'Safety first' and data-lineage first: a Buffalo tech hub, Copilot for 16,000 staff, a second-line AI risk function — and a CEO who says the bank will keep humming 'a familiar refrain'.
How is M&T using AI?
M&T's AI strategy is the product of an eight-year technology transformation run by Michael Wisler, a Capital One veteran who became CIO in 2018, brought technology in-house, and built tech hubs in Buffalo and Wilmington that plan to hire 1,000 technologists within three to five years. The AI layer on top is deliberately careful: Microsoft Copilot for 16,000 of 22,000 employees, chosen for stability, on a data-lineage foundation that chief data officer Andrew Foster describes as 'safety first'; a dedicated second-line AI Risk Oversight function led by the former head of model risk; a head of AI engineering hired from Fannie Mae in August 2026; and agentic AI being examined for cybersecurity and fraud. CEO René Jones's 2026 letter sets the tone — 'while others chase the new siren song, we will continue to steadfastly hum a familiar refrain' — and the bank's award-winning credit-monitoring work with RDC.AI shows where AI is landing first: commercial portfolio insight.
Lead bank
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
Assets (lead bank, Jun 30, 2026)
$219 billion
Charter
State member bank (Fed)
Headquarters
Buffalo, NY
Flagship platform
Microsoft Copilot on a data-lineage foundation
AI leadership
Michael Wisler · Andrew Foster · Rhea Rajwani · Kalyana Bedhu · René Jones · Daryl Bible · Linda Tai · Peter D'Arcy · Nicholas Batyko · Sarah Hudak · Kim Nupp · Rudina Seseri · Matt McAfee
- Eight-year transformation under Michael Wisler (CIO from 2018, Senior EVP of Technology and Operations since 2025): technology brought in-house, contractor reliance cut, tech hubs at Seneca One in Buffalo (opened 2021) and in Wilmington, with a 2021 plan to hire more than 1,000 technologists over three to five years.
- Copilot for 16,000 of 22,000 employees — first drafts of emails and reports, call-centre summaries saving about six minutes per call; staff remain responsible for reviewing and approving outputs.
- Data before models: a data-lineage program, the Edison repository of authoritative documents, a Data Academy with about 2,000 graduates; Foster's 'safety first' framing.
- Governance built into the second line: Rhea Rajwani, formerly head of model risk management, leads AI Risk Oversight in independent risk management, aligned to regulatory expectations and peer benchmarks.
- August 2026: Kalyana Bedhu, from Fannie Mae's AI and machine-learning operations, named head of AI engineering — platforms, architecture and governance for AI across the bank.
- Where AI lands: credit monitoring and portfolio insight with RDC.AI (2026 Banking Tech Awards Editor's Choice); AI-powered cash application for commercial clients; participation in the Cari tokenised-deposit network and FIS's Project Keystone.
- Scale behind it: technology spending above $1.2 billion in 2025, about 2,000 technologists in more than 300 agile teams, and customer-affecting releases up from about 15,000 a year to 65,000; Jones says about 16,000 of 22,000 employees are now proficient in some form of AI, with LLM experiments under way in credit (September 2026).
- Disclosure: the 2025 10-K carries a dedicated AI risk factor (evolving law, incorrect or biased model output, limited explainability, dependence on third-party models, AI-enabled fraud); on the Q1 2026 call the CFO named automating operations 'using AI and other tools' as a priority for freed-up tech spend.
- Reporting lines: Linda Tai is the bank's chief information officer; Andrew Foster, chief data officer since March 2023 (ex-Deutsche Bank), reports to the CIO and has AI in his mandate; Rhea Rajwani runs second-line AI risk oversight; Kalyana Bedhu runs AI engineering (Forbes, PYMNTS, American Banker, Buffalo Business First).
- Board reporting: Jones told American Banker (March 2026) he gives the board a list of what was deployed using AI since the previous meeting, such as AI-written first test scripts. At the RBC conference (10 March 2026) he said AI cut root-cause analysis of a customer complaint to about seven minutes from about a week.
