# Citizens Financial Group: Research, patents and partnerships

Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/citizens/ai-research-patents-partnerships
Last updated: Oct 16, 2026

*Part of the [Citizens Financial Group AI strategy profile](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/citizens).*

## What AI partnerships and patents does Citizens Financial Group have?

Citizens buys and assembles its AI rather than building models: CIO Michael Ruttledge said in September 2024 that it would not build its own large language models, and by December 2025 its internal gen-AI portal let staff choose OpenAI, AWS Bedrock or Anthropic models. Every employee has Microsoft Copilot, and about 800 engineers use GitHub Copilot, some with its coding agent. Infosys is the systems partner: its March 2025 expansion applied Infosys Topaz to cloud-native platforms, and its April 2026 results release quotes Ruttledge on Citizens' AI-first Innovation Hub built with Infosys Topaz Fabric. AWS supplies cloud, Bedrock and Amazon Connect, where AWS says Citizens' voice agents in the mobile app took adoption from 0% to about 60%; MongoDB Atlas on AWS caches data for 14 million customers. Its patent file is small: two granted machine-learning patents (2023, 2024) and two published applications (2024, 2025) assigned to Citizens Financial Group, plus a 2024 patent for the Digital Butler assistant. No university AI research program, AI venture investment or model-provider contract terms are public. ([Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/banking/citizens-sees-up-to-20-efficiency-gains-through-gen-ai), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/inside-citizens-plan-to-reimagine-itself-with-ai), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-citi-citizens-td-deploy-ai-agents-without-upsetting-humans), [Infosys via PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infosys-announces-expansion-of-strategic-collaboration-with-citizens-to-propel-ai-led-transformation-302399928.html), [Infosys via PR Newswire](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/revenue-crosses-20-billion-mark-with-resilient-growth-of-3-1-in-fy-26-in-constant-currency-302751870.html), [AWS (Amazon Connect)](https://aws.amazon.com/products/connect/customer/resources/customer-contact-week), [AWS Partner Network](https://aws.amazon.com/partners/success/citizens-bank-mongodb), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US11803793B2/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US11948190B2/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240152992A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250150457A1/en), [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/ai/citizens-receives-patent-for-its-digital-butler))

## Who are Citizens' AI and technology partners?

Named partners, what each supplies and when it was disclosed. Vendor-published pages are attributed to the vendor.

| Partner | Type | What it is | Date | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Infosys (Topaz, Topaz Fabric) | Systems integrator | Five-year partner widened in March 2025 to AI-led platforms and data-centre exit; supports the AI-first Innovation Hub (April 2026) | March 2025; April 2026 | [Infosys via PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infosys-announces-expansion-of-strategic-collaboration-with-citizens-to-propel-ai-led-transformation-302399928.html), [Infosys via PR Newswire](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/revenue-crosses-20-billion-mark-with-resilient-growth-of-3-1-in-fy-26-in-constant-currency-302751870.html) |
| AWS (cloud, Bedrock) | Cloud and models | One of two main public clouds; Bedrock models in the internal gen-AI portal | December 2025 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/inside-citizens-plan-to-reimagine-itself-with-ai), [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/citizens-on-pace-for-100-cloud-migration-by-q3) |
| Amazon Connect | Contact-centre platform | Per AWS, Citizens blended deterministic workflows with agentic AI and put voice agents in its mobile app, taking adoption from 0% to about 60% | September 2026 | [AWS (Amazon Connect)](https://aws.amazon.com/products/connect/customer/resources/customer-contact-week) |
| Microsoft (Copilot, Azure) | Productivity AI and cloud | Copilot for all employees; Azure the second main cloud; a 2024 Copilot pilot lifted engineer productivity 20% | 2024-2025 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-citi-citizens-td-deploy-ai-agents-without-upsetting-humans), [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/citizens-bank-cio-ruttledge-ai-banking-generative-genai/722507/), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/inside-citizens-plan-to-reimagine-itself-with-ai) |
| GitHub Copilot | Coding assistant and agent | About 800 developers, half the software staff; engineers moving to supervise coding agents | November 2025; September 2026 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-citi-citizens-td-deploy-ai-agents-without-upsetting-humans), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/tech-leaders-say-ai-could-end-humanity-banks-still-love-it) |
| OpenAI and Anthropic | Model providers | Selectable in the internal portal; Coughlin says the lead in coding tools moves between Copilot and Claude 'every three weeks' | December 2025; March 2026 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/inside-citizens-plan-to-reimagine-itself-with-ai), [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/citizens-ai-banking-reimagine-coughlin/815965/) |
| MongoDB Atlas on AWS | Data platform | Enterprise data cache for 14 million customers' core data; $1.5 million a year in cost savings, per AWS; also runs under the cloud fraud platform | 2025-2026 | [AWS Partner Network](https://aws.amazon.com/partners/success/citizens-bank-mongodb), [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/citizens-on-pace-for-100-cloud-migration-by-q3) |
| Precisely | Mainframe data integration | Per AWS, near real-time mainframe data across customer channels with a cut in MIPS usage | September 2026 | [AWS Partner Network](https://aws.amazon.com/partners/success/citizen-bank-precisely) |
| Kyndryl, FIS, Equinix | Infrastructure and core | Mainframe moved to Kyndryl zCloud; core upgrade with FIS; Equinix as the network hub to AWS and Azure | December 2025 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/inside-citizens-plan-to-reimagine-itself-with-ai) |

