HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

The Cognitive Group (CG), headquartered in Montreal (Canada), was founded in 1995  by the Montreal Computer Research Institute (CRIM) to develop a Cognitive Engineering consulting practice. 

Through its unique background in Cognitive Engineering and deep understanding of human behavior, Cognitive Group delivers unmatched simplicity of systems, solutions and processes. 

With help from our team, the most demanding companies are able to reduce costs and accelerate time to market, because they only program software that is really needed for their processes and users.  

Since 2017, Cognitive Group also offers an end-to-end origination solution called ”Business Banker’’ which completely transforms the loan origination process. This opportunity was made possible, building on 10 years of experience, mutual trust and collaboration with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), who selected Cognitive Group for their loan origination process. 

Cognitive Group also helped banks in Canada such as : National Bank of Canada, TD Insurance, Laurentian Bank, Desjardins and in China, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and across the globe through technical assistance from the IFC (World Bank).  

PARTNERS

Cognitive Group forged partnerships with Maestria, Cofomo, KPMG and Central 1.  Those directly benefit our clients as it multiplies our capacity to fulfill all their needs, with a group of more than 2000 experts.

PHILOSOPHY

Our purpose is to design solutions that make people feel fulfilled and productive.  We believe that if we put people forward the results will follow.  See our unique approach.

TIMELINE – BusinessBANKER solution

  • 2008: Start of a 10 year collaboration with RBC for their loan origination 
  • 2015: With partners and investors, the company invested 3 years to develop BusinessBANKER 
  • 2017: Software first deployed at BNDE 
  • 2018: Win contract with GBDK in Lisbon
  • 2019-2020: Software deployed in six more banks
  • 2020: BNDE first bank in Africa to offer loan for COVID-19 due to ease of configuration 
  • 2020: Work begin for implementation at DUCA

BOARD

  • Francois Aubin, Founder and VP Research & Development
  • Marie-Claude Prévost, President 
  • Jacques Perron, Maestria
  • Gaétan Duchesne, GDG 

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

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

OFFICERS

Marie-Claude Prevost

President

photo_mc_prevostMarie-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

Founder, VP Research & Development

photo_faubinFrancois  has over 20 years of experience showing leading companies how to improve operational efficiency using Cognitive Engineering. He has been involved in over than 100 IT projects and has a high level of expertise in business banking, mortgages processes. Francois’ 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.

Sylvain Leith

Chief Financial Analyst

Sylvain 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 modeling 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.

Martin L’Heureux

Chief Technology Officer

Martin L'HeureuxMartin has been working in the IT development industry for over 14 years. He spent several years working on IT projects for companies like Kruger, BNP Paribas and Desjardins. After working for EA, Martin worked on a music streaming system called Galaxie, where he rebuilt the entire system using C ++ on Linux servers. The system is in operation on several service providers around the world (Videotron, Bell, Shaw, etc.)

He then joined Cognitive Group and has been involved in many projects in very different fields: voice industrial systems, robotics, training management, compliance monitoring, etc. Martin has a B.SC from the University of Sherbrooke.

Peter Gaston

Chief Data Science (AI)

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.

Jean-Francois Beaulieu

VP Business Development

Jean-Francois has over 15 years experience in management of sales, product, marketing, user experience and digital transformation in leading financial institutions such as National Bank, Desjardins, TD Insurance and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Jean-Francois expands his practice in pre-markets as well as is in mature markets such as in the United States in the development and implementation of commercial and personal lending solutions. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Hautes Études Commerciales.

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