CIBC plans more hiring in artificial intelligence, data jobs

(Bloomberg) — Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce plans to hire more than 200 employees in data and artificial intelligence over the next year as it expands its use of generative AI.

The country’s fifth-largest bank has carried out a number of pilot programs using generative AI and is adding staff in Canada to accelerate those efforts, Christina Kramer, the bank’s head of technology and innovation, said in a statement.

One pilot program, called Knowledge Central, uses a “Chat-GPT-like interface” to help CIBC employees answer client questions, a bank spokesperson said. Another, known as CIBC-AI, automates recurring tasks for staff.

Globally, banks have turned to AI to bolster productivity. Over 54 per cent of jobs in banking have a high potential to be automated, and technology may boost the sector by US$170 billion by 2028, according to a report from Citigroup Inc. earlier this year.

“Now is the right time to add to our talent base through hiring and upskilling in data and AI focused roles,” CIBC’s Kramer said. The bank has been using AI for years to help manage risk, fraud and information security.

The move comes as competitors are also ramping up their adoption of artificial intelligence-driven tools.

An executive at JP Morgan Chase & Co. said new college graduate recruits are at the “forefront” of the bank’s ability to adopt AI. The bank has released a GenAI tool and encouraged employees to treat it as an analyst. The model — named LLM Suite — can write, generate ideas, helps solve problems and more.

In Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank is using technology from AI unicorn Cohere Inc. for tasks such as interpreting financial documents. Royal Bank of Canada said in 2022 that it would grow its Calgary hub for technology research to 300 employees, in addition to two existing tech centers in Montreal and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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