Why Cognitive Group

We combine a deep understanding of human behavior and cognitive engineering to deliver unmatched simplicity of systems, solutions and processes.

History

The Cognitive Group (CG) was founded in 1995  by the Montreal Computer Research Institute (CRIM) to develop a cognitive engineering consulting practice. Cognitive engineering enables better design of decision systems.

Cognitive Group is a partner with Masetria and GDG. With 300 employees,  Cognitive can access to an additional 1000 experts for specific client’s needs.

Cognitive Group Head Office is in Montreal, Canada

History of Business Banker

In 2008, Cognitive Group was selected to review the loan origination process for the Royal Bank of Canada due to its unique expertise in cognitive engineering.  For 10 years we covered all aspects of the loan origination process at RBC, including risk management, renewal automation, digital experience, sales, non negotiable securities, portfolio, document preparation and compliance. 

Cognitive Group continued to apply its expertise at the National Bank of Canada, TD Insurance, Laurentian Bank, Desjardins, in China, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and across the globe through technical assistance from the IFC (World Bank).

Cognitive, with the aid of partners and investors decided to invest and develop a complete end-to-end origination solution called ”Business Banker”.  ”Business Banker” incorporates our expertise and completely transforms the loan origination process.  Instead of requiring six systems explained in manuals of over 1000 pages, our solution comes down to one system built from the ground up.  It is entirely cloud-based and is extremely easy to use and maintain.  

Timeline

• 2015: Following RBC, Cognitive decided to invest three years to develop Business Banker, Businessbanker.io
• 2017: Deploy at BNDE 
• 2018: Win contract with GBDK in Lisbon
• 2020: Deployed in six banks
• 2020: Work begin for implementation at DUCA

Directors:

• Francois Aubin Founder and CEO
• Marie-Claude Prévost, Cognitive
• Eric Gravel

Advisory committee:

• Louis St Jacques,  Archimed
• Marc André Roy, R3D
• Peter Gaston, Common Ground Solutions

Locations

Leadership Team

Marie-Claude Prevost

Marie-Claude is an Electrical Engineer with 20 years experience specialized in process optimisation, user experience (UX) and system design using a human factors approach.  She has a unique ability to rapidly understand how people handle complex situations and design processes so that they are performed in the most efficient way.

She has consulting experience and repeat business with companies such as CAE, Hydro-Quebec, Gaz Metro, RBC, National Bank of Canada, Disnat, Desjardins, TD, Quebec National Library and Archives, Tele-Quebec.  She worked on over than 50 projects involving Web, mobile, tablet, real time, SCADA, mission-5critical systems, client-server, IVR, telecom, portal, Intranet, search engines, policies & procedures, etc.

She is regularly invited as a speaker at international conferences and to give lectures at Ecole Polytechnique of the University of Montreal.  She is actively involved in the Montreal community through various urban/social/art projects and as board member.

Francois Aubin

Francois  has over 20 years of experience showing leading companies how to improve operational efficiency using human factors. Francois specializes in human factors and human computer interaction. He has been involved in  over 100 IT projects and has a high level of  expertise in business banking, mortgages processes. Francois’s client list includes Hydro-Quebec,  Bell Canada, Ericsson, Lassonde, Kronos, Desjardins and Royal Bank,National Bank, Amazon, PG&E, Shaw Group, V1Jet and American Pacific. Francois has a B.Sc in physics and a master’s degree specialized in human factors from the Industrial Engineering Department of Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal. He has published numerous papers on 3D display, wearable computers, input devices, and task analysis. He frequently gives workshops on user experience at the University of Quebec and at École Polytechnique.

Peter Gaston

Peter has over 25 years of experience advising and leading companies to deliver business results at the intersection of business and technology. His experience spans business and IT consulting – with a high level of expertise in customer relationship management, product innovation including rapid prototyping, and enterprise architecture. Peter’s client list includes HSBC, Royal Bank of Canada, Charles Schwab & Co., Fidelity Investments, Wells Fargo, ABN AMRO, CIGNA, Swiss Re, Farm Credit Canada, MassMutual, Fair Isaac, and Sprint/Nextel. Previously, Peter was a Vice President at Nextera Inc., a NASDAQ traded consulting company where he led the Boston office of over 150 staff and the customer relationship practice. Peter was a consultant with McKinsey & Co. in the area of IT Strategy and Product Innovation.  Mr. Gaston has earned his S.B. and S.M. from M.I.T.

Sylvain Leith

Sylvain Leith is an expert in risk management and modeling. He has solid, wide-ranging experience in the field of credit risk management as well as in international banking regulations under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Sylvain is an expert in risk-related governance and business intelligence modelling, specializing particularly in credit risk and economic capital. In that respect, he was vice-president in charge of a risk modelling and strategy department at the National Bank of Canada, acting as leader in implementing the provisions of the Basel II Accord, implementing a credit stress testing program,  integrating advanced notation in risk assessment practices and adopting principles for risk data aggregation and risk notification. After leaving the National Bank, Sylvain worked as an expert consultant in risk management both in Canada and outside the country. He also implemented a credit risk policy manual and procedures on movable assets financing for two banks in China and liquidity impasse assessments for a bank in Haiti, respectively on behalf of the World Bank‘s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank.  As a subject matter expert, Sylvain works with the advisory section of KPMG financial risk management.