TD Bank plans to hire more than 2,000 technologists in automation, cloud and machine learning this year as it continues to focus on digital offerings.

Growing technology talent is key to the $1.4 trillion bank’s strategy, CEO Bharat Masrani said Friday during the bank’s first-quarter earnings call.

“We are hiring more than 2,000 technology roles in 2022 to drive investments that will help power the future of banking with a focus on skills in cloud, machine learning and automation,” Masrani said. “As we continue to evolve the colleague and customer experience, growing and empowering skilled technology talent will remain a cornerstone of our forward-focused strategy.”

The bank reported earnings of $2.9 billion in Q1, up 14% year over year but down slightly from $3 billion in the fourth quarter. Non-interest expenses were up 8% YoY, in part due to technology-related expenses. Total revenue was $8.8 billion in Q1, up from $8.6 billion in Q4.

Total technology spend in Q1 was $348 million, down about 1% from Q4’s reported $352 million.

Meanwhile, the bank in January launched its TD Easy Trade app for beginning investors, which extends its WebBroker platform to a fully mobile environment, Masrani said.

“We’ve seen strong take-up of the app, which is designed to make investing simpler for new and emerging investors,” Masrani said.

TD also piloted a digital platform for U.S. commercial clients that provides them with an “end-to-end view of their relationship with TD, including access to treasury applications and the ability to transact across products,” he added.

The bank’s TD Global Transfer service, which supports digitally sending money to more than 200 countries, was also touted during the earnings call. Since its launch in 2020, TD has seen more than 200,000 customers conducting more than 1.8 million transfers, Masrani said.

In addition, the bank made a push last quarter to begin modernizing its data infrastructure on Azure. As part of that migration, TD has engaged software company Databricks in a multiyear contract to enhance its data analytics capabilities. This shift will drive better customer insights as well as enable “colleagues to collaborate with more agility across the bank,” he said.

Masrani also provided details on the bank’s recent agreement to acquire Memphis, Tenn.-based First Horizon, which is part of an overall strategy to strengthen the Canadian bank’s presence in the southern U.S.

Shares of TD Bank [NYSE: TD] were trading at $75.76 as of 3:31 p.m., down 2.18% from market open.