."
Expansion and next steps
Vibra has also advanced the democratization of automation through AutoBRAX, focused on simpler solutions distributed across business areas.
The next step is to consolidate the use of agents as a central part of operations, continuously connecting intelligence and execution.
The ambition is to position Vibra as a reference in the use of artificial intelligence applied to business, not only for analysis, but also for execution.
Want to turn operational challenges into tangible results?
Talk to the Smarthis team and discover how automation, artificial intelligence, and autonomous agents can accelerate your organization’s operational evolution.
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