Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and its AI research institute Borealis AI have partnered with Red Hat and NVIDIA to develop a new AI computing platform designed to transform the customer banking experience and help keep pace with rapid technology changes and evolving customer expectations.

 
As AI models become more efficient and accurate, so do the computational complexities associated with them. RBC and Borealis AI set out to build an in-house AI infrastructure that would allow transformative intelligent applications to be brought to market faster and deliver an enhanced experience for clients. Red Hat OpenShift and NVIDIA’s DGX AI computing systems power this private cloud system that delivers intelligent software applications and boosts operational efficiency for RBC and its customers.

 
RBC’s AI private cloud has the ability to run thousands of simulations and analyze millions of data points in a fraction of the time than it could before. The flexible and highly reliable self-service infrastructure will allow RBC to build, deploy and maintain next-generation AI-powered banking applications.

 
The platform has already improved trading execution and insights, helped reduce client calls and has resulted in faster delivery of new applications for RBC clients, and has the potential to benefit the AI industry in Canada, beyond RBC and financial services.
 

RBC is proud to have collaborated with Red Hat and NVIDIA to develop a platform that supports RBC customers while providing the flexibility for AI-powered client interactions.
 

Mike Tardif, Senior Vice President, Tech Infrastructure, Royal Bank of Canada said: “In today’s ever changing marketplace, we must always be at the forefront of innovation for our clients. We are proud to have delivered a unique AI Private Cloud capability in-house, leveraging our strong collaboration with Red Hat and NVIDIA. This cloud offers GPU acceleration and containerized platform benefits, and we are well positioned to provide the best experience possible for our customers going forward.”

Chris Wright, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Red Hat adds: “It is always humbling to see Red Hat technologies in action, and we are honored to see how it contributed to the leading AI computing platform that RBC now has. Together with NVIDIA, OpenShift is helping to power the future of not just positive customer experience and overall operational excellence, but is enabling the bank to embark on research projects that have the potential to make a lasting impact on the world.”
 

Charlie Boyle, Vice President and General Manager, DGX Systems, NVIDIA said: “Before AI can enable transformative business opportunities, it must first be integrated as a strategic IT platform. RBC is leading the way in accelerating AI development through high-performance infrastructure from NVIDIA and Red Hat. By combining innovative technology with their expert knowledge in financial services, the RBC team has created one of the most sophisticated and dynamic AI development infrastructures in Canada.”
 

Foteini Agrafioti, Chief Science Officer, RBC and head of Borealis AI comments: “Modern AI cannot exist without access to high performance computing. This collaboration means that we can conduct research at scale, and deploy machine learning applications in production with improved efficiency and speed to market.”