City National Bank (RBC):
the AI strategy, sourced.

Last updated Oct 25, 2026 · 24 dated moves · 40 sources · open AI roles as of Oct 25, 2026

A turnaround bank inside one of the most AI-invested parents in banking: RBC targets $700 million to $1 billion of value from AI by 2027, while City National rebuilds risk controls, recruits bankers and heads for Texas.

How is City National using AI?

City National Bank is Royal Bank of Canada's US bank, and its AI is largely inherited. RBC has run an AI research institute, Borealis AI, since 2016, runs AI agents built with Borealis in its capital-markets research arm, targets $700 million to $1 billion of incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027 in its 2025 annual report, and told analysts in December 2025 that its return-on-equity target could rise further depending on AI deployment. City National itself has spent 2024–2026 recovering: after a $65 million OCC penalty and consent order announced on 31 January 2024 for systemic risk-management deficiencies, a $31 million redlining settlement in 2023 and heavy remediation spending, RBC's CEO said in August 2025 the bank was 'back on its front foot', recruiting commercial and private bankers; by the quarter to July 2026 its net income was up 61% year on year to $184 million and the parent was talking about adding bankers in Texas and possibly acquisitions. The bank's public AI voice is Jaya Kandaswamy, senior vice-president for product, AI and innovation, who frames agentic AI as a contest over 'who controls the customer relationship'; its commercial-banking president says leadership discusses 'sometimes weekly' where the bank needs to be on AI and how it will affect clients and vendors. A Fifth Third alumni team, executive chair Greg Carmichael and CEO Howard Hammond, runs the turnaround, RBC plans to migrate City National to the RBC brand, and expansion offices opened in Charlotte and Greenville in December 2025. No City National-specific AI budgets, use-case counts or headcount effects have been disclosed.

Lead bank

City National Bank

Assets (lead bank, Jun 30, 2026)

$99 billion

Charter

National bank (OCC); subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada

Headquarters

Los Angeles, CA (US); Toronto (RBC)

Flagship platform

RBC Borealis and the parent's AI programme

AI leadership

Howard Hammond · Greg Carmichael · Jaya Kandaswamy · Joe Yurosek · Dave McKay · Michael Palmer · David Cameron · Price Sloan · Marc Fisher · Steve Comer · Bruce Ross · Foteini Agrafioti · Bobby Grubert

  • Parent capability: Borealis AI since 2016, the Aiden agent platform in capital markets, $700 million to $1 billion of AI-driven enterprise value targeted by 2027, and a first-place finish in the 2025 ICAIF agentic-retrieval challenge.
  • The turnaround comes first: a $65 million OCC penalty (31 January 2024) and remediation spending; 'back on its front foot' (RBC CEO, August 2025); net income up 61% to $184 million in the quarter to July 2026.
  • AI leadership at the bank: SVP Jaya Kandaswamy for product, AI and innovation; the commercial-banking president says AI is discussed 'sometimes weekly' with respect to clients and vendors.
  • Growth plan: recruiting bankers, Charlotte and Greenville offices (December 2025), Texas hiring and a mortgage build-out; acquisitions only if they create 'meaningful shareholder value' (August 2026).
  • Brand and management: a Fifth Third alumni leadership (Carmichael, Hammond, Yurosek); migration toward a single RBC brand in the US announced at the March 2025 investor day.
  • Disclosure: no bank-level AI budgets, use-case counts or headcount figures; the Borealis platform and RBC targets are the only quantified AI record.
  • The OCC order is the compliance frame: a consent order of 31 January 2024 citing noncompliance with the OCC's heightened standards since 31 December 2020 and Bank Secrecy Act violations. It requires periodic independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds in the BSA/AML monitoring systems; it does not mention AI.
  • The technology rebuild is a cost line RBC says is about to fall: on 9 September 2026 CEO Dave McKay said City National's 'significant remediation efforts and our re-platforming efforts' would 'start to come down' from the end of 2026 into 2027, and on 27 August he said RBC is 'building a capability to roll another bank on to those platforms'.
  • Technology and control owners are named: Michael Palmer is executive vice-president, head of technology and RBC's US chief information officer; David Cameron became the bank's first chief operating officer in June 2026 over a unified group for operations, controls and change management; Price Sloan is chief risk officer and Marc Fisher chief compliance officer.
  • The only disclosed AI in a City National-inclusive business line is in RBC's 2025 40-F: US Wealth Management, which includes City National, lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights' among its 2025 investments.
  • RBC set up a group-level AI Group on 18 February 2026 under Bruce Ross, reporting to the CEO; RBC reports nearly 27,000 employees on RBC Assist and 8,000 Capital Markets staff on Aiden, but does not say how many City National staff use either.
  • Scale: $100.10 billion of assets, $82.40 billion of deposits and $69.48 billion of gross loans at 31 July 2026, with more than 4,900 employees and 71 branches (bank-reported).

