# Royal Bank of Canada: Technology stack

Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/rbc/technology-stack
Last updated: Nov 11, 2026

*Part of the [Royal Bank of Canada AI strategy profile](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/rbc).*

## What is RBC's technology stack?

RBC runs a hybrid stack: its own data centers and mainframe, a private cloud, and public cloud for workloads that need scale. Its head of cloud engineering said in November 2023 that the bank owns its datacenters and keeps well-running legacy systems there, while the data it holds in the public cloud had doubled every year for three years and it is a heavy user of Amazon Web Services' Kubernetes. For AI it built a private cloud in 2020 with Red Hat OpenShift and NVIDIA DGX systems. The data and AI layer is Lumina, built with its research institute RBC Borealis, which collects more than one billion business events and can process up to 10 billion transactions per minute; ATOM, RBC's proprietary foundation model disclosed on July 29, 2025, is part of it. Generative AI comes through Cohere's North for Banking, announced on January 9, 2025, and through the Aiden platform in capital markets, built on NVIDIA AI Enterprise. CEO Dave McKay said in January 2026 that technology spending reaches about $6 billion per year. Naim Kazmi has led Technology & Operations since February 2026. ([Waters Technology (rbc.com)](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-Outlines-Hybrid-Cloud-Strategy.pdf), [RBC](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/technology/infrastructure-and-operations.html), [RBC](https://www.rbc.com/newsroom/news/2020/20200723-borealis-redhat-nvidia.html), [RBC Capital Markets](https://www.rbccm.com/en/insights/2025/10/rbc-ranks-1-in-canada-and-3-globally-for-ai-maturity), [Royal Bank of Canada (CNW via Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbcs-proprietary-ai-foundation-model-140100158.html), [Royal Bank of Canada (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/rbc-and-cohere-partner-to-develop-the-next-generation-of-highly-secure-generative-ai-solutions-for-financial-services-302346783.html), [NVIDIA](https://nvidia.com/en-us/case-studies/rbc-capital-markets), [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/news/banking/2026/davos-signals-a-disciplined-era-for-ai-in-banking-and-fintech/), [Royal Bank of Canada](https://rbc.com/newsroom/article.html?article=126074))

## What are the layers of RBC's technology stack?

As RBC and its vendors describe them. RBC has not published an architecture diagram, and the sources below do not give a count of data centers or name the vendor of its core banking system.

