The $1.4 trillion TD Bank is rolling out a new initiative that will modernize its IT infrastructure by shifting more to the cloud.

Next Evolution of Work, or “NEW,” is not merely a technology project — the bank is hoping to shift its operating model as well, according to Chief Executive Bharat Masrani, who outlined the project during the bank’s second-quarter earnings call on Thursday.

“Historically, the operating model of most banks, including TD, has been designed to support a smaller number of large-scale initiatives,” Masrani said. “However, it is not designed for the volume of change we are driving today and for what we will need to drive in the future.”

NEW will enable new tooling and platform capabilities, such as the use of the cloud and adopting agile at-scale processes, he said. Agile is a development model that rolls out solutions quickly but in increasingly complex parts, rather than seeking to deliver a larger “complete” software package over a longer period of time.

So far during TD’s testing of the NEW model, results have been a faster time to market with greater efficiencies in how the bank is building and deploying technology, Masrani added.

“This is enabling us to move at the speed of the market and introduce new offers and services to our customers in a matter of weeks,” he said. “It’s still early days, but we are confident that we are on the right path.”

TD reported Q2 earnings of $3 billion, up 3% year over year. Technology and equipment spend — which includes amortization — rose 11% YoY in Q2 to $367 million.

AI for intent-based call routing

TD Bank also modernized its insurance business call center using the cloud during the last quarter, including leveraging artificial intelligence for intent-based call routing — a move it will roll out across the bank, Masrani said.

“We believe that this investment, which we plan to roll out more broadly across the bank, over time, will enhance customer experience and accelerate response times,” he said.

The bank also launched an embedded finance pilot program for commercial customers. TD is working with an unnamed “leading fintech” to automate cash management by embedding banking products and services directly into their enterprise resource planning and accounting software, Masrani said.

He also noted TD Auto Finance’s rollout of real-time payments — which pushes payments throughout the day rather than in batches overnight — to dealers nationwide. TD Auto in March became the first indirect auto lender to have such offering, according to a previous release.

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