What is RBC Borealis and the parent's AI programme?

City National's AI capability comes from Toronto. RBC founded its AI research institute, Borealis AI, in 2016 and its capital-markets arm runs the Aiden platform, developed with Borealis AI, whose AidenResearch agents automate earnings content, call summaries and filing access; its 2025 annual report targets $700 million to $1 billion of incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027, and its researchers won the agentic-retrieval challenge at the 2025 ACM conference on AI in finance. At City National the visible AI leadership is Jaya Kandaswamy, senior vice-president for product, AI and innovation, who speaks publicly on agentic AI and 'who controls the customer relationship'. The bank's own 2026 priorities, as its president of commercial banking put it, are recruiting, the Southeast expansion and watching 'AI disruptions' among clients and vendors.[3][6][4][5][7][17]

What AI partnerships and patents does City National Bank have?

City National's AI partnerships and patents are RBC's. The bank's own public record names no AI vendor, and no AI patent in City National Bank's name turned up in a Google Patents assignee search on 13 October 2026. RBC's group record names Cohere, NVIDIA, Anthropic, Databricks and MIT CSAIL, mostly through Capital Markets and Borealis AI, and Royal Bank of Canada holds granted US patents on ML fairness testing, ML monitoring and suspicious-destination detection that map onto the fair-lending, model-risk and fraud topics in the OCC order. None of these is tied by RBC to City National.[6][34][36][35][38][39][40]

ItemWhat it isStatusDate
Borealis AIRBC's AI research institute, founded 2016; builds the group's models and Aiden with Capital MarketsIn production (group)2016[3][37]
CohereCo-development of 'North for Banking', a secure genAI workspace for financial services (RBC group)Announced2025-01-09[34]
NVIDIAAiden agents built on NVIDIA AI Enterprise in RBC Capital MarketsIn production (Capital Markets)2026-03-23[6]
Anthropic and DatabricksAiden built with NVIDIA and Anthropic; Databricks used to embed governed genAI in Capital MarketsIn production (Capital Markets)2026-05-04[36]
MIT CSAIL FinTechAIRBC research membership on AI in the future of financeMember2025-07-18[35]
US 12,651,042 B2System and method for machine learning fairness testing (Royal Bank of Canada)Granted2026-06-09[38]
US 12,417,407 B2System and method for machine learning monitoring (Royal Bank of Canada)Granted2025-09-16[39]
US 12,079,813 B2Identifying suspicious transaction destinations from login-page referrals (Royal Bank of Canada)Granted2024-09-03[40]

What has City National done on AI, and when?

