Jaime Leverton
Vice President & General Manager – Canada and Asia Pacific (APAC),
Cogeco Peer 1
Marc-Alexandre Forget
Director of Sales – Quebec & Eastern,
Cogeco Peer 1
Ludwig Gamache
IT Director,
Element AI Inc.
Across various industries and sectors, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based solutions continue to offer vast opportunities for organizations and their executives. Pools of consumer and organizational data that traditionally remained untouched are now being leveraged via AI solutions to develop new business insights and drive new business outcomes. These data-driven insights are proving valuable for companies looking to solve increasingly larger problems.
“Executives are recognizing that AI can help build data-driven products that lead to actionable insights,” says Ludwig Gamache, IT Director at Element AI. “That’s why Element AI includes research scientists in the development phase of our products — it leads to more effective problem-solving.”
Solutions that fit your needs
The benefits of AI aren’t limited to a single industry. Whether for manufacturing or retail, insurance or financial services, AI solutions can help drive businesses forward across multiple sectors.
“Even industries we view as traditional can use data-driven analysis to increase efficiencies within their business, find ways to be more environmentally-conscious, or reduce costs for their customers,” adds Gamache. While we’re seeing a greater adoption of AI amongst executives, there are several barriers that the C-suite faces when looking to adopt AI solutions.
“One barrier is education on the use of AI,” says Gamache. “Another is lack of resources. It’s exceptionally difficult to find people who truly understand AI and can tap into its potential. Business leaders need to find the right talent to drive these solutions and cut through the data in a strategic way and find out how it can be valuable to their business.”
Another barrier is the level of risk aversion within the C-suite. As a budding industry, AI doesn’t have pre-set or pre-made processes that fit every company. “Executives need to be able to take risks and be flexible,” Gamache adds. “There’s an aspect of learn-as-you-go with AI because you’re solving unique, larger problems. Being flexible is very important.”
Flexible infrastructure for the future
To effectively implement AI solutions within an enterprise organization, company executives also need to work with the right service provider to ensure they’re selecting infrastructure that’s flexible and scalable to their needs.
“It’s important for enterprises to have scalable solutions because many of them start small but expand rapidly,” explains Marc-Alex Forget, Sales Director at Cogeco Peer 1. The company creates flexible and agile infrastructures for AI data. “Most enterprise clients I work with that utilize AI, partner with specialized AI solution-providers. They need to be confident that the company has the capability to deliver on the specific projects.”
Forget says that when it comes to user data, it’s important that the AI infrastructure in place includes privacy and security measures to ensure trusted and reliable data movement. “Recent changes to data regulations in Canada are also top of mind for our customers looking to store, share and use data safely,” he adds.
Collaboration is critical
As industry leaders, both Cogeco Peer 1 and Element AI understand that national and global industry collaboration is critical to ensure the ethical and responsible use of AI.
“We can’t unleash the power of AI without understanding the consequences,” says Gamache. “Industry experts around the world are advising governments on the ethical use of AI and are helping to shape policies and regulations.”
Last year, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) was amended and organizations subject to Canadian privacy law are held to a very high standard and need to comply with important new rules in relation to privacy breaches.
“The potential for AI to do great, powerful things in the world is immense, and in order to harness this power for good, cooperation by organizations and government regulations are needed,” says Jaime Leverton, General Manager and Vice President of Canada and APAC at Cogeco Peer 1.
To learn more about how AI can benefit your business, visit Cogeco Peer 1 or email [email protected].
