RBC Introduces Atom AI Model to Drive Personalised Banking and Enterprise Value

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has unveiled Atom (Asynchronous Temporal Model), an internally developed artificial intelligence system designed to enhance decision-making and personalisation across its operations. Created by RBC's AI research division, Borealis, Atom was trained using vast volumes of financial data, including billions of client transactions.

The bank considers Atom a cornerstone of its ambition to generate $700 million to $1 billion in enterprise value from AI-driven initiatives by 2027. Already, the model is being applied in credit adjudication processes to allow for more nuanced, data-rich assessments of creditworthiness. RBC says this shift helps it better serve clients who may not fit traditional credit profiles, such as newcomers to Canada.

"Applying AI to credit adjudication has provided an opportunity to evolve decisioning to ensure the best customer outcomes and increased levels of personalization," said Gopala Narayanan, SVP and chief risk officer for personal banking at RBC.

Beyond credit, Atom is also integrated into the bank's Avion Rewards programme, helping deliver customised recommendations. RBC reports that this has led to improved redemption conversion rates, cost efficiencies, and higher benefit adoption.

Foteini Agrafioti, SVP and chief science officer at RBC, described Atom as foundational to the bank's future:"It helps to personalize products and services at an individual level and enables us to more deeply understand our clients' individual circumstances."