City National's dated AI moves by year2024Jan 31OCC assesses $65 million penalty and issues…2025Jan 09RBC and Cohere to co-develop 'North for Ban…Mar 27RBC's revised US strategyJun 04Kandaswamy joins American Banker panel on f…Aug 27'Back on its front foot'Dec 03RBC raises its return target; AI could lift…Dec 03RBC's 40-F: City National's year was about…Dec 03RBC's 40-F: AI-powered insights in the US w…Dec 15Charlotte and Greenville offices open2026Jan 05RBC on preparing its workforce for AIFeb 18RBC creates an AI Group under Bruce RossMar 02'AI disruptions. It's here.'May 04RBC Capital Markets AI head describes Aiden…May 27RBC researchers win the ICAIF agentic-retri…Jun 03David Cameron named City National's first C…Jun 09RBC granted US patent on machine-learning f…Jul 24New head of personal and business bankingAug 27Texas on the map; net income up 61%Aug 27Third-quarter call: City National on shared…Aug 27Q3 call: US efficiency ratio 75%; remediati…Aug 27Wealth head: AI use cases funded inside the…Sep 01CFO Chris Doll leaves for KeyCorpSep 09McKay at Scotiabank summit: remediation and…Sep 10Chad Lloyd to lead RBC U.S. Mortgage from C…
Figure 1 · City National's AI moves by year, from the timeline below. Filled boxes are the current year. Every entry cites its source in the list at the end of the page.
  • Sep 10, 2026

    Chad Lloyd to lead RBC U.S. Mortgage from City National[28]

    Senior vice-president and head of RBC U.S. Mortgage, reporting to COO David Cameron; ex-Comerica and Truist, where he was head of transformation in the SunTrust and BB&T integration.

  • Sep 9, 2026

    McKay at Scotiabank summit: remediation and re-platforming costs to fall; AI credit tools built[32]

    City National earned US$183 million (CAD 230 million) before remediation and re-platforming cost reductions that start from the end of 2026; RBC is deploying AI for commercial auto-adjudication and credit adjudication ('built, and we just demoed it to the board') and names mortgages as its largest AI use case. The adjudication tools are described at RBC level; City National is not named as a user.

  • Sep 1, 2026

    CFO Chris Doll leaves for KeyCorp[15]

    After nearly three years as City National's finance chief.

  • Aug 27, 2026

    Wealth head: AI use cases funded inside the existing technology budget[30]

    Neil McLaughlin, CEO of RBC Wealth Management, says AI work on adviser productivity, back-office streamlining and 'AI for Alpha' sits within existing technology funding with no step-up required; US Wealth Management includes City National.

  • Aug 27, 2026

    Q3 call: US efficiency ratio 75%; remediation costs still falling[30][31]

    RBC's US region efficiency ratio is 75% year to date against a low-70s target. McKay says RBC is accelerating AI execution toward $700 million to $1 billion of enterprise value by fiscal 2027, and that City National is part of a 'change in investment in our platform, our risk platforms, our tech platforms'.

  • Aug 27, 2026

    Third-quarter call: City National on shared RBC platforms[2][30]

    McKay says a new global transaction banking business integrates technology platforms across commercial banking, Capital Markets and City National, and that City National is building the capability to roll another bank onto its platforms.

  • Aug 27, 2026

    Texas on the map; net income up 61%[10]

    $184 million for the quarter to July; deposits up 5%; acquisitions possible if they create value.

  • Jul 24, 2026

    New head of personal and business banking[13][27]

    Lindsay Dunn named executive vice-president; the bank announced the appointment on 21 July 2026.

  • Jun 9, 2026

    RBC granted US patent on machine-learning fairness testing[38]

    US 12,651,042 B2, assigned to Royal Bank of Canada, automates fairness assessment of ML model architectures; the filing cites credit-decision bias as its example. No disclosure that City National uses it.

  • Jun 3, 2026

    David Cameron named City National's first COO[25][26]

    A newly unified COO group integrates bank-wide operations, controls and change management; reports to CEO Howard Hammond. Cameron joined in 2005; the bank has more than 4,900 employees and 71 branches.

  • May 27, 2026

    RBC researchers win the ICAIF agentic-retrieval challenge[5]

    Borealis AI first among global teams on financial-filing analysis.

  • May 4, 2026

    RBC Capital Markets AI head describes Aiden's build and partners[36]

    Aiden built with NVIDIA and Anthropic and a Cohere-designed interface, deployed to all 8,000 Capital Markets employees; Databricks cited for governed genAI.

  • Mar 2, 2026

    'AI disruptions. It's here.'[17]

    The commercial-banking president on weekly discussions of AI's impact on clients and vendors.

