Capital One and Columbia U partner to drive responsible AI

Capital One and Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science are partnering to establish the Center for AI and Responsible Financial Innovation (CAIRFI) to accelerate research, education and the responsible advancement of state-of-the-art AI in financial services. 

Capital One will invest $3 million to support the initiatives of the Center, which include PhD fellowships awarded annually to students in Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science; faculty-led research projects in collaboration with post-doctoral researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students and staff; and research events and activities to evolve and advance AI research with a focus on local community engagement such as publicly accessible research symposia.

“Capital One is driven by a mission to change banking for good by helping improve the financial lives of millions of customers,” said Dr. Prem Natarajan, EVP, Chief Scientist and Head of Enterprise AI at Capital One. "Throughout our history, we have taken a rigorous and thoughtful approach to technology development to help us unlock insights, make decisions and drive innovation and value for customers. We are thrilled to partner with Columbia to create the Center for AI and Responsible Financial Innovation to advance and unlock new, well-managed AI capabilities to support our mission-driven focus and contribute to well-managed, industry-leading advances in the field.”

This partnership deepens Capital One’s existing partnership with Columbia University and is part of our broader network of leading academic institutions and partnerships that advance research and theory in applied state of the art AI. These partnerships accelerate our ability to stay on the leading edge of applications of AI to better serve our customers and the industry. 

“AI is transforming all sectors of society and financial services is a fast-growing area where responsible approaches need to be studied, developed and implemented,” said Shih-Fu Chang, Dean of Columbia Engineering. “This partnership with Capital One is the type of collaboration needed to share insights that will spur innovation to advance financial well-being and social progress. Through joining our strengths in responsible AI, data science and financial and computational engineering with Capital One’s leadership in financial products and services and commitment to financial inclusion, we see great potential for research and education that will make a real impact.”

As Capital One continues to innovate with AI to deliver better customer experiences, we also continue to focus on building multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder frameworks like CAIFRI to responsibly advance the frontiers of AI. We strongly believe that such inclusive frameworks are crucial for achieving transformational advances that deliver broad societal benefits and opportunities.

If you’re interested in helping us research and build the technology that will drive the future of banking, learn more about Capital One's AI & ML efforts and take a look at our open Applied Research and broader tech career opportunities.