RBC maintains strong AI leadership position in financial services

Ranks #3 overall and #1 in Canada for AI maturity out of 50 global banks

TORONTO, Oct. 17, 2024 /CNW/ - RBC (TSX: RY) (NYSE: RY) has ranked in the top three for the third straight year for artificial intelligence (AI) maturity among 50 global financial institutions in the Evident AI Index. The Index, first issued by AI benchmarking and intelligence platform Evident in January 2023, scores financial institutions across four key pillars: Talent, Innovation, Leadership and Transparency.

RBC was one of only two banks to rank in the top 10 across all four pillars and improved its year-over-year ranking in the two heaviest-weighted pillars – Talent and Innovation. New AI training initiatives for employees helped increase RBC's ranking in the Talent pillar year over year. And the bank's strong showing in the Innovation pillar was boosted by ongoing AI partnerships and their impact.

"We're on a journey to redefine what a bank can do, and tapping into the full potential of transformational technologies like AI is a big part of that," says Dave McKay, president and CEO, RBC. "RBC remains committed to building innovative, leading-edge solutions that deliver insightful and personalized client experiences, and have a meaningful impact in our clients' lives. Our leadership position in the Evident AI Index reflects that. Congratulations to all the employees and teams who continue to play a role in our AI journey."

RBC was an early adopter of AI with the 2016 launch of Borealis AI, a research institute that develops novel AI solutions addressing some of the most fundamental challenges in financial services. As AI technology has evolved, it has become a core strategic enabler for insights as to how we run our business.

"We believe that AI has the potential to change what a bank is capable of," said Dr. Foteini Agrafioti, SVP, Data & AI and chief science officer, RBC. "Our responsible and ethical approach to AI is helping to simplify and digitize client interactions with us – saving time, enhancing security, adding convenience and reducing the anxiety they may have about their financial futures. We're pleased to receive this recognition by Evident Insights for our ongoing AI work."

A responsible and ethical approach
RBC is mindful of the risks around the use of AI and has invested heavily in ensuring the responsible development of AI tools, products and platforms. The bank recently formalized and published a set of Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) Principles that are part of the bank's overall ESG commitment and sit at the centre of its AI endeavours, ensuring that high standards of accountability, fairness, privacy and security, and transparency continue to be upheld in all the bank's AI efforts.

Innovation-led product development
With responsible AI at the foundation, RBC is building leading-edge solutions that have broad and meaningful impact for its clients. Recent developments include:

• ATOM: This proprietary foundation model for financial services was trained using large-scale financial datasets, providing it with a breadth of knowledge in financial services. The in-house development and use of cutting-edge science will help enhance RBC's ability to leverage our capabilities to derive unique insights and develop innovative solutions, all within a responsible AI framework.
  
  
• Avion Rewards: Canada's largest proprietary loyalty program, Avion Rewards, uses AI-powered personalization to offer members a more rewarding experience and seamless access to benefits. The personalized reward offers are made possible by leveraging ATOM to simplify and enhance how members engage with RBC's internationally recognized loyalty program.
  
  
• Lumina: We have developed an internal data and AI platform that enables RBC to build cutting-edge AI in a safe and scalable way. Lumina houses RBC data with high resilience and enables connectivity across our businesses. Online banking, portfolio management, risk modeling, and fraud detection are some examples of AI solutions enabled by the Lumina platform.
  
  
• More informed lending decisions: The addition of AI can help us better understand, anticipate and address client financial needs beyond what a traditional credit model can provide. These enhancements can help create more value for clients.

These products are in addition to NOMI, a suite of capabilities that use data-driven insights to help clients stay on top of their finances; and Aiden, an AI-powered electronic trading platform built for our global clients. Aiden applies deep reinforcement learning to the constantly changing environment of equities trading.

Preparing employees for the future
RBC is ensuring its employees are ready for a future where AI may play a bigger role in their jobs. The bank has provided AI training for senior executives and is rolling out training to the broader employee population over the next several months, which will help guide employees through the key concepts of AI and generative AI, how these tools work and how to use them responsibly. Employees currently have access to a self-directed digital learning experience featuring a range of tools designed to build foundational knowledge in AI and generative AI.

RBC Technology's annual Catalyst Conference brings together thousands of employees over two days for learning and inspiration with the 2024 session featuring more than 25 AI presentations and workshops. And Amplify, an immersive summer innovation program where students in the later years of their postsecondary education experience the opportunity to put their skills to the test to build a theoretical product that could solve tough business challenges, many of which involve solutions that use AI models.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 100,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our more than 18 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/peopleandplanet.

For more information, please contact:
Briana D'Archi, RBC Corporate Communications

SOURCE RBC