## Which AI and machine-learning patents does Citizens hold?

Assignee Citizens Financial Group, Inc. on Google Patents. Applications are not yet rights.

| Number | Title | Status | Date | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| US11803793B2 | Automated data forecasting using machine learning | Granted | October 31, 2023 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US11803793B2/en) |
| US11948190B2 | Smart learning systems for integrating and linking multiple data accounts across a network | Granted | April 2, 2024 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US11948190B2/en) |
| US20240152992A1 | Data intelligence platform | Application published | May 9, 2024 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20240152992A1/en) |
| US20250150457A1 | AI-driven integration platform and user-adaptive interface for business relationship orchestration | Application published | May 8, 2025 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250150457A1/en) |
| Digital Butler | Commercial banking virtual assistant, patent for its personalisation (number not published in the report) | Granted | Reported March 1, 2024 | [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/ai/citizens-receives-patent-for-its-digital-butler) |

## What AI research or investments has Citizens not disclosed?

Citizens has announced no university AI research center, no published research papers and no AI venture investments. Its stated model is to use 'best-in-class' models from providers and switch when 'someone's got a leap on the market'. ([Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/banking/citizens-sees-up-to-20-efficiency-gains-through-gen-ai), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/inside-citizens-plan-to-reimagine-itself-with-ai))

Contract values with Infosys, AWS, Microsoft, OpenAI or Anthropic are not public, and the bank has not said where the AI-first Innovation Hub sits in its headcount or how many engineers work there. ([Infosys via PR Newswire](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/revenue-crosses-20-billion-mark-with-resilient-growth-of-3-1-in-fy-26-in-constant-currency-302751870.html), [Infosys via PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infosys-announces-expansion-of-strategic-collaboration-with-citizens-to-propel-ai-led-transformation-302399928.html))