  • Feb 18, 2026

    RBC creates an AI Group under Bruce Ross[33]

    Reports to the CEO. Almost 27,000 employees use RBC Assist and 8,000 Capital Markets employees use Aiden; RBC cites 1,200+ patent filings since 2019, 635 related to AI. Group-level; City National usage is not broken out.

  • Jan 5, 2026

    RBC on preparing its workforce for AI[3]

    Borealis AI, founded 2016, described as a core strategic enabler.

  • Dec 15, 2025

    Charlotte and Greenville offices open[16][14]

    The Carolinas push, part of the Southeast expansion.

  • Dec 3, 2025

    RBC's 40-F: AI-powered insights in the US wealth digital platform[1]

    US Wealth Management, the segment that includes City National, lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights', RBC Premium Savings and record adviser recruitment among its 2025 investments.

  • Dec 3, 2025

    RBC's 40-F: City National's year was about risk controls[1]

    The annual report says City National focused on risk management across the three lines of defence, and lists AI, including GenAI, among emerging technologies that call for investment to manage risk.

  • Dec 3, 2025

    RBC raises its return target; AI could lift it further[12]

    ROE of at least 17% by 2027; another revision possible depending on AI deployment.

  • Aug 27, 2025

    'Back on its front foot'[9]

    Net income of $114 million for May–July 2025, the best in three years; remediation costs falling.

  • Jun 4, 2025

    Kandaswamy joins American Banker panel on fraud and identity verification[8]

    Session at Digital Banking on tools used to verify and authenticate customers and mitigate fraud risk; the speaker page lists her as SVP, Product, AI and Innovation, leading initiatives that integrate AI into digital banking.

  • Mar 27, 2025

    RBC's revised US strategy[11]

    Cross-selling, a mortgage expansion and a move toward one RBC brand; Fifth Third alumni lead the turnaround.

  • Jan 9, 2025

    RBC and Cohere to co-develop 'North for Banking'[34]

    A group-level generative-AI platform for financial services, to integrate with RBC's internal platforms; RBC said advisers in its advice centre and Capital Markets research analysts already used genAI.

  • Jan 31, 2024

    OCC assesses $65 million penalty and issues consent order[18][19][20]

    Systemic deficiencies in operational, compliance, strategic and investment-management risk management; noncompliance with the OCC's heightened standards since 31 December 2020; Bank Secrecy Act violations. The order requires independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds in the BSA/AML monitoring systems and a fair-lending risk-management programme; it does not mention AI. The bank said its focus was 'strengthening our infrastructure and systems'.

Where does City National use AI today?

