Repentigny, January 22, 2024 — WelcomeSpaces, a Quebec-based tech company, announces the launch of Project Serafin, the first AI Personal Finance Assistant in Quebec.
Serafin is a Financial Assistant capable of understanding the financial issues specific to each user to provide personalized and contextualized responses unique to the Quebec financial landscape. For instance, Serafin can answer questions such as: how much tax will I save if I contribute to my RRSP, am I eligible for the Canadian dental care program, or what down payment do I need to make to purchase a home. Not only can it provide accurate information, but it can also ask questions to evaluate the user's situation and even perform calculations.
A Specialized Multi-Agent Personal Finance Platform
Combining finance and artificial intelligence, Serafin is a collaborative project aimed at democratizing access to knowledge and expertise in personal finance. A constantly evolving project that continues to improve, Serafin's goal, in the long run, is to provide answers to all basic personal finance questions.
The Serafin platform, a breakthrough in the accessibility of financial knowledge, was developed by a multidisciplinary team of software engineers and finance and tax professionals. It's Quebec's first specialized Multi-Agent Large Language Model (LLM) in personal finance. Essentially, Serafin is the merger of a set of AI agents, each with their own expertise, who interact with one another and work as a team to offer the best possible response tailored to each user's situation.
According to Jean-Philippe Laforge, CPA and co-founder of WelcomeSpaces: "Artificial intelligence, especially the introduction of multi-agent systems, is going to cause a major shift in financial knowledge accessibility this year. It creates possibilities that simply weren't possible a year ago. It's somewhat like recreating the dynamic atmosphere of an accounting firm. When a client comes in with a problem we don't have the answer to, we consult one or two in-house experts and then return to the client with a simplified response, informing them that an expert can assist them further. A multi-agent system emulates this kind of collaborative work."
Serafin is not merely an aggregator of financial information; it is an evolving entity that continually learns from its interactions to optimize its advice. With a combination of artificial intelligence technologies and a human touch, Serafin represents innovation at the service of personal finance.
An Evolving Participatory Project
The platform, free and accessible to everyone, has been designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. It will evolve throughout the year, and its creator, WelcomeSpaces.io, invites finance professionals and companies to join them in collaborating to develop its knowledge base.
"We're not claiming that Serafin is perfect, but it has been designed to continuously improve with the ability to rapidly acquire new financial knowledge. Assistance from the financial community will help us to further its learning. We invite all those who wish to participate and who have a particular field of expertise to contact us. The more collaborators we have, the better the results," says Jean-Philippe Laforge.
Combating the Lack of Financial Education
The idea for Project Serafin emerged from an alarming observation following a study conducted by WelcomeSpaces in July 2023: one in two Quebecers, aged 18 to 45, has limited financial knowledge. This exposes many Quebecers to poorly informed financial decisions, thus affecting their well-being and economic future.
Maly Charbonneau, co-founder: "Realizing the lack of financial knowledge among individuals, particularly in my generation (20-35 years old), we thought that by combining our expertise in AI with our financial knowledge, we could develop a tool capable of addressing simple problems, rather than having to search on Google or in complex government publications. Then the project grew, and we decided to make it more of a collective tool and to invite industry experts to help us improve it."
"However, Serafin cannot replace the work of a real professional. The expertise of a real expert will always be necessary, but AI allows us to be better informed and obtain information that is truly adapted to our needs, whether we are future parents, students, adults, entrepreneurs, or retirees. We can then choose or question a professional with a better understanding of our actions."
Media Relations or to Participate in Project Serafin
We invite you to discover Serafin on our platform WelcomeSpaces.io and contribute to the evolution of Serafin to make it a true vector of financial knowledge.
Contact: Maly Charbonneau, mcharbonneau@welcomespaces.io
To test Serafin, visit https://www.welcomespaces.io/serafin-finance-quebec
About WelcomeSpaces
WelcomeSpaces is the leading platform connecting clients with finance professionals in Quebec. Launched in January 2023 with the support of Investissement Québec, we are redefining the financial industry with a client-centred platform and unparalleled artificial intelligence. The company is currently seeking partners for its next round of funding.