## What does the Citizens profile record on this topic?

| Date | Move | Detail | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jul 30, 2026 | CDAO Swamy: LLMs as a translator for customer intent; models inside the bank's VPC | On an American Banker panel Krish Swamy said LLMs map what callers say to a small set of intents, that some models run inside Citizens' own VPC, that chatbots answer questions but do not yet execute transactions, and that commercial underwriters share a Copilot prompt library. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/leaders/the-ai-enabled-bank-reimagining-retail-banking-from-branch-to-mobile) |
| Apr 16, 2026 | Q1 2026: LLMs in the call centre, 25% of calls without a human by year-end | About 50% over time; GenAI automating private-company credit research; AI coding pilots showing 30% to 10x productivity gains; $6 million of implementation costs. | [Citizens Financial Group (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/759944/000075994426000070/a1q26earningspresentatio.htm), [Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/citizens-financial-group-inc-q1-164633929.html) |
| Feb 12, 2026 | 10-K flags generative AI and LLMs as a security risk | Risk factors name generative AI and large language models among evolving threats, and AI as a change that could transform how banks offer products. | [Citizens Financial Group (SEC filings)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/759944/000075994426000028/cfg-20251231.htm) |
| Nov 20, 2025 | GitHub Copilot's coding agent to ~800 developers | Half the software developers; fintech partners rewriting legacy systems for the cloud. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-citi-citizens-td-deploy-ai-agents-without-upsetting-humans) |
| Mar 12, 2025 | Infosys collaboration widened to AI-led transformation | Infosys said it would use its Topaz AI offering to help Citizens build cloud-native platforms and exit its data centres; the two had worked together for five years. | [Infosys via PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infosys-announces-expansion-of-strategic-collaboration-with-citizens-to-propel-ai-led-transformation-302399928.html) |
| Feb 27, 2025 | Fraud platform rebuilt in the cloud with new models | A head of fraud risk said the cloud fraud-management platform on MongoDB Atlas on AWS had handled about 80% of claims volume since 2023, and that new detection models beat the industry detection rate; more than 80% of applications were in the cloud. | [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/cloud/citizens-on-pace-for-100-cloud-migration-by-q3) |
| Sep 9, 2024 | No in-house LLM: AWS and Microsoft models | Ruttledge said Citizens had no plan to build its own large language models and would use best-in-class models from its providers; gen AI for documentation, code conversion and testing gave a 10% to 20% productivity gain. | [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/banking/citizens-sees-up-to-20-efficiency-gains-through-gen-ai) |
| Jul 26, 2024 | CIO: 90 gen-AI ideas, six pursued, two in production; Copilot pilot lifts productivity 20% | A hackathon produced over 90 ideas. The two live uses were Microsoft Copilot for engineers (pilot showed a 20% productivity boost; rollout to about 1,000 engineers planned) and a gen-AI product assistant for contact-centre staff. A human validates the code and the answers. | [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/citizens-bank-cio-ruttledge-ai-banking-generative-genai/722507/) |
| Mar 1, 2024 | Digital Butler patent granted | Citizens Commercial's virtual assistant won a patent for its personalisation; the bank said 700 clients chose it over the call centre and 30,000 used it weekly. | [Bank Automation News](https://bankautomationnews.com/allposts/ai/citizens-receives-patent-for-its-digital-butler) |

## Common questions

### Does Citizens build its own large language models?

No. CIO Michael Ruttledge said in September 2024 that Citizens had no plan to build its own LLMs and would use best-in-class models from its cloud providers. By December 2025 staff could choose OpenAI, AWS Bedrock or Anthropic models in an internal portal, and for some uses Chief Data and Analytics Officer Krish Swamy said models run inside Citizens' own virtual private cloud.

### How many AI patents does Citizens have?

Google Patents lists two granted machine-learning patents assigned to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (automated data forecasting, October 2023; linked-account behaviour prediction, April 2024) and two published applications (a data intelligence platform, 2024; an AI-driven relationship-orchestration platform, 2025). Bank Automation News reported a 2024 patent for the Digital Butler commercial assistant.

### What is Citizens' AI-first Innovation Hub?

A hub Citizens set up with Infosys in 2026. In Infosys's April 23, 2026 results release, CIO Michael Ruttledge said it reflects Citizens' commitment to modern, secure and intelligent banking and that Infosys Topaz Fabric is helping integrate advanced AI at the core of the bank's operations. Headcount and cost have not been disclosed.

### Which vendor runs Citizens' AI contact-centre agents?

Amazon Connect, according to AWS. Its Customer Contact Week 2026 session page says Citizens blended deterministic workflows with agentic AI and put voice agents into its mobile app, taking adoption from 0% to about 60% and shifting calls away from its 800 number. Citizens targets about 25% of calls handled without a human by year-end 2026.
## Deeper on Citizens

- [What is Citizens Financial Group's AI strategy?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/citizens/ai-strategy)
- [What is CiZi, and how is Citizens using AI assistants?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/citizens/virtual-assistant)
- [What technology stack does Citizens run its AI on?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/citizens/technology-stack)


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