- Build or buy is unsettled in public: in November 2025 Jones said M&T would not develop the AI solutions itself, that they would come from vendors, and that the bank had about 100 use cases; by August 2026 Wisler described a third, proprietary pathway of in-house LLM and agentic work alongside Copilot and AI embedded in 1,800-plus applications.
- Filings are quiet: the AI risk factor appears in both the 2024 10-K (19 February 2025) and the 2025 10-K, but a text search of the Q1 and Q2 2026 10-Qs finds no mention of AI. On the Q2 2026 call (15 July) AI came up only as an analyst question on loan exposure to the AI industry, which CFO Daryl Bible answered with core-customer demand and leasing growth.
- Governance mechanics: a federated data-governance model, the EDM Council's DCAM assessment, lineage tools from Solidatus and Monte Carlo, retrieval over governed internal data, and a rule that staff stay accountable for outputs; Foster says gen AI 'gets you 60% of the way, then a human reviews it and takes it the other 40%'.
- Partners and IP: named AI-related suppliers are Microsoft (Copilot), RDC.AI through nCino, Amperity, Solidatus, Monte Carlo and GitLab; a Google Patents search on Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company finds only security-interest listings and no M&T AI patent.
- Open AI roles on its careers site include a head of forward-deployed engineering for AI, an AI governance lead, a GenAI platform engineering lead and a model-risk validator for AI/ML and GenAI (listed below, as of 24 September 2026).
What is Microsoft Copilot on a data-lineage foundation?
M&T chose Microsoft Copilot as its enterprise generative-AI tool after chief data officer Andrew Foster vetted providers for 'a stable, strong partner'; 16,000 of 22,000 employees use it for first drafts and call summaries, which Foster estimates save about six minutes per call. Underneath sits a data-lineage program tracing where information originates and how it moves, an internal repository of authoritative documents called Edison, and a Data Academy that has trained about 2,000 employees.[1][4]
What AI partnerships and patents does M&T Bank have?
M&T's named AI suppliers are Microsoft (Copilot for 16,000 of 22,000 employees), RDC.AI through nCino for credit monitoring, Amperity for customer data, Solidatus and Monte Carlo for data lineage, and GitLab for code generation. It joined the Cari tokenised-deposit network and FIS's Project Keystone, which are payments rather than AI. No AI patent assigned to Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company was found: the only Google Patents hits are security-interest listings where the bank acts as collateral agent. No GPU vendor, frontier-model contract or AI capex figure is public.[1][19][20][37][11][12]
| Item | What it is | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot | Enterprise generative-AI tool chosen after Foster vetted providers; pilot of about 800 staff first | In production | 2025-09-18[1] |
| GitLab | Code-generation tools used by M&T developers | In production | 2025-09-18[1] |
| Solidatus and Monte Carlo | Data-lineage and data-quality software under the AI program | In production | 2025-09-18[1][18] |
| RDC.AI via nCino | Continuous credit monitoring on an explainable-AI platform; Editor's Choice at the 2026 Banking Tech Awards USA | In production | 2026-08-19[19][8] |
| Amperity | AI-powered customer data cloud for a unified customer view | Announced | 2025-08-05[20] |
| Coconut Software | Names M&T among customers of its AI-powered branch workforce-management product (vendor statement) | Vendor claim | 2026-06-11[36] |
| EDM Council DCAM | Data-capability assessment model applied across the federated data organisation | In production | 2025-05-09[30] |
| TechBuffalo and Microsoft TechSpark | M&T is a named supporter of AI-skills training in Western New York | Supporter | 2025-07-08[35] |
| Cari tokenised-deposit network | Bank-owned tokenised deposits with other regionals (payments, not AI) | Announced | 2026-02-18[11] |
| Patents assigned to Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | Google Patents assignee search returns only security-interest listings; no AI patent or application found | None found | 2026-10-13[37] |
What has M&T done on AI, and when?
- Oct 1, 2026
Rajwani on AI agents and deposit runs[31]
Speaking for herself, she says agents could make deposit movement faster and more coordinated, but adoption is limited by trust, authentication and liability questions.
- Sep 25, 2026
FinTech Futures profiles the RDC.AI deployment at M&T[33]
Describes portfolio monitoring with predictive models and agentic workflows, where staff can override or reject recommendations.
