Wednesday, March 27, 2019 – While the first Girard budget provides considerable sums to strengthen Québec’s position as a leader in the field of artificial intelligence, the AQT continues to make sure involvement of techno SMEs in this vibrant ecosystem. On 26 March, AQT members gathered in large numbers around a double program dedicated to the applicability of artificial intelligence within their company. Back on a day rich in content and, we hope, rich in new opportunities, organized in concert with TechnoCompétences.

An Artificial Intelligence bootcamp dedicated to SME managers

A recent survey revealed that 80% of AQT members plan to integrate artificial intelligence into their existing solutions. In light of this, this day dedicated to leaders was oriented to cover 2 central issues:

1. How to approach AI projects avoiding pitfalls;
2. How to benefit from the many resources and partners available within this ecosystem.

Kicking off the day, Jean-François Connolly, IVADO’s Entrepreneurial Research Advisor, skilfully explored the current AI ecosystem across Canada, providing a comprehensive overview and ideal for targeting potential partners among universities, granting agencies, applied research organizations and private companies active in the field.

Jean-François Connolly

Valérie Bécaert, Director of Research at Element AI, then coached the leaders on some of the fundamental questions to solve before implementing AI in a techno company. While shedding light on the quantity and quality of data, his intervention allowed him to address the issue of planning the financial and human resources to be included in a new approach.

Valérie Bécaert

Concrete ideas for anticipating the pitfalls, such was the generous contribution of Alain Lavoie, the CEO of Irosoft. Having learned to discern, through several successful initiatives, the most common errors that could lead to the failure of an AI investment, this third speaker presented “What to do in order to fail with an AI project”, a presentation based on the field experience and the perspective of an experienced entrepreneur.

To end the morning in style, Nicole Martel, CEO of AQT, and Samuel Faucher and Jean-Philippe Nantel of CRIM, led a panel to better measure the impact the potential of AI in the context of integration with existing solutions. Nothing better than deepening the gains achieved by companies that have completed their projects. In this panel, Effigis Géosolutions and JLR’ expertise were shown, each revealing the particular impact and positioning resulting from their investment in AI.

In the afternoon, a series of practical workshops were offered to test various structuring tools within an AI project, including:

• Demystifying AI in Business, by Neos
• A field view of proof of concept at the start of production, led by RCGT
• 6-week process to establish a product roadmap, by Bain Public

Artificial intelligence at the service of Marketing

Christopher S. Penn

Parallel to the day dedicated to the leaders was a master class with a marketing leader, Christopher S. Penn, who came directly from Boston to demystify concrete applications of AI in the context of SME marketing process.

With nearly 8 out of 10 companies selling outside Quebec, AQT members remain on the lookout for cutting-edge techniques to increase the effectiveness of their digital strategy. In this regard, the technological advances to use the AI in marketing are such that several tools are accessible and often free. The message to remember? No matter the size of the company, digital marketing is accessible to all!