Canada's First AI VC: Preparing for the Revolution with a Wider Fiduciary Lens
To John, Directors have to sit up and prepare themselves and their companies for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
John Stokes through his VC firm, Real Ventures, has been a catalyzing AI and semi conductor startup investor from the very beginning in Canada which includes like Element.AI (exited to Service Now), Mindbridge, BenchSci, Tenstorrent, Blumind. Real Ventures cofounded Element.AI with Yoshua Bengio who is considered to be one of the godfathers of modern AI.
John Stokes has observed the hype and reality cycles for numerous technologies from the internet to mobile and to now AI. He will share his deep knowledge of riding countless innovative technologies and organizational changes across industries. He will share his observations from experiences investing in many startups at the disruptive early stage to then watching their varied growth trajectories. This will surely provide foresight into the AI hype and reality that is to come.
He will also share his insights into how every new cycle of technology startups are often dealing with the unintended consequences of the prior wave of startups. To John, AI is such a powerful new technology that its introduction will be one of the most consequential versions of this cycle process.
AI is such a powerful new technology that its introduction will be one of the most consequential versions of this cycle process.
"AI rarely leaves people feeling ambivalent. The excitement of the potential it brings for growth and winning on one end and the nervousness and fear of its potential impact on companies and society at large at the other end. Whenever a potentially divisive technology comes into being it is essential that those in leadership positions have the ability to look through a wider lens at where that excitement or fear comes from"
Speaker Highlights
The Three Horizon Model
John Stokes guided us through both the philosophical and practical factors emerging from the rapid development of AI technology.
How Can We Move to an H2Plus Type of Technology
John Stokes guided us through both the philosophical and practical factors emerging from the rapid development of AI technology.
John Stokes
John Stokes, originally from the UK and a proud Montréal resident since 2007, is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Real Ventures, a key player in Canada's startup ecosystem. In 2011, he launched FounderFuel, Canada’s top startup accelerator, and has been named one of Quebec’s most influential people by L’actualité and one of the "24 Quebecers We Love" by the Montreal Gazette. John’s passion for fostering entrepreneurship also led him to co-found the OSMO Foundation, transforming Notman House and St Margaret’s Hospital into thriving hubs for innovation.
In 2023, he was recognized as the Montreal startup ecosystem’s Community Champion of the Decade.
A lifelong advocate for entrepreneurship, John has served on the boards of major Canadian venture capital associations and earned his Institute of Corporate Directors designation in 2019. Prior to venture capital, he launched and scaled numerous technology businesses across Africa and Asia Pacific and also found time to play semi-professional soccer. Now a citizen of the UK, New Zealand, and Canada, John lives in Montréal with his wife and teenage daughter, always inspired by the vision of a regenerative world.
Our Hosts
Nick Darveau-Garneau
Nick is renowned for his instrumental role in accelerating digital transformations for hundreds of Fortune 500 companies as a board director and technology executive. He is the former Chief Evangelist of Google.
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David R. Beatty, C.M., O.B.E., F.ICD, CFA
One of the world’s most experienced corporate directors and educators, David has served as a Director on 40 boards in Canada, America, Mexico, Australia and England. He has been chair of 11 companies, nine public and two private.
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