City National's AI systems on the status ladder from announced to in productionANNOUNCEDPILOTROLLING OUTIN PRODUCTIONAiden agent platform (RBC Capital Markets)Agentic retrieval over financial filings (B…Post-remediation risk managementEmerging-technology risk in RBC's annual re…AI-driven product innovationBSA/AML monitoring models under the OCC ord…Fair-lending programme and ML fairness test…AI commercial credit and auto-adjudication…AI-powered insights in the US wealth digita…Adviser productivity and back-office AI (RB…
Figure 2 · Where AI runs at City National, and how far along. 5 of 10 named systems are in production; the rest are rolling out, piloted or announced. Status is as described in the cited source at its date.
SystemWhat it doesStatusUse case
Aiden agent platform (RBC Capital Markets)[6][3]Developed with Borealis AI on NVIDIA AI Enterprise; AidenResearch agents automate earnings content, call summarisation, data-catalogue analysis and real-time filing access for the parent's Global Research division.In productionGenerative & agentic AI
Agentic retrieval over financial filings (Borealis research)[5]Award-winning research on finding and interpreting information in complex filings.PilotTrading & capital markets
Post-remediation risk management[9]Controls rebuilt after the 2024 OCC order; the frame for any AI deployment at the bank.In productionAI governance (general)
Emerging-technology risk in RBC's annual report[1]RBC's 2025 MD&A says the adoption of AI, including GenAI, calls for continued focus and investment to manage risks, alongside City National's three-lines-of-defence rebuild.In productionModel risk management
AI-driven product innovation[8]Led by the SVP for product, AI and innovation; specifics undisclosed.AnnouncedCustomer-facing chatbots
BSA/AML monitoring models under the OCC order[19][18]The January 2024 consent order requires periodic independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds used in City National's BSA/AML monitoring systems, plus documented threshold analysis and testing. The order does not say whether those models use machine learning, and the bank has not described AI in AML.In productionAML / KYC
Fair-lending programme and ML fairness testing[19][23][38]The consent order requires a fair-lending risk-management programme; Marc Fisher oversees fair lending and CRA. RBC holds a granted patent for automated fairness testing of ML models (US 12,651,042 B2, June 2026); the bank has not said City National uses it.AnnouncedFair lending & discrimination
AI commercial credit and auto-adjudication (RBC)[32]McKay told the Scotiabank summit that RBC is 'just starting to deploy' AI for commercial auto-adjudication and credit-submission preparation, built and demonstrated to the board; he places it in RBC commercial banking and does not name City National.Rolling outCredit scoring & underwriting
AI-powered insights in the US wealth digital platform[1]RBC's 2025 40-F lists 'enhancements to the digital platform with AI-powered insights' under US Wealth Management, the segment that includes City National; no product name, user count or model vendor is given.In productionGenerative & agentic AI
Adviser productivity and back-office AI (RBC Wealth Management)[30]On the Q3 2026 call the head of RBC Wealth Management said AI use cases are funded inside existing technology spend, aimed at adviser time with clients, back-office cost and service levels, and 'AI for Alpha' in asset management.AnnouncedGenerative & agentic AI

Use-case links open the tracker's rules-by-use-case matrix: which documents govern each system type.

What has City National disclosed in numbers?

MetricValueAs of
RBC incremental enterprise value from AI, target$700 million – $1 billion by 2027[4]Dec 2, 2025
City National net income, quarter to July 2026$184 million, up 61% year on year[10]Aug 27, 2026
OCC penalty for risk-management deficiencies$65 million (assessed 31 January 2024)[9]Aug 27, 2025
Total assets≈ $98 billion[14]Dec 16, 2025
Total assets$100.10 billion, up from $93.00 billion a year earlier[29]Jul 31, 2026
Deposits and gross loans$82.40 billion of deposits; $69.48 billion of loans and leases[29]Jul 31, 2026
Assets under management; under management or administration$83.87 billion; $113.14 billion[29]Jul 31, 2026
Common equity Tier 1 ratio15.1%[29]Jul 31, 2026
RBC US region efficiency ratio, year to date75%, against a target in the low 70s[31][30]Aug 27, 2026
Employees and branchesMore than 4,900 employees; 71 branches[26]Jun 16, 2026
RBC employees on AI assistants (group, not City National)Almost 27,000 on RBC Assist; 8,000 Capital Markets staff on Aiden[33]Feb 18, 2026

“City National is now on its front foot and recruiting commercial bankers, recruiting private bankers, adding clients.”[9]

Dave McKay · President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada · Aug 27, 2025

“And we'll see AI disruptions. It's here. It's helping our clients. Our clients are adapting to this change. The unknown is just to the extent of who it will disrupt next.”[17]

Joe Yurosek · President, Commercial Banking · Mar 2, 2026

“as we've gone through all of this change in investment in our platform, our risk platforms, our tech platforms. Increasingly, we're building a capability to roll another bank on to those platforms.”[30]

Dave McKay · President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada · Aug 27, 2026

“And that's before we've taken out any of the real cost of our significant remediation efforts and our re-platforming efforts, which will start to come down the end of 2026 into 2027.”[32]

Dave McKay · President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada · Sep 9, 2026

“We're just starting to deploy artificial intelligence into commercial auto adjudication and credit adjudication.”[32]

Dave McKay · President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada · Sep 9, 2026

“David's appointment as COO marks a pivotal moment for City National Bank as we align our teams and capabilities to better serve our clients and achieve our growth ambitions.”[25]

Howard Hammond · President and CEO, City National Bank · Jun 3, 2026

Who runs AI at City National?