| Layer | What is on the record | Source | Date | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Infrastructure | 'Our global data centres, mainframe and hybrid cloud network' serve application teams; a private cloud in RBC's own data centres plus public cloud infrastructure from third-party vendors; operations described as fully software-defined | RBC Infrastructure and Operations page | Undated (retrieved November 11, 2026) | [RBC](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/technology/infrastructure-and-operations.html) |
| Public cloud use | Head of cloud engineering Vinh Tran: the amount of data moved to the public cloud doubled every year over three years; a heavy user of Amazon Web Services' Kubernetes, with containers preferred to virtual machines; cloud platforms serve more than 5,000 application teams | Waters Technology (reprint on rbc.com) | November 2023 | [Waters Technology (rbc.com)](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-Outlines-Hybrid-Cloud-Strategy.pdf) |
| What stays on premises | Legacy systems that run well on virtual machines or containers and need no extra scale stay put. Tran: 'We own the datacenters'. Security, he said, is 'probably 80% of my job' | Waters Technology (reprint on rbc.com) | November 2023 | [Waters Technology (rbc.com)](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-Outlines-Hybrid-Cloud-Strategy.pdf) |
| AI private cloud | An in-house AI computing platform built by RBC and Borealis AI with Red Hat and NVIDIA, running on Red Hat OpenShift and NVIDIA's DGX AI computing systems | RBC release | July 23, 2020 | [RBC](https://www.rbc.com/newsroom/news/2020/20200723-borealis-redhat-nvidia.html) |
| Data and AI platform | Lumina collects and curates more than one billion business events and can analyze up to 10 billion transactions per minute; PYMNTS reports it runs on one of the largest private-sector graphics processing unit clusters in Canada | RBC Capital Markets; RBC release; PYMNTS | October 8, 2025; March 23, 2026 | [RBC Capital Markets](https://www.rbccm.com/en/insights/2025/10/rbc-ranks-1-in-canada-and-3-globally-for-ai-maturity), [Royal Bank of Canada (CNW via Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbcs-proprietary-ai-foundation-model-140100158.html), [PYMNTS](https://pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2026/rbc-embeds-ai-at-the-core-of-banking-aiming-for-1-billion-in-returns) |
| ATOM | Proprietary foundation model (Asynchronous Temporal Model) created by RBC Borealis and trained on large-scale financial datasets including billions of client financial transactions; part of the Lumina data platform | RBC release | July 29, 2025 | [Royal Bank of Canada (CNW via Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbcs-proprietary-ai-foundation-model-140100158.html) |
| Generative AI workspace | North for Banking, co-developed with Cohere, integrates with RBC's and Cohere's own proprietary foundation models and with RBC's internal platforms | RBC release | January 9, 2025 | [Royal Bank of Canada (PR Newswire)](https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/rbc-and-cohere-partner-to-develop-the-next-generation-of-highly-secure-generative-ai-solutions-for-financial-services-302346783.html) |
| Capital markets AI | The Aiden platform is built with NVIDIA AI Enterprise on an AI factory that uses on-premise and hybrid cloud infrastructure; it uses the NVIDIA NeMo Agent Toolkit and NVIDIA Nemotron models deployed via NVIDIA NIM | NVIDIA case study | Undated | [NVIDIA](https://nvidia.com/en-us/case-studies/rbc-capital-markets) |
| Tools for technologists | More than 10,000 technologists use AI and genAI tools in tech infrastructure, cloud engineering, digital, cyber security and app development; RBC Assist, an in-house developed genAI tool, is being rolled out to employees | RBC careers page | Undated (retrieved November 11, 2026) | [RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai) |
| Acquisition conversion | HSBC Bank Canada's customers and employees were moved onto RBC's platforms over a single long weekend: 12,000 technical steps, five rehearsals and more than 780,000 clients added | The Globe and Mail | April 4, 2024 | [The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-rbcs-purchase-of-hsbc-bank-canada-accompanied-by-a-complex) |
| Technology spend | CEO Dave McKay told a Davos session that total technology spending reaches about $6 billion per year, with roughly $2 billion devoted to initiatives including application development and modernization; American Banker wrote that RBC 'spends more than 5 billion Canadian dollars a year on technology' | PYMNTS; American Banker | January 20, 2026; March 19, 2026 | [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/news/banking/2026/davos-signals-a-disciplined-era-for-ai-in-banking-and-fintech/), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-says-its-focus-on-ai-is-paying-dividends) |

## Who runs technology at RBC?

On February 18, 2026 RBC split AI from the technology function. Bruce Ross, who spent 12 years as Group Head of RBC Technology & Operations, became Group Head, AI. Naim Kazmi, most recently EVP, Commercial, Core Banking & Payments Technology, became Group Head, Technology & Operations and joined the Group Executive; RBC says he was the technology lead for the integration of HSBC Bank Canada. ([Royal Bank of Canada](https://rbc.com/newsroom/article.html?article=126074))

RBC Borealis, the research institute launched in 2016, supplies much of the AI layer: American Banker reports that with the help of its architects, engineers and scientists RBC rolled out Lumina, an enterprise data and AI platform, and Aiden, an electronic trading platform that uses deep reinforcement learning. ([RBC](https://jobs.rbc.com/ca/en/preparing-our-workforce-for-a-future-with-ai), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-says-its-focus-on-ai-is-paying-dividends))

