Scotiabank reported a 95% adoption rate for Scotia Navigator, its AI assistant launched in April to support employees with research, analytics and coding tasks.

Employees at the Toronto-based bank used AI 17% more to help answer customer questions in its fiscal third quarter, which ended July 31, compared with Q2, Scotiabank reported. Also, more than 80% of the bank’s employees have completed at least one AI course, according to today’s earnings presentation.

Scotiabank continues to invest in AI “to advance our enterprisewide AI agenda with a focus on practical adoption including training, scalable infrastructure and responsible governance,” President and Chief Executive Scott Thomson said on today’s earnings call.

In April, Scotiabank introduced Scotia Intelligence, an initiative to accelerate its AI adoption and equip employees with secure data and AI tools. The bank expanded Scotia Intelligence in Q3, adding capabilities to improve employee productivity and workflow, Thomson said.

“These new advanced features will help our teams collaborate in real time, turn complex information into clear outputs and move from concept to execution faster,” Thomson said.

“With the recent launch of our Scotia Intelligence knowledge agents, employees now have access to AI-powered solutions that facilitate easy access to institutional information, enabling faster execution of routine processes, helping them to focus on higher value innovation and client outcomes,” he said.

AI Consortium

Furthering Scotiabank’s commitment to AI implementation, the bank co-launched the AI Consortium, “a collaborative Canadian model designed to help large, regulated organizations build and govern the critical control systems required to deploy AI safely,” Thomson said.

It was launched with technology firm Lightworks, financial services company Sun Life and communications technology company Telus in July.

The consortium’s flagship program, the Agentic Control Plane, helps enterprises manage agentic AI at scale, a July 7 release said. Future projects include:

• An AI operations center to help members improve AI performance, resilience and cost management; and
• A secure framework for exchanging AI tokens.

Evolving cyberthreats

AI advancements are enabling new types of cyberattacks, Scotiabank noted in its quarterly report to shareholders, published today. Frontier AI models, such as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos 5, can rapidly find an institution’s previously unknown vulnerabilities, the report said.

In response, Scotiabank is transitioning to a real-time security model focusing on AI-enabled detection, automated response and prevention, and scalable remediation, the bank said. It also has cyber insurance coverage to help mitigate any potential losses linked to cyberattacks, the bank said.

By the numbers

The CA$1.5 trillion ($1.1 trillion) bank has grown its digital banking capabilities in Canada, with digital sales reaching 40% of total sales in Q3, up 840 basis points year over year and 180 basis points quarter over quarter. The bank reported a 2.9% YoY increase in active digital users to 5.3 million and a 4% YoY increase in active mobile users to 4.8 million.

Scotiabank also reported in Q3:

• $7.6 billion in total revenue, up 11.1% YoY; and
• $2.1 billion in net income, up 16.9% YoY.

Shares of Scotiabank (TSX: BNS; NYSE: BNS) were up 7.16% from market open to $93.08 as of market close today. The bank has a market capitalization of $114.2 billion.

Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars.

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