- Sep 18, 2026
Jones: 16,000 employees AI-proficient, LLM experiments in credit[17]
AI in cybersecurity, fraud and credit, anomaly detection to spot commercial-credit changes sooner, and a review of how vendors add AI.
- Sep 16, 2026
Barclays conference: three-part AI plan and a margin warning[28]
Jones: 16,000 of 22,000 employees trained, outsourced technology reviewed, in-house LLM experiments; AI used in cybersecurity, fraud and credit; he warns that a 20% efficiency gain from AI would most likely pass to customers and squeeze margins.
- Sep 4, 2026
Three routes to generative AI[18]
General employee use, AI embedded in vendor applications and proprietary systems on the bank's own data; technology spend above $1.2 billion in 2025.
- Sep 2, 2026
Copilots to 15,000-plus employees; agentic AI examined for cyber and fraud[4]
Fast Company's Pacesetters profile of Wisler's transformation.
- Aug 28, 2026
Wisler: dozens of gen-AI use cases on three pathways[5]
Forbes: about 16,000 employees using gen AI, 1,800-plus applications screened for embedded AI, and early proprietary work on repetitive tasks, software development, fraud and cyber.
- Aug 19, 2026
RDC.AI credit-monitoring work wins Editor's Choice[8]
2026 Banking Tech Awards USA; earlier issue detection, fewer unnecessary alerts.
- Aug 18, 2026
Tokenised deposits: 'years of thoughtful work'[3]
Matt McAfee, head of enterprise innovation and digital assets, on managing the risks.
- Aug 11, 2026
Head of AI engineering hired from Fannie Mae[6]
Kalyana Bedhu takes engineering, platforms, architecture and governance for AI.
- Aug 4, 2026
- Jul 23, 2026
AI Risk Oversight function profiled[2]
Rhea Rajwani builds the second-line AI risk program.
- Jul 15, 2026
Q2 2026 call: AI appears only as an analyst question[25]
Gerard Cassidy asks about loan exposure to the AI industry; Bible cites core-customer demand, and says technology and cyber expense is rising.
- Jul 10, 2026
- Apr 30, 2026
Project Keystone: bank-owned tokenised money with FIS[12]
Citizens, Fifth Third, Huntington, KeyBank and M&T among participants.
- Apr 15, 2026
Q1 2026 call: freed-up tech spend goes to automation with AI[15]
General-ledger conversion complete; priorities are 'teaming for growth' and operational excellence using AI and other tools.
- Mar 16, 2026
Jones brings a list of AI deployments to every board meeting[16]
American Banker interview: items include AI-run first test scripts; he says the point is re-engineering, not AI.
- Mar 16, 2026
Jones: AI aimed at the fundamental banking risks[16]
In an American Banker interview, AI investment focused on credit, liquidity, fraud and cyber rather than matching the largest banks.
- Mar 16, 2026
CEO letter: technology transformation, 'a familiar refrain'[7]
Jones on hiring and cultivating the best people to navigate change.
- Mar 10, 2026
Jones: AI cuts complaint root-cause analysis to about seven minutes[27]
At the RBC conference, citing a re-engineered complaints process where AI replaced a week-long review.
- Feb 18, 2026
Joins the Cari tokenised-deposit network[11]
With Huntington, First Horizon, KeyCorp and Old National.
- Feb 18, 2026
- Jan 16, 2026
Q4 2025 call: automation inside the operational-excellence priority[26]
CFO Daryl Bible lists maturing automation and enterprise-wide control processes; no AI product is named.
- Nov 6, 2025
Jones: about 100 AI use cases, most AI to come from vendors[29]
At the BancAnalysts Boston conference he said M&T would not be developing the AI solutions itself and would focus on credit, liquidity and deposit movement.
- Nov 6, 2025
- Sep 18, 2025
Copilot for 16,000 employees; data quality first[1]
Foster vets LLM providers, chooses Microsoft; lineage and Edison underpin gen AI.
- Aug 5, 2025
Amperity chosen for a unified customer view[20]
The AI-powered customer data cloud consolidates customer interactions for M&T's Customer 360 work.
