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“Our partnership collaboration with Element AI represents the next step in our AI transformation at HSBC.”
-Andre Cronje
Element AI is partnering with HSBC to help the bank develop the capability to analyze data that comes from clients of its Global Banking and Markets (GBM) division.
The partnership comes as the third of Element AI’s customer deals that have been announced this year. Notably, all three have been in the financial services sector. In February, the Montreal-based company announced a partnership with the National Bank of Canada to improve cybersecurity for the bank. The startup also announced a collaboration with Gore Mutual Insurance in April, to integrate Element AI’s Underwriting Partner software with insurance company’s underwriting practice.
HSBC said the partnership will provide a base for joint development of AI-powered software and systems, which will be tested on HSBC’s global data pool. The Element AI team working on this partnership will be based in HSBC’s new Toronto-based innovation lab.
Element AI will help the bank conduct data analysis that is aimed to help HSBC more efficiently meet global regulatory requirements, such as anti-money laundering rules. The analysis will also allow the bank to predict what services and product solutions its clients may need in the future. HSBC said it had conducted a five-month global search process before settling on Element AI.
“Our goal has been to find the best firms engaging in AI research and to be able to learn and partner with these companies which will allow us to co-develop new products for our clients and the broader financial services industry,” said Chuck Teixeira, chief administrative officer and head of transformation at HSBC’s GBM division. “We believe that the collaboration between companies with cutting edge AI capabilities, like Element AI, and HSBC, with its scale and heritage, is unique.”
Element AI’s products, which launched out of “stealth phase” earlier this year after much anticipation, work to strengthen decision-making across a variety of secors, including insurance, finance, manufacturing, retail, cybersecurity, and transportation. The company, co-founded by Yoshua Bengio and Jean-François Gagné in 2016, now has five offices globally and continues to partner with academia, business and government to advance research in AI.
“Following the creation of our big data program in 2018 and the recent opening of our global innovation and data labs in London and Toronto, our partnership collaboration with Element AI represents the next step in our AI transformation at HSBC,” said Andre Cronje, chief operating officer for GBM.
Element AI recently received the 20th Anniversary Award by Mitacs in recognition of the company’s “commitment to innovation and its entrepreneurial spirit.” HSBC noted that it is looking to sign agreements with similar companies in the coming months.