Royal Bank of Canada and Borealis AI announce new AI private cloud platform, developed with Red Hat and NVIDIA

RBC’s AI private cloud platform is the first-of-its-kind in Canada to deliver intelligent software applications and boost operational efficiency

TORONTO & RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.

Supporting Quotes

Mike Tardif, senior vice president, tech infrastructure, Royal Bank of Canada
“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
“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
“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
“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.”

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 84,000+ employees who 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 34 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 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 responsible AI, natural language processing and reinforcement learning, 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. For more information please see: www.borealisai.com.

About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver reliable and high-performing Linux, hybrid cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Red Hat helps customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize on our industry-leading operating system, and automate, secure, and manage complex environments. Award-winning support, training, and consulting services make Red Hat a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500. As a strategic partner to cloud providers, system integrators, application vendors, customers, and open source communities, Red Hat can help organizations prepare for the digital future.

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