In April 2024, the Liberal Government announced the launch of two programs to grow Canada’s AI ecosystem. As part of a $2.4 billion package of AI-focused initiatives announced in Budget 2024, there will be $300 million earmarked for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). First, $200 million will be made available to bring new AI technologies to market and $100 million will be made available to help SMEs (small and medium enterprises) build or actively incorporate generative AI and deal learning solutions into core products and services.
Artificial intelligence has dominated the news with pundits suggesting that this could be biggest game changer in business since the invention of the internet. To what extent have SMEs been adopting AI and is it a game changer to the extent it levels the playing field against larger businesses? I am a big believer in adopting technology to create efficiencies in processes. Working with SMEs, I am constantly researching the capabilities of AI and how it can help our clients and ourselves.
Many SMEs have adopted AI into their marketing content. Andrew Crook runs PC275 Realty, a real estate brokerage and business advisory firm and has used AI to create graphics and manage marketing performance data. He spends about $1,000 a month for AI tools for services that would normally cost about $5,000 per month through a marketing agency or hiring internal staff. He also uses AI to generate content for business strategy sessions through his consulting practice. While AI has not necessarily transformed his business, it has freed many hours of time which has improved his quality of life and allowed him to spend more time with his family.
Many SMEs have figured out how to use AI to perform administrative tasks. Ilya Peskov, CEO of Focus 21, an IT software company has used AI to generate transcripts of meeting notes, review grammar and spelling and review legal documentation to ensure all clauses are captured. As a result, Ilya’s team has been able to spend their time on less administrative and more value-added work.
Olga Pawluczyk, CEO of P&P Optica has developed a unique smart detection imaging system to detect foreign materials in food processing. The entire premise of the business required machine learning and AI to create the product. Had it not been for AI, the task of analyzing a lot of information to detect foreign materials on a production line, at line speed, would be impossible. P&P Optica is an example of an SME that couldn’t deliver a product at all without the use of AI.
While I feel the advance of AI technology is a net positive for SMEs, it is worth discussing some of the risks. AI is only as good as the information it is fed to make decisions. As more information is fed into the system, it becomes more and more difficult to validate the accuracy and source of information. I also fear the possibility that AI will have the effect of reducing critical thinking by individuals as they take results from AI as gospel. Ilya Peskov believes that AI has generated about a 30% savings in time for his coders using Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. However, he recalls his early days in IT education where he used Stack Overflow and was required to learn grass roots coding. With AI, he is cognizant of a risk that at some point in the future developers will lose the rudimentary skills of programming and coding.
As AI evolves, we believe that it can be a game changer for SMEs. However, it important to ensure that we keep AI in check, question the results, validate the sources and make sure people do not turn off their critical thinking. However, if used correctly, it can certainly help level the playing field for SMEs.
This is certainly a welcome announcement from the federal government and if the program is successful, may be a nice replacement for the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) which was shut down earlier this year. We will continue to monitor the details as they become available but are optimistic that this program can significantly help SMEs grow.