Howard HammondLinkedIn ↗

Chief Executive Officer, City National Bank (ex-Fifth Third)[11][17]

Greg CarmichaelLinkedIn ↗

Executive Chair, RBC US; former Fifth Third CEO[11]

Jaya KandaswamyLinkedIn ↗

SVP, Product, AI and Innovation[7][8]

Joe Yurosek

President, Commercial Banking[17][11]

Dave McKayLinkedIn ↗

President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada[9][10]

Michael Palmer

Executive Vice President, Head of Technology and Chief Information Officer, City National; also RBC's US CIO, with a mandate that includes regulatory remediation and US technology strategy across City National, RBC Wealth Management (US), Global Asset Management (US), RBC Bank (Georgia) and Capital Markets (US)[21]

David Cameron

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (new role, June 2026; unified group for bank-wide operations, controls and change management)[25][26]

Price Sloan

Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer (joined May 2023 from Wells Fargo; owns the risk management framework)[22]

Marc Fisher

Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer; RBC US chief compliance officer (oversees fair lending and CRA)[23]

Steve Comer

Executive Vice President, Governance, Risk and Controls Office (regulator liaison; ran Wells Fargo's Consent Program Office before joining in March 2023)[24]

Bruce Ross

Group Head, AI, Royal Bank of Canada (since February 2026; reports to the CEO; previously 12 years as Group Head, Technology and Operations)[33]

Foteini Agrafioti

SVP Data and AI and Chief Science Officer, RBC (Borealis AI; teaches the RBC executive AI course for senior executives and board members in Canada and the US)[3][35]

Bobby Grubert

Head of AI and Digital Innovation, RBC Capital Markets (Aiden platform)[36][37]

What AI roles is City National hiring for?

Data as of · 0 AI-titled postings · read from City National's own careers site, re-checked weekly

No open AI-titled postings on City National's careers site as of Oct 25, 2026. A snapshot of current openings, not a source: postings close. Compare with other banks on which banks are hiring for AI.

Which regulators govern City National's AI?

The regulators around City National's AICity NationalOCC2 documentsFederal Reserve2 documentsCFPB1 documentState of California1 document
Figure 3 · The regulatory perimeter. Each authority links to its tracker page; the number is how many of its documents this page cites. Solid lines are the bank's direct supervisors; dashed lines are consumer, market and global standard-setters that reach it through its activities.
AuthorityWhy it matters hereDocuments
OCCCity National is a national bank operating under the 2024 OCC action on risk management; any AI deployment is examined inside that remediation.OCC Bulletin 2026-13
OCC Semiannual Risk Perspective, Spring 2026
Federal ReserveRBC US Group Holdings is the intermediate holding company; the Borealis platform is a group-provided service under third-party and affiliate guidance.SR 23-4
SR 26-2
CFPBConsumer and private banking with a redlining settlement in its past make fair-lending controls on any AI in credit decisions central.ECOA / Regulation B adverse action (15 U.S.C. 1691(d); 12 CFR 1002.9)
State of CaliforniaA Los Angeles-based bank with California consumers falls under the CPPA's automated-decision rules.CPPA ADMT, risk-assessment and cybersecurity-audit regulations

Side by side: SR 11-7 vs SR 26-2 · OCC vs CFPB on AI lending · PRA SS1/23 vs SR 26-2 · MAS AI Risk Management Guidelines vs SR 26-2 · all comparisons.

What does the public record suggest about City National's AI strategy?

Analysis by BankingNewsAI from the sources cited on this page. Observations, not advice.

01

The parent's AI is the bank's opportunity and its dependency

Borealis gives City National capability most $100 billion banks cannot build; the question examiners will ask is how a group platform is governed inside a US bank still under an OCC order.

02

Remediation sets the pace

A bank rebuilding risk management is right to sequence AI behind controls; the cost is that peers report agent counts while City National reports recruiting.

