At the opening, Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, said: “I really like the collaboration that exists in the AI ecosystem. When people ask me what makes this ecosystem such a success, I tell them that it’s because it’s organized around the engagement platform that is Scale AI.”
The theme of collaboration surfaced many times during the discussions. From policymakers and scientists to leaders in the business community, whether from large organizations or startups, the sentiment is unanimous: if Quebec wants to position itself on a global scale and compete in AI, joining forces is crucial. “Our mission is to ensure that the ecosystem has everything it needs to make AI a real lever of economic and social development for Quebec,” says Marie-Paule Jeansonne, President and CEO of Forum IA Québec.
“And now is the time to invest. Collaborating with specialists and innovators is the key to companies being able to educate themselves, evaluate and improve the quality of their data, and choose the projects for which AI will make a real difference, in order to transform some aspects of their operations and perhaps even their business model”
— Julien Billot, Executive Director of Scale AI
Underscoring that cooperation is at the heart of Scale AI’s role as a supercluster, Julien Billot adds, “This forum on artificial intelligence is a good example of the spirit of collaboration that prevails among AI players in Canada. Presenting concrete applications allows us to see AI in action and understand its impact. Productivity gains, transport optimization and greenhouse gas reduction are all examples that contribute to enriching the thinking of organizations, which must decide how best to make the leap to AI. And now is the time to invest. Collaborating with specialists and innovators is the key to companies being able to educate themselves, evaluate and improve the quality of their data, and choose the projects for which AI will make a real difference, in order to transform some aspects of their operations and perhaps even their business model.”
“As an innovation hub, we strive every day to connect all the players and to remove any barriers that could hinder the adoption of artificial intelligence in Canada”
— Hélène Desmarais, Co-Chair of the Scale AI Board of Directors
With this in mind, Scale AI welcomes its position as a meeting point between all partners in the ecosystem. “As an innovation hub, we strive every day to connect all the players and to remove any barriers that could hinder the adoption of artificial intelligence in Canada,” says Hélène Desmarais, Co-Chair of the Scale AI Board of Directors. Looking to the future, she stresses the priorities for the coming years: the importance of data quality and management by companies, the need to continue efforts to develop talent that can design and administer AI, and the courage to invest in order to ensure the competitiveness and performance of the Canadian economy for years to come.
During the forum, more than sixty panelists delivered an update on the AI sector and discussed ways to further strengthen Montreal and Quebec’s positioning on a Canadian and global scale, before embarking on a conversation about how to accelerate the integration of AI into our society.
Congratulations to all the panelists who shared their impressive breakthroughs, their questions and their ideas to support the evolution of the AI sector; but also, and above all, for their team spirit that contributes to the positioning of our ecosystem on the world stage.
* Isabelle Turcotte is CMO at Scale AI.
