The AI imperative: Unleashing Canada's progress through AI investment and R&D
In this thought-provoking discussion with Vector Institute CEO Tony Gaffney, we will delve into the critical importance of AI research in linking investment in AI, R&D, and the advancement of Canada's progress and economy. We'll explore how research-driven insights can fuel innovation, drive productivity, and position organizations for success in a rapidly evolving landscape. Gain practical insights into fostering AI collaborations, leveraging academic expertise to apply to real-world industry use-cases and more.
Speaker Highlights
Where Do I Start?
To fully leverage modern AI, companies should access ongoing research to fuel innovation and focus on building their own talent.
The Race of AI
It's crucial to recognize the accelerating pace of AI development.
AI Adoption Examples
Adoption of AI is key, and several Canadian companies exemplify this progress.
Tony Gaffney
Tony is an experienced CEO, and a seasoned executive who brings exceptional transformational leadership, fostering growth in both public and private businesses across multiple industry sectors. He joins Vector Institute for AI at a transformative time and will play a key role in enabling the organization to expand its global visibility for AI research, talent and commercialization with Canadian businesses of all size and shape.
He serves on the Government of Canada Advisory Council on AI, is a member of the OECD.AI network of experts (ONE.AI) task force for AI Governance, Compute and Climate Change, as well as the World Economic Forum's AI Governance Working Group and is a Corporate Director with Altus Group (AIF.TO), an AI enabled intelligence as a service company.
A former member of the Global Executive Committee of Aon Hewitt, responsible for the performance of the company worldwide and also serving as CEO, Aon Hewitt Canada - Tony is known for being among Canada’s most experienced business transformation executives.
Prior to joining Aon, Tony was a Managing Partner at Accenture, President and CEO of Bell Nexxia, and CEO of BCE Emergis. He has held international leadership positions (Americas, EMEA & APAC) with MCI Telecommunications, SHL Systemhouse Inc., and Andersen Consulting.
Tony previously served on the boards of Loblaw’s President Choice Bank, Bishop Strachan School, the Toronto Region Board of Trade, the Toronto United Way Cabinet, Canada’s Walk of Fame and Crescent School.
A versatile and resilient executive and corporate director (iNED) with a deep understanding of value creation, technology enabled business transformation, ESG, emerging technologies and talent. Possesses the courage to drive change and is very much at ease with scale, complexity and ambiguity in fast changing environments. Ability to think about issues from multiple perspectives and to contribute as a corporate director by drawing upon CEO and business transformation leadership experience, gained globally across multiple industry sectors at various stages in the organizational life cycle.
Tony is passionate with respect to community, people, inclusion and continuous learning. He recently led the “High Performance in the Boardroom” initiative; https://lambaygroup.com/report/high-performance-in-the-boardroom/ in collaboration with 30+ leading board chairs, as a contribution to the on-going discussion on the future of governance.
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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