In this video, you'll learn how AI is becoming a true economic growth engine for cities and regions and how your business can benefit now. Calgary Economic Development CEO Brad Perry shares real-world insights on adoption, why SMEs get stuck in “too busy to change." We also explore what AI playbooks work, where governments and funds can accelerate training and procurement, and what the next wave of agentic, context-aware systems means for talent and jobs. What we discussed:

0:53 - why AI is real as an economic driver

3:27 - Balancing job displacement with staying competitive

5:13 - The AI usage gap:

6:03 - CED's plan to build a hyper-specific, on-demand AI learning repository

10:20 - The COVID tech hangover and AI accordion strategy 17:06 - Role should governments play in AI acceleration

19:03 - Post-secondary institutions struggle to keep AI curriculum current

23:50 - Is the AI tipping point two years or five years out?

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