CIBC data lab to harness fintech talent

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is launching a data lab in Waterloo, Ont., in a bid to tap the local technology talent pool and develop innovations to give the bank a foothold in the digital economy.

The CIBC Data Studio — in partnership with Communitech and located at the startup-supporting non-profit Data Hub — is set to launch on Thursday with four fulltime data scientists working with three co-op students from nearby universities.

In a dedicated area within Communitech’s new 19,000 squarefoot facility, the team will work on business problems from a data perspective, helping to accelerate the bank’s ability to learn and implement new data-driven capabilities, said Jose Ribau, CIBC’s chief data officer.

“What we want to do a better job of is to be where the talent is, and rotate some of the individuals, who are learning the best, newest technologies and methods, through an environment that is more conducive for them to not only learn, but to also share some of their best practices with us,” Ribau said in an interview.

CIBC would not disclose how much it spent on its first dedicated data lab, but Ribau said it was a “meaningful” investment.

It’s the latest move by one of Canada’s biggest banks in the race to harness the latest financial technologies, and in the battle for the top talent to stay ahead of the pack.

In January, the Bank of Nova Scotia opened a 70,000-square-foot “digital factory” in Toronto, where hundreds of data scientists, artificial intelligence researchers and other tech talent were brought in to develop new fintech capabilities.