- Jul 16, 2025
AI and automation for working capital[10]
AI/ML cash application for commercial clients: remittance capture, invoice matching, deductions.
- Jul 8, 2025
M&T backs TechBuffalo with Microsoft[35]
Microsoft names M&T Bank among supporters of a nonprofit building an AI-ready workforce in Western New York.
- May 9, 2025
Foster sets out the data and AI mandate[30]
Data Academy trained more than 1,000 employees in 2024; DCAM adopted across a federated data organisation; AI sits inside the CDO mandate.
- Feb 19, 2025
2024 10-K already carries a dedicated AI risk factor[22]
Evolving AI law, incorrect or biased output, limited explainability and reliance on third-party models; the 2025 10-K repeats it.
- May 15, 2024
Continuous credit monitoring on nCino with RDC's explainable AI[19]
Early-warning signs and cash-flow and credit-risk insight across commercial and business-banking portfolios.
- Mar 1, 2023
- Apr 28, 2021
Buffalo Tech Hub opens at Seneca One[9]
Nearly $58 million invested in a 330,000-square-foot hub; plans to hire more than 1,000 technologists over three to five years.
- Jan 1, 2018
Michael Wisler becomes CIO[4]
Begins bringing technology in-house and reducing contractor reliance.
Where does M&T use AI today?
| System | What it does | Status | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot[1] | First drafts and call summaries for 16,000 employees. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| Credit monitoring with RDC.AI[8] | Agentic and predictive intelligence on commercial portfolios; earlier issue detection. | In production | Credit scoring & underwriting |
| AI cash application[10] | Remittance digitisation and invoice matching for commercial clients. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| AI Risk Oversight (second line)[2] | Independent oversight program for responsible AI adoption. | In production | Model risk management |
| Agentic AI for cyber and fraud (under review)[4] | Applications being examined, per Fast Company. | Pilot | Cybersecurity |
| AI anomaly detection and LLM experiments in credit[17] | Faster credit decisions and earlier warning of changes in a commercial customer's activity; experimental large-language-model work on credit applications. | Pilot | Credit scoring & underwriting |
| AI inside vendor applications[18][17] | One of three gen-AI routes across 1,800-plus applications, many vendor-supplied; the bank is reviewing how vendors incorporate AI. | Rolling out | Third-party & vendor AI |
| AI risk-factor disclosure[14] | 10-K covers evolving AI law, erroneous or biased output, explainability, third-party model dependence and AI-enabled fraud. | In production | Model risk management |
| Data lineage, Edison and the Data Academy[4][1] | The data foundation under the AI program; ~2,000 employees trained. | In production | AI governance (general) |
| AI root-cause analysis of customer complaints[27] | Re-engineered complaints process where AI finds root cause in about seven minutes, against about a week, per Jones. | In production | Generative & agentic AI |
| AI code generation and test scripts[1][16][5] | Developers use GitLab to generate code; first test scripts are now written by AI, per Jones; Wisler lists software development among early proprietary uses. | In production | AI-generated code & coding agents |
| AI in fraud prevention and cyber defence[28][5] | Jones says AI is used in cybersecurity, fraud and credit; Wisler names fraud prevention and cyber defence as early proprietary applications. | Rolling out | Fraud detection |
| Approved-tool rule and retrieval over governed data[1][18] | Public LLMs were first blocked from the network; Copilot is the approved tool, retrieval is limited to internal governed data, and staff remain accountable for outputs. | In production | Data & privacy |
| Board reporting and federated data governance[16][30] | Jones lists AI deployments for the board at each meeting; Foster runs a federated data-governance model and the DCAM assessment. | In production | AI governance (general) |
Use-case links open the tracker's rules-by-use-case matrix: which documents govern each system type.
Which AI vendors and fintechs does M&T work with?
| Company | What M&T uses it for | Status | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pindrop | Call-center authentication and fraud detection; Pindrop describes M&T as a customer that switched from its existing authentication solution to Pindrop technologies. | In production | Fraud detection |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft Copilot chosen as the bank's generative-AI tool; 16,000 of 22,000 employees use it for first drafts and call-centre summaries. | In production | Enterprise AI assistants |
| nCino | Continuous Credit Monitoring powered by Rich Data Co's explainable AI (early-warning credit risk) | Announced | Banking platforms |
Each vendor and fintech page cites the source for the relationship, and vendor pages list products, pricing and other bank customers. Compare AI tools for banks by category, or read the fintech and neobank AI dossiers.