03

Agentic AI as a customer-relationship question

The bank's AI lead frames agents as a fight for who owns the client; for a private-banking and entertainment-industry franchise, relationship control is the whole business model.

04

Brand migration will change what 'City National AI' means

If the US business becomes RBC-branded, AI disclosure will move to Toronto's annual report, where the $700 million to $1 billion target already lives.

Where does the City National record go deeper?

3 topic pages under this profile, each answering one question from the same sourced record.

Which leader rankings does City National appear in?

2 of the computed leaders rankings include City National, each ranked from the same sourced bank pages.

How does City National compare with its peers?

Its peer group on this site, by business model and size:

What is City National Bank's AI strategy?

It is largely RBC's. The parent has run Borealis AI since 2016, runs AI agents built with Borealis in capital markets, and targets $700 million to $1 billion of incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027. At City National, an SVP for product, AI and innovation leads the work, but the bank has not disclosed budgets, use-case counts or headcount effects, and its 2024–2026 priority has been risk-management remediation and banker recruiting.

Who runs City National Bank?

CEO Howard Hammond and executive chair of RBC's US operations Greg Carmichael, both formerly of Fifth Third, lead a turnaround that RBC's CEO Dave McKay says has the bank 'back on its front foot'. RBC has said it plans to migrate the US business toward a single RBC brand.

Who leads AI at City National Bank?

City National's public leadership page names no chief AI officer. Jaya Kandaswamy, SVP for product, AI and innovation, is its public AI voice. Michael Palmer, executive vice-president and head of technology, is also RBC's US chief information officer; David Cameron became COO in June 2026 over operations, controls and change management. Group AI sits in Toronto: Bruce Ross has been RBC's Group Head, AI since February 2026, reporting to CEO Dave McKay, and Foteini Agrafioti runs Borealis as chief science officer.

How does the OCC consent order affect City National's use of AI?

The 31 January 2024 consent order carried a $65 million penalty and cites unsafe or unsound risk management, noncompliance with the OCC's heightened standards since 31 December 2020 and Bank Secrecy Act violations. It does not mention AI, but it requires periodic independent validation of the models and filtering thresholds in the BSA/AML monitoring systems and a fair-lending programme. RBC said on 9 September 2026 that remediation and re-platforming costs would start to fall from the end of 2026 into 2027, so AI spending competes with that rebuild.

Does City National use RBC's AI platforms such as Aiden, RBC Assist and Borealis?

Not stated. Aiden is described as a Capital Markets platform with 8,000 users; RBC Assist has almost 27,000 users group-wide; neither disclosure breaks out City National. The one City National-inclusive AI disclosure is in RBC's 2025 40-F, where US Wealth Management lists 'AI-powered insights' in its digital platform. RBC's executive AI course covers senior executives and board members in Canada and the United States, and McKay says City National sits on the same technology and risk platforms as the rest of the US business.

  1. Royal Bank of Canada Annual Report 2025, Management's Discussion and Analysis (Form 40-F exhibit)
    Royal Bank of Canada (SEC filings) · Dec 3, 2025
  2. Royal Bank of Canada (RY) (Q3 2026) Earnings Call Highlights
    GuruFocus (Yahoo Finance) · Aug 27, 2026
  3. Tech @ RBC: Preparing our workforce for a future with AI
    RBC · Jan 5, 2026
  4. RBC 2025 Annual Report ($700 million to $1 billion incremental enterprise value from AI by 2027)
    RBC · Dec 2, 2025
  5. RBC researchers win global AI challenge for finance
    RBC · May 27, 2026
  6. RBC Estimates $1B in Revenue by Embedding AI in Core Banking
    PYMNTS · Mar 23, 2026
  7. Jaya Kandaswamy, SVP, Product, AI and Innovation, City National Bank (Virtual Summits profile)
    American Banker · Aug 7, 2026
  8. Jaya Kandaswamy, SVP, Product, AI and Innovation, City National Bank (Digital Banking speaker)
    American Banker · May 20, 2025
  9. RBC's City National Bank is back on 'front foot,' CEO says
    American Banker · Aug 27, 2025
  10. Texas is on RBC's map to grow its City National Bank unit
    American Banker · Aug 27, 2026
  11. RBC plans mortgage expansion under revised US strategy
    American Banker · Mar 27, 2025
  12. RBC lifts its return target, downplays interest in US M&A
    American Banker · Dec 3, 2025
  13. BNY and Nubank CEOs join OpenAI board, shake-up at Old National (roundup: City National names Lindsay Dunn)
    American Banker · Jul 24, 2026
  14. RBC's City National makes Carolinas push
    Banking Dive · Dec 16, 2025
  15. KeyCorp taps City National, Fifth Third alum as strategy chief
    Banking Dive · Sep 1, 2026
  16. City National Bank Expands in the Carolinas with New Offices in Charlotte and Greenville
    PR Newswire via FT Markets · Dec 15, 2025
  17. Banking & Finance Quarterly: Riding Winds of Change (Los Angeles Business Journal interview with Joe Yurosek, reprinted by City National)
    City National Bank · Mar 2, 2026
  18. OCC Assesses $65 Million Penalty Against City National Bank (News Release 2024-8)
    OCC · Jan 31, 2024
  19. Consent Order, City National Bank, Los Angeles, California (AA-ENF-2024-8)
    OCC · Jan 31, 2024
  20. RBC subsidiary City National hit with $65M OCC penalty
    Banking Dive · Feb 1, 2024
  21. Michael Palmer, Executive Vice President and Head of Technology (leadership profile)
    City National Bank · Oct 13, 2026
  22. Price Sloan, Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer (leadership profile)
    City National Bank · Oct 13, 2026
  23. Marc Fisher, Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer (leadership profile)
    City National Bank · Oct 13, 2026
  24. Steve Comer, Executive Vice President, Governance, Risk and Controls Office (leadership profile)
    City National Bank · Oct 13, 2026
  25. David Cameron Named Chief Operating Officer of City National Bank
    City National Bank · Jun 3, 2026
  26. RBC's City National Bank promotes David Cameron to COO
    FinTech Futures · Jun 16, 2026
  27. Lindsay Dunn Named Head of Personal & Business Banking at City National Bank
    City National Bank · Jul 21, 2026
  28. Chad Lloyd Joins City National Bank to Lead RBC U.S. Mortgage
    City National Bank via PR Newswire · Sep 10, 2026
  29. City National Bank At-A-Glance Q3 2026
    City National Bank · Sep 22, 2026
  30. RBC (RY) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript (earnings call transcript, The Motley Fool)
    The Motley Fool · Aug 31, 2026
  31. Royal Bank of Canada Third Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call, prepared remarks
    RBC · Aug 27, 2026
  32. Royal Bank of Canada at Scotiabank summit: AI, growth lift returns (transcript)
    Investing.com · Sep 9, 2026
  33. RBC creates new AI Group to help bring top AI opportunities to market
    RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance) · Feb 18, 2026
  34. RBC and Cohere partner to develop the next generation of highly secure generative AI solutions for financial services
    RBC via PR Newswire · Jan 9, 2025
  35. RBC joins Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) CSAIL fintech research initiative on the role of AI in the future of finance
    RBC via CNW (Yahoo Finance) · Jul 18, 2025
  36. 5 questions with RBC's Head of AI and Digital Innovation Bobby Grubert (FinAi News article PDF)
    FinAi News via ABA · May 4, 2026
  37. #44 At RBC, Bobby Grubert is moving AI from a tool to a collaborator
    American Banker · Jun 1, 2026
  38. US12651042B2: System and method for machine learning fairness testing (Royal Bank of Canada)
    Google Patents (USPTO) · Jun 9, 2026
  39. US12417407B2: System and method for machine learning monitoring (Royal Bank of Canada)
    Google Patents (USPTO) · Sep 16, 2025
  40. US12079813B2: System and method for identifying suspicious destinations (Royal Bank of Canada)
    Google Patents (USPTO) · Sep 3, 2024

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