The cloud program treats public cloud as a tool for scale rather than a destination. Tran told Waters Technology in November 2023 that RBC delayed moving data to the public cloud until the security capabilities were proven, and that 'We're finding more and more opportunities to integrate public and private cloud'. ([Waters Technology (rbc.com)](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-Outlines-Hybrid-Cloud-Strategy.pdf))

Not on the record in these sources: the names of every public cloud provider RBC uses (only Amazon Web Services' Kubernetes is named), the number of data centres, and the vendor of the core banking system. ([Waters Technology (rbc.com)](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-Outlines-Hybrid-Cloud-Strategy.pdf), [RBC](https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/technology/infrastructure-and-operations.html))

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

| Date | Move | Detail | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 6, 2026 | Evident AI Index 2026: third of 50, fifth year in a row | RBC is #1 in Canada and #3 globally; top ten on all four pillars, with Talent up four places to 8th and Leadership second. RBC cites more than 72,000 employees on RBC Assist or Aiden, 10,000 technologists on other AI tools and a membership of the FINOS AI Fund. | [Royal Bank of Canada (CNW via Financial Post)](https://financialpost.com/press-releases/pr-newswire/rbc-maintains-top-three-leadership-position-globally-for-ai-maturity-in-financial-services), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/jpmorganchase-still-tops-ai-ranking-as-big-bank-lead-widens) |
| Sep 16, 2026 | McKay and Cohere's Aidan Gomez discuss AI rules and sovereignty | At the Milken Institute Global Dialogues in Toronto McKay describes product development cycles shrinking from years to months and argues AI effects on work are reallocation and retraining rather than straightforward elimination. | [Royal Bank of Canada](https://rbc.com/en/thought-leadership/ai-technology-and-innovation/canadas-ai-potential-on-sovereignty-safety-and-regulation) |
| Aug 13, 2026 | IDC CIO Award for AI-assisted credit underwriting | RBC's retail credit underwriting programme, built on ATOM, is recognised; early results include improved approval rates, faster decisions and increased client acquisition. | [Royal Bank of Canada](https://rbc.com/newsroom/news/article.html?article=126132) |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Capital Markets AI team: over 20 people, $19.8 million budget | American Banker profiles Grubert, whose team of over 20 people spans engineering, product, strategy and governance, and lists NVIDIA, Databricks, Cohere and Anthropic as partners extending Aiden. | [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbcs-bobby-grubert-is-44-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking) |
| May 29, 2026 | Vancouver hub expansion tied to AI plans | RBC says its Vancouver banking and innovation hub will grow from 350 to 600 employees by end-2026 and to 1,000 jobs in British Columbia by 2029, with growth in its Vancouver Borealis team; Bruce Ross says the Vancouver teams will help accelerate its AI ambitions. | [Royal Bank of Canada (CNW via Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/rbc-announces-expansion-vancouver-banking-130100621.html) |
| May 28, 2026 | Q2 2026 call: 200-plus models, token use up 500% | McKay reports more than 200 AI models, a more than 500% rise in LLM token usage since 2025, and AI contributions to over 24 million lines of code and over 120,000 code reviews. | [Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RY.TO/earnings/RY.TO-Q2-2026-earnings_call-571801.html) |
| May 4, 2026 | Grubert names Aiden's partners | FinAi News quotes Grubert saying Aiden was built with NVIDIA and Anthropic, with a Cohere-designed interface, is deployed to all 8,000 Capital Markets staff with 8,000 real-time data sources, and that thousands of business-built agents are in production. | [FinAi News via ABA](https://aba.com/-/media/documents/industry-insights/finai-rbc-head-of-ai.pdf?rev=ce5657d28c5a4bc296b3c3281700dcfd) |
| Mar 31, 2026 | Ross sets out AI Group pipeline | In a Traders Magazine interview Bruce Ross names NOMI Insights, Aiden, Lumina and ATOM as products in production, lists credit modelling, code development, fraud, cybersecurity and quality testing as pipeline areas, and cites more than 35,000 RBC Assist users, 9,000 Capital Markets Aiden users and 4,000 developers on generative AI tools. | [Traders Magazine](https://tradersmagazine.com/featured_articles/rbc-prepares-for-the-ai-era) |
| Mar 23, 2026 | AidenResearch agents and Lumina compute described | PYMNTS reports AidenResearch agents let one analyst cover up to 50 companies instead of 15, document processing capacity is up tenfold and Lumina runs on one of Canada's largest private-sector GPU clusters, second only to the federal government's. | [PYMNTS](https://pymnts.com/artificial-intelligence-2/2026/rbc-embeds-ai-at-the-core-of-banking-aiming-for-1-billion-in-returns), [NVIDIA](https://nvidia.com/en-us/case-studies/rbc-capital-markets) |
| Feb 18, 2026 | AI Group created under Bruce Ross | A new team reporting to the CEO becomes an AI accelerator; Naim Kazmi succeeds Ross as Group Head, Technology & Operations. The release cites almost 27,000 RBC Assist users and 8,000 Aiden users. | [Royal Bank of Canada](https://rbc.com/newsroom/article.html?article=126074), [American Banker](https://americanbanker.com/news/rbc-says-its-focus-on-ai-is-paying-dividends) |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Davos remark: C$6 billion technology spend | PYMNTS and The Globe and Mail report McKay told a January 2026 Davos session that RBC spends C$6 billion a year on technology, C$2 billion of it on modernising operations and developing AI, and that ATOM-based underwriting lets RBC lend to more clients without changing risk guardrails. | [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/news/banking/2026/davos-signals-a-disciplined-era-for-ai-in-banking-and-fintech/), [The Globe and Mail](https://theglobeandmail.com/business/article-promise-of-ai-canada-biggest-banks-rbc-td-cibc-revenue) |
| Jul 29, 2025 | ATOM foundation model disclosed | RBC announces ATOM, built by RBC Borealis on billions of client transactions and part of Lumina; first used in 2023 and already behind several products, including credit adjudication. | [Royal Bank of Canada (CNW via Yahoo Finance)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rbcs-proprietary-ai-foundation-model-140100158.html) |

