CIBC boosts developer productivity

CIBC is taking their productivity in software development to a new level. Through the bank’s long-standing relationship with Deloitte, our firm collaborated with the bank to pilot, develop the business case and scale out Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, a GenAI coding assistant. This collaboration marks a milestone in CIBC’s strategy to embed AI into its day-to-day operations, empowering developers to speed up repetitive tasks while focusing on meaningful, value-driven work.

“We’re working to thoughtfully embed AI as a core capability across the entire bank,” says Executive Vice-President, Infrastructure, Architecture and Modernization David Gillespie at CIBC. “GitHub Copilot is enabling our teams to automate repetitive coding, accelerate their workflows, and spend more time collaborating on solutions.”

Solutions that benefit CIBC’s customers.

“We’re trying to shift as close to our clients as we can and build meaningful outcomes for them much faster than we ever could,” says David.

As CIBC transforms its operations with AI tools, both the bank and Deloitte have prioritized privacy, regulatory compliance, and responsible AI usage to continue to serve as trusted institutions.

“GitHub Copilot can be used with privacy, security, and their regulatory requirements in mind,” says Partner Soumak Chatterjee from Technology & Transformation at Deloitte.

When rolling out GitHub Copilot, Deloitte guided CIBC through a structured, results-driven framework that identifies the highest-value of usage, drives change where it matters most, and measures outcomes. Results showed a 10-14% boost in productivity that will enable CIBC to deliver innovative solutions more rapidly. Importantly, 86% of developers reported an improvement in their day-to-day experience.

“To achieve these results, you need to be human focused in your approach,” says Partner Meagan Lettau from Technology & Transformation at Deloitte. “Developers aren’t ‘one size fits all’. We advised CIBC to champion strong leadership, celebrate early adopters, and create spaces for peer learning. Seeing leaders walk the talk and not just say ‘it’s a cool tool that you can maybe use’ made a real difference.”

This rollout included targeted upskilling sessions, case competitions, ‘Show & Tell’ sessions, and community spaces to encourage grassroots knowledge sharing. Pulse surveys and usage analytics identified barriers to adoption and where extra support was needed. These measures resulted in a 90% adoption rate and more time savings for developers.

With GitHub Copilot in the hands of over 1,800 developers globally, CIBC is positioned to deliver new features and products faster. The bank plans to expand GitHub Copilot to all its developers in the near future.