AN AGENT COMO A GENTE

Lu is one of the longest-running experiments in what it means to make technology feel human. Created in 2003 as a virtual assistant to help Brazilians navigate online shopping for the first time, she grew into something nobody fully anticipated. Over two decades, she became the world's most followed virtual influencer, with over 34 million followers and a presence stretching across e-commerce, pop culture and everything in between. Lightfarm has been part of that journey for years, rebuilding her entirely in 3D for Unreal Engine and taking her across wildly different worlds like Samsung, Nvidia, Oscar Jovem Nerd, Copa da Lu and Globo Pop, each one demanding a different creative approach while keeping the character immediately recognizable.

For all her reach and recognition, there was something Lu had never been able to do. She could inspire, entertain and influence, but she could not actually talk back. She could not listen, answer a question in slang, understand a voice message about a birthday gift, or close a sale inside a single conversation. She was beloved, but silent in the most important room in Brazil: WhatsApp, where 99% of Brazilians already are.

That tension became the brief. 44% of people worldwide are frustrated when they cannot reach a human during automated service. And 92% of Brazilian users recognize bots instantly. Lu had 23 years of real affection behind her. What she needed was a voice to match it.

Magalu built her one. A proprietary AI brain, developed in-house, capable of understanding voice, image, slang and cultural subtext, and completing an entire purchase without ever leaving the chat. No redirects. No links. From hello to checkout, inside the same conversation. The world's first end-to-end AI commerce experience built around a virtual character people already trusted.

The campaign, developed in partnership with Meta, carried a name that said everything: An Agent Como a Gente.
The results were hard to argue with. In five months, the experience reached 4.5 million unique users, drove R$28 million in sales across more than 96,000 transactions, delivered 3x higher conversion than the Magalu app, and generated 6x more sales than an average physical store during Carnaval. Users rated it the best AI shopping experience on WhatsApp, with an NPS of 83.

An Agent Como a Gente is now a Bronze winner at Cannes Lions 2026, and it is easy to see why. It is a campaign about a relationship that was always there, finally given the tools to go somewhere.

"More than 20 years ago, we created Lu with a very clear purpose: to bring Magalu closer to people. Seeing this character, who was born to make life easier for our customers, win a Bronze Lion in Creative Commerce at Cannes Lions brings us tremendous joy. With artificial intelligence, Lu is now also on WhatsApp, having conversations, guiding and helping each customer in an increasingly personal and natural way.
This award recognizes creativity, but for me, it represents above all the talent of a team that believes technology only makes sense when it brings people together.
Congratulations to everyone who was part of this achievement.
I am so proud of you all."

— Luiza Helena Trajano, founder of Magazine Luiza

To the entire Magalu team, thank you for trusting us with Lu for all these years. Watching her grow from a 3D rebuild into the world's first virtual AI commerce agent is something we are genuinely proud to have been part of.