## Common questions

### Does RBC use the public cloud?

Yes, alongside its own infrastructure. RBC describes a hybrid cloud: a private cloud in its own data centres plus public cloud from third-party vendors. Its head of cloud engineering said in November 2023 that data in the public cloud had doubled every year for three years and that RBC is a heavy user of Amazon Web Services' Kubernetes.

### What is RBC's Lumina platform?

Lumina is RBC's enterprise data and AI platform, built with its research institute RBC Borealis. RBC says it collects and curates more than one billion business events and can process up to 10 billion transactions per minute, and its ATOM foundation model, disclosed on July 29, 2025, is part of the platform.

### Which AI models does RBC use?

Its own and partners'. ATOM is RBC's proprietary foundation model trained on billions of client financial transactions. North for Banking, co-developed with Cohere since January 2025, integrates RBC's and Cohere's foundation models, and the Aiden platform in capital markets runs NVIDIA Nemotron models through NVIDIA NIM, according to NVIDIA.

### How much does RBC spend on technology?

CEO Dave McKay told a Davos session in January 2026 that RBC's total technology spending reaches about $6 billion per year, with roughly $2 billion going to initiatives including application development and modernization, PYMNTS reported. American Banker put the figure at more than 5 billion Canadian dollars a year in March 2026. RBC's careers site says more than 10,000 technologists use AI and generative AI tools in their work.

### Who leads technology at RBC?

Naim Kazmi, Group Head, Technology & Operations since February 18, 2026, previously EVP for Commercial, Core Banking & Payments Technology. His predecessor of 12 years, Bruce Ross, moved to lead the new AI Group as Group Head, AI. Vinh Tran was head of cloud engineering as of November 2023.

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