Building The North

Is AI really taking our jobs? Ilya Brotzky says no, and he sees the hiring data every day.

Ilya is the founder and CEO of VanHack, which helps engineers from all over the world get hired by tech companies in North America. His team has made 50,000 introductions and helped 2,300 engineers get hired.

We sat down with him in Vancouver to talk about why Canada has gotten harder to move to, how the country could pull tech talent away from the US, why he thinks AI isn't taking software jobs, and how a Portuguese landing page turned into a company.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:33 His Wife Is His Co-Founder

03:39 Why Vancouver, Not San Francisco

06:26 Why Canada Got Harder to Move To

13:02 What the Netherlands and Finland Get Right

15:30 What Canada Should Fix First

18:41 Pulling Tech Talent Away From the US

23:25 AI Is Not Taking Software Jobs

32:32 VanHack's Own AI Agent, Vanna

34:53 From English School to VanHack

40:30 Advice for His 25-Year-Old Self

46:43 How VanHack Vets Talent

49:54 Why Midsize Beats Big Logos

53:28 Canada in Five Years

56:26 Staying Present

Building the North is an interview show with the founders, CEOs and politicians making a real impact in Canada. Hosted by Julian Wells and Taylor Duncan.

Will AI change the future of healthcare in Canada? We interviewed Frank Baylis to find out.

Frank is one of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs.

He’s founded Baylis Medical and has exited multiple businesses, most recently selling one of his product lines to Boston Scientific for $1.75 billion USD.

Hosts Taylor Duncan and Julian Wells interviewed him in Montreal to learn about his companies, the importance of data sovereignty, how AI could change healthcare, and his time in politics.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
01:10 Montreal vs Silicon Valley
10:45 Why Grads Are Booing AI
15:58 How AI Fixes Healthcare
25:32 Automating Revenue Canada
33:33 Sovereign AI and Who Owns Our Data
45:27 His Mother Said No
57:52 The Myth of the Self-Made Man
1:10:36 If You Can't Change, You Can't Grow
1:14:57 Inside the $1.75B Exit
1:22:08 The Case for Term Limits
1:32:28 How Parliament Really Works
1:44:40 The Record-Breaking Petition
1:50:00 Filming The Last Cargo in Colombia
1:55:54 Winner Mindsets Are Expansionist

This is the second episode of Building The North, with Venn co-founder Ahmed Shafik.

Venn raised $26.5m to build better business banking and is now used by more than 15,000 Canadian entrepreneurs.

Hosts Taylor Duncan and Julian Wells discuss with Ahmed why adding AI products into Canada's financial ecosystem will change how easy it is to start and operate a business.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:26 His Parents Wanted a Doctor
09:42 The $40 Bank Statement Fee
13:43 The Fintech Trust Shift
17:50 Raising a $21.5M Series A
21:53 Running Venn on Venn
24:35 When AI Agents Move Millions
31:05 Would He Sell to the Big Five?
34:14 Culture & the First Ten Hires
45:35 A 10-Year Co-Founder Marriage
49:28 Growth Hacks & Why Cold Calling Works
1:00:11 Canada in Five Years: Bull vs Bear
1:04:10 The AI Layoff Excuse
1:14:56 Idea on Monday, Shipped by Friday
1:20:58 Watching His Parents Start Over

In a conversation with Build Canada CEO Lucy Hargreaves, hosts Taylor Duncan and Julian Wells discuss why becoming the most prosperous country in the world is Canada’s opportunity to lose.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:52 Why Lucy keeps choosing Canada
03:15 Three fixes: tax, open markets, red tape
09:21 Build Canada's mission & Canada Spends
15:28 Why AI became so divisive
20:22 Convincing