What has M&T disclosed in numbers?
| Metric | Value | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic banking offices | 942, in 12 states and the District of Columbia[14] | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Employees on Copilot | 16,000 of 22,000[1] | Sep 18, 2025 |
| Time saved per call (gen-AI summaries) | ≈ 6 minutes[4] | Sep 2, 2026 |
| Data Academy graduates | ≈ 2,000[4] | Sep 2, 2026 |
| Technologists to hire (Tech Hub plan) | 1,000+ over three to five years[9] | Apr 28, 2021 |
| Total assets | $213.8 billion[21] | May 6, 2026 |
| Employees proficient in some form of AI | ≈ 16,000 of 22,000[17] | Sep 18, 2026 |
| Technology spending | > $1.2 billion in 2025 (nearly 3x 2017)[18] | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Technologists / agile teams | ≈ 2,000 / 300+[18] | Sep 4, 2026 |
| Customer-affecting releases a year | ≈ 15,000 (five or six years ago) → 65,000[17] | Sep 18, 2026 |
| AI use cases in flight (Jones) | about 100[29] | Nov 6, 2025 |
| Generative-AI use cases (Wisler) | dozens[5] | Aug 28, 2026 |
| AI root-cause analysis of a customer complaint | about 7 minutes (against about a week)[27] | Mar 10, 2026 |
| Copilot pilot before firm-wide use | about 800 employees[1] | Sep 18, 2025 |
| Data Academy trainees in 2024 | more than 1,000[30] | Dec 31, 2024 |
| Technology engineers who are bank employees | 84%[5] | Aug 28, 2026 |
| End-of-life technology share | 7% (15% before; industry average 12%)[27] | Mar 10, 2026 |
| Technology Development Program graduates hired | more than 350[5] | Aug 28, 2026 |
“While others chase the new siren song, we will continue to steadfastly hum a familiar refrain.”[7]
René Jones · Chairman and CEO · Mar 16, 2026
“So our goal is to be sharper and reinvent and re-engineer those processes that are tied to those eight fundamental risks.”[16]
René Jones · Chairman and CEO · Mar 16, 2026
“Priorities now: teaming for growth—deeper wallet from customers and in regions—and operational excellence—simplify and automate operations using AI and other tools.”[15]
Daryl Bible · Senior EVP and CFO · Apr 15, 2026
“There's a lot of innovation here, but it's going to take years of thoughtful work, both from banks and the regulators that oversee us.”[3]
Matt McAfee · Head of Enterprise Innovation and Digital Assets · Aug 18, 2026
“So we've put human decision-making, critical thinking, at the center of AI adoption.”[1]
Andrew Foster · Chief Data Officer · Sep 18, 2025
“We think that we’re not going to be the ones that develop the AI solutions. They’re going to be vendored out too.”[29]
René Jones · Chairman and CEO · Nov 6, 2025
“applying AI, allowed us to get to root cause in like, literally like 7 minutes, as opposed to, you know, the week-long process”[27]
René Jones · Chairman and CEO · Mar 10, 2026
“We’ve got to find safe, transparent constructs in which we can satisfy that model certainty with something that essentially is hard to pin down when it’s more generative”[5]
Michael Wisler · Senior EVP, Technology and Operations · Aug 28, 2026
“The real question is not whether AI causes a run, but whether AI removes the friction that traditionally slows customer behavior.”[31]
Rhea Rajwani · Head of AI and emerging banking solutions risk (speaking for herself, not the bank) · Oct 1, 2026
Who runs AI at M&T?
