Royal Bank of Canada reaffirms Vector Institute sponsorship through 2027

Sponsorship will advance AI capabilities and increase Ontario's leadership in the field

TORONTO, March 22, 2022 /CNW/ - Royal Bank of Canada reaffirms its sponsorship of the Vector Institute through 2027. A founding sponsor, RBC has worked with the Vector Institute since its inception in 2017, driving excellence in artificial intelligence (AI) and advancing the field to improve the lives of Canadians. Working with institutions, industry, start-ups, incubators, and accelerators, Vector furthers AI research and drives its application, adoption, and commercialization across Canada.

RBC is a leader in the Canadian AI ecosystem. In 2016, it founded dedicated AI research centre Borealis AI to help leverage the technology's power, better understand its clients, deliver personalized experiences, and drive more secure, efficient, and effective operations. RBC and Borealis AI have built new AI capabilities for financial services like Aiden, an AI-powered electronic trading platform that leverages deep reinforcement learning, and NOMI Forecast, which uses AI to give clients a seven-day view into their future cash flow. 

"AI was pioneered in Canada, and the Vector Institute is critical to maintaining leadership in the field and ensuring a strong pipeline of AI talent," says Foteini Agrafioti, Head, Borealis AI and Chief Science Officer, RBC. "We are proud to continue to work with them in building the next generation of researchers, engineers, product, and business experts in AI."

RBC and Borealis AI are also working with Vector to advocate for the responsible and ethical use of AI. This is an area where RBC is also leading the way, recently launching RESPECT AI, an online hub helping to make ethical AI available to all by making available open source research code, tutorials, academic research, and lectures. 

"Vector is delighted to continue its journey with RBC to advance AI innovation at the bank and contribute to the delivery of enhanced customer experiences while working towards creating solutions that use responsible AI," says Garth Gibson, Vector President and CEO. "Our partnership has already borne great fruit. Continuing to leverage our respective strengths will help unlock AI's transformative potential for all Canadians.

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 88,000+ 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 17 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/community-social-impact.

About Borealis AI

Borealis AI is a world-class AI research center backed by RBC. Recognized for scientific excellence, Borealis AI uses the latest in machine learning (ML) capabilities to solve challenging problems in the financial industry. Led by award-winning inventor and entrepreneur Foteini Agrafioti, and with top North American scientists and engineers, Borealis AI is at the core of the bank's innovation strategy and benefits from RBC's scale, data and trusted brand.

With a focus on time series modelling, applying ML to financial markets, and responsible AI, Borealis AI is committed to building solutions using machine learning and artificial intelligence that will transform the way individuals manage their finances and their futures. As part of its commitment to advancing the development of responsible AI and ML, Borealis AI developed RESPECT AI^TM, an online hub that brings open source research code, tutorials, academic research and lectures to the AI community, helping to make ethical AI available to all. 

About the Vector Institute

Launched in 2017, the Vector Institute works with industry, institutions, startups, and government to build AI talent and drive research excellence in AI to develop and sustain AI-based innovation to foster economic growth and improve the lives of Canadians. Vector's Three-Year Strategy aims to advance AI research, increase adoption in industry and health through programs for talent, commercialization, and application, and lead Canada towards the responsible use of AI. Programs for industry, led by top AI practitioners, offer foundations for applications in products and processes, company-specific guidance, training for professionals, and connections to workforce-ready talent. Vector is funded by the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada through the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, and industry sponsors. 

SOURCE RBC

Stephanie Bannan, [email protected], 416-524-1827