TD acquires Toronto AI firm

TD Bank has acquired Layer 6 Inc, a Toronto-based artificial intelligence firm, for an undisclosed amount. The bank said its latest investment is part of a transformation strategy to deliver personalized customer experience. Layer 6 offers an AI platform to financial institutions and e-commerce for prediction and personalization. Layer 6 is co-founded by co-CEOs Tomi Poutanen and Jordan Jacobs who are also co-founders of Vector Institute. Poutanen and Jacobs are credited for securing $190 million as initial funds for the Vector Institute, which TD also supports along with over 30 other companies and the federal and provincial governments. On their LinkedIn profiles, Poutanen and Jacobs posted that they are TD’s Chief AI Officers effective January 2018. Another co-founder is Maks Volkovs, the company’s lead data scientist with a PhD from the Univ of Toronto. TD’s latest acquisition builds on its other investments and partnerships in AI, including working with conversational AI provider Kasisto, and Amazon.com on Alexa, and investing in data and analytical talent development at Western Univ and Univ of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.