Michael WislerLinkedIn ↗
Senior EVP, Technology and Operations (CIO from 2018; operations added in 2025)[4][5]
Andrew FosterLinkedIn ↗
Chief Data Officer (since March 2023; owns the data and AI strategy; reports to the CIO)[1][30]
Rhea RajwaniLinkedIn ↗
Head of AI Risk Oversight, Independent Risk Management (styled head of AI and emerging banking solutions risk in October 2026)[2][31]
Kalyana BedhuLinkedIn ↗
Head of AI Engineering (from August 2026)[6]
Daryl Bible
Senior EVP and Chief Financial Officer[15]
Linda TaiLinkedIn ↗
Chief Information Officer (announced the AI engineering hire in August 2026)[32][6]
Peter D'Arcy
Head of Commercial Banking (business sponsor of the RDC.AI credit-monitoring work)[8][33]
Nicholas Batyko
Engineering Director (credit-risk automation with nCino and RDC, 2024)[19]
Sarah Hudak
Director of Credit Product Delivery (early-warning automation, 2024)[19]
Kim Nupp
Director (customer data; Amperity selection, 2025)[20]
Rudina Seseri
Director; founder and managing partner of Glasswing Ventures, an AI-focused venture firm[34]
Matt McAfeeLinkedIn ↗
Head of Enterprise Innovation and Digital Assets[3]
What AI roles is M&T hiring for?
Data as of · 6 AI-titled postings · read from M&T's own careers site, re-checked weekly
6 open AI-related postings on M&T'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.
Principal AI Platform Engineer
Remote, USA · posted
Buffalo, NY · posted
Buffalo, NY
Principal First Line Risk Specialist - Cybersecurity and AI Initiatives
Buffalo, NY · posted
Which regulators govern M&T's AI?
| Authority | Why it matters here | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Reserve | State member bank supervised by the Fed; SR 26-2 and SR 23-4 govern models and the Microsoft dependency. | SR 26-2 SR 23-4 |
| NY DFS | New York-chartered: Part 500 and the DFS AI letters apply directly. | 23 NYCRR Part 500 DFS AI Cybersecurity Industry Letter (Oct 2024) |
| Basel Committee | The data-lineage program is BCBS 239 discipline applied to AI. | BCBS 239 |
| CFPB | Consumer and small-business lending; adverse-action duties apply. | ECOA / Regulation B adverse action (15 U.S.C. 1691(d); 12 CFR 1002.9) |
Side by side: SR 11-7 vs SR 26-2 · PRA SS1/23 vs SR 26-2 · MAS AI Risk Management Guidelines vs SR 26-2 · OCC vs CFPB on AI lending · all comparisons.
What does the public record suggest about M&T's AI strategy?
Analysis by BankingNewsAI from the sources cited on this page. Observations, not advice.
01
A second-line AI risk function is what supervisors describe, built before the agents
Moving the head of model risk into AI Risk Oversight is the organisational move the FSB's practices and the revised US guidance imply. Few regionals have done it this explicitly.
02
One vendor, chosen for stability, keeps the model risk simple
Copilot as the single enterprise tool trades capability for control. The third-party question is concentration in Microsoft; the model-risk question is easier than at multi-model peers.
03
The 'familiar refrain' is a strategy, not a lack of one
Jones's letter positions people and judgment over technology; the Buffalo hiring plan shows the bank means to own its technology anyway.
04
Watch the new AI engineering head
A Fannie Mae ML-operations veteran running platforms and governance suggests the next phase is in-house model building, not only Copilot adoption.
Where does the M&T record go deeper?
Which leader rankings does M&T appear in?
6 of the computed leaders rankings include M&T, each ranked from the same sourced bank pages.
How does M&T compare with its peers?
- How does M&T Bank compare with its peers on AI and technology?
- M&T Bank competitors and alternatives, by business line
Its peer group on this site, by business model and size:
Who leads AI at M&T Bank?
M&T has no chief AI officer. Linda Tai is chief information officer, and Michael Wisler, who was CIO from 2018, is Senior EVP of Technology and Operations. Andrew Foster, chief data officer since March 2023, holds the data and AI strategy and reports to the CIO. Kalyana Bedhu, hired from Fannie Mae in August 2026, heads AI engineering. Rhea Rajwani leads second-line AI Risk Oversight in independent risk management. CEO René Jones sets the priorities and says he gives the board a list of AI deployments at each meeting.
