Dr. Foteini Agrafioti is the senior vice-president for data and artificial intelligence and chief science officer at Royal Bank of Canada.
Behind every technological breakthrough that shapes our world today, lie years of research and experimentation driven by curiosity and the determination to accelerate into the future. At a global scale, artificial intelligence advancements are revolutionizing almost every industry and more frequently than ever before, the ‘art of the possible’ is being revealed through technology.
From improving healthcare to creating efficient supply chains, AI and machine learning technology are spearheading and accelerating innovation worldwide. AI was pioneered in Canada and we continue to be at the helm of groundbreaking AI research. For decades, Canada has fostered an ecosystem of globally known and renowned subject matter experts, grown local talent and has engaged in diverse AI partnerships all in effort to advance the responsible research, development and use of AI.
This talent has gone on to influence the adoption of this technology by the industry. RBC has long acknowledged the importance of scientific exploration and research to solve some of the financial industry’s most challenging problems such as fraud detection, risk management and anti-money laundering. At RBC, we established our Borealis Research Institute in 2016 with PhDs and academics before recruiting additional professionals including AI scientists, programmers and machine learning engineers to aid in our commitment to transform finance with AI excellence.
Most advancements in AI typically happen with two types of data – images and language – before they move on to other domains. This is largely because technology that analyzes photos, videos and human communication has broad applicability in our lives and thereby attracts attention from the scientific community. Deep learning, the core innovation behind modern AI, was first established for the task of image recognition, and GPT, the technology that captured the world’s imagination, was first used to synthesize human language. Images and language are natural places to start when building new AI capabilities.
However, in the broader industry, other types of datasets are equally important, such as audio recordings, medical images, weather data or financial data. Transferring the innovation from one data domain (for example, image) to another (for example, financial data) requires specialized personnel with extensive scientific records and subject matter expertise. This is why investing in research is so important: to truly capture the power of AI, we need to be able to quickly and safely adapt these innovations to the specialized environment and data of our industries.
With teams dedicated to undertaking fundamental and applied research, RBC has filed more than 1,000 patents, 20 per cent of which are in AI. We have also published more than 125 scientific publications that foster our culture of curiosity and have enabled us to solve real problems for RBC and its 17 million clients. An example of this is ATOM, a proprietary foundation model for financial services that has deep financial expertise that can be generalized and used across a variety of banking tasks.
RBC also actively partners with universities and institutes where we benefit from the latest in academia and transfer that knowledge into real-world impact. Our in-house programs, including Let’s Solve It!, also enable university students from a variety of programs, not just science-based disciplines, to learn about AI development first-hand.
Research should not be limited to academia or select tech industries. It is a fundamental part of understanding problems broadly enough to devise impactful solutions and is the driving mechanism behind radical advancements. In the context of technology, this could mean creating a new algorithm, exploring new ways to mine data or even inventing new hardware.
In a fast-paced tech landscape, embracing a research mindset is key. Even if they’re not engaged in writing research papers, highly skilled professionals who are trained to use critical thinking can focus beyond what’s possible today to solve complex problems.
Organizations that invest in research and development are not only investing in long-term growth; they are also attracting talented professionals who are willing to push the boundaries to take business operations into the future. Without research and development, companies are at risk of falling behind in an increasingly competitive global market.
With AI being one of the worlds most powerful tools, research is a critical investment. Research guided in responsible frameworks, driven by innovation and facilitated by leading minds around the globe makes today one of the most exciting times to work in technology.
This column is part of Globe Careers’ Leadership Lab series, where executives and experts share their views and advice about the world of work. Find all Leadership Lab stories at tgam.ca/leadershiplab and guidelines for how to contribute to the column here.