Canadian banks are leading the way on AI, according to Alexandra Mousavizadeh, co-founder and chief executive of the Evident AI Index.

Speaking at the BIAN banking summit, she said that Canadian banks are outperforming those in the UK, Europe and APAC probably due to the government’s focus on commercialising AI and supporting organisations with AI adoption.

“The Canadian banks have stepped up on visibility and particularly on the transparency of responsible AI – this is where we see the Canadian banks really shine,” said Mousavizadeh. “I suspect that is also to do with the sort of ecosystem and the focus of responsible AI at a national level, because it is interesting to see how much the Canadian banks do lead on the transparency responsibilities.”

The Evident AI Index provides a benchmark of AI adoption and maturity throughout the banking sector. The index evaluates 50 of the largest banks in North America, Europe, and Asia against 90 individual indicators drawn from millions of publicly available data points.

The Royal Bank of Canada currently ranks third in the index, while TD Bank rose two places compared to last year and is currently in ninth place.

JPMorgan Chase came top of the index, while CapitalOne holds second place.

“We look at volume of talent, but we also look at the proportion of the volume compared to the size of the bank, which means that you can be a smaller bank and do very well on talent because of the density measure,” Mousavizadeh added. “That is where the Canadian banks perform quite well and the AI workforce is quite strong in the Canadian Banks.

“JPMorgan leads by far in both volume density and training and upskilling, but the Canadian banks have really stepped forward on training and development making that a priority - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has done really well this year.”

During the BIAN summit, Todd Schmitter, thought leader in enterprise architecture and core banking modernisation, distinguished engineer at Wells Fargo – which is ranked fourth in the index – gave a demonstration of how the bank is using Coreless Banking 4.0, which uses AI and machine learning to help banks retain their customers and provide personalised offers in real time.

Schmitter said that AI has a number of potential use cases, with Wells Fargo using the system to keep customers who were thinking of moving their money elsewhere to get a better deal on interest rates.

“You need to understand your customers, perceive their needs, and offer them the right things at the right time – this is where AI can help,” Schmitter said.

He added that Wells Fargo has also experimented with using AI technology for market research to find out what its competitors are doing. The bank is also harnessing the tech to write reports which make suggested recommendations on what the organisation should offer its customers.

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