Does M&T Bank mention AI in its SEC filings and earnings calls?
Sparingly. The AI risk factor appears in the 2024 10-K (19 February 2025) and again in the 2025 10-K (18 February 2026), covering regulation, biased or wrong output, limited explainability, third-party models and AI-enabled fraud. A text search of the Q1 and Q2 2026 10-Qs finds no AI mention. On the Q2 2026 call (15 July) AI came up only as an analyst question about loan exposure to the AI industry; the Q1 call named automating operations 'using AI and other tools' as a priority.
How does M&T Bank use AI in lending and operations?
In commercial credit, M&T uses RDC.AI's explainable platform, bought through nCino in 2024, for early-warning and portfolio monitoring; it won a 2026 Banking Tech Awards Editor's Choice prize. In operations, AI cash application serves commercial clients, AI cut a customer-complaint root-cause review to about seven minutes from about a week, and Copilot summarises calls at about six minutes saved each. Jones says experimental LLM work in credit aims at faster decisions; bankers can override model recommendations.
What AI does M&T Bank use?
M&T uses Microsoft Copilot as its enterprise generative-AI tool — 16,000 of its 22,000 employees use it for first drafts of emails and reports and for summarising call-centre conversations — on top of a data-lineage foundation, an internal document repository called Edison and a Data Academy. It also uses AI in commercial credit monitoring with RDC.AI and in cash application for commercial clients, and is examining agentic AI for cybersecurity and fraud.
How does M&T govern AI risk?
Through a dedicated second-line AI Risk Oversight function inside independent risk management, led by Rhea Rajwani, who previously ran the bank's model risk management. The program is aligned to regulatory expectations, industry guidance and peer benchmarks, and staff remain responsible for reviewing and approving AI outputs.
- How M&T Bank ensures data quality as it implements gen AI
- Rhea Rajwani — The Most Powerful Women in Banking (profile)
- Tokenized deposits are here. Banks need to manage the risks.
- How this Buffalo-based bank is using tech as a competitive edge
- How M&T Bank Built A Technology Powerhouse In Buffalo
- M&T Bank Appoints Fannie Mae Veteran Kalyana Bedhu as AI Engineering Head
- M&T Bank CEO René Jones Highlights Strong Performance, Technology Transformation in Annual Letter
- M&T Bank and RDC.AI Recognized with Editor's Choice Award at 2026 Banking Tech Awards USA
- M&T Bank Unveils Buffalo Tech Hub, Designed to Create Over 1,000 Jobs
- How AI and automation are unlocking working capital
- US Banks Build Tokenized Deposit Network to Guard Their Turf
- FIS and Leading Financial Institutions to Build Their Own Digital Tokenized Money Network
- M&T eschews the temptation of national presence
- M&T Bank Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2025
- M&T Bank (MTB) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- Regional banks in today's economy: M&T CEO Rene Jones
- M&T Bank Sees Broad 2026 Loan Growth as AI and Fee Businesses Gain Traction
- M&T Bank expands enterprise AI after years of technology overhaul
- M&T Bank Expands Use of nCino with Adoption of Continuous Credit Monitoring Solution Powered by Rich Data Co's Explainable AI Platform
- M&T Bank Selects Amperity to Accelerate Customer Data Strategy
- M&T takes 'patient' approach to M&A, CFO says
- M&T Bank Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2024
- M&T Bank Corporation Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 31 March 2026
- M&T Bank Corporation Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026
- M&T Bank (MTB) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- M&T Bank (MTB) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
- M&T Bank at RBC Conference: Strategic Growth and Challenges (transcript)
- M&T Bank at Barclays conference: growth, tech and capital discipline (transcript)
- M&T Bank at Boston Conference: Strategic Transformation Insights (transcript)
- How Data And AI Are Driving Business Transformation At M&T Bank
- AI agent bank runs possible but unlikely, experts say
- M&T exec details bank's strategy for technology, growth
- Bringing explainable AI to commercial and business banking
- Rudina Seseri, Board of Directors
- Skilling up from K-to-Gray (TechBuffalo)
- Coconut Software Launches AI-Powered Branch Workforce Management Solution
- Google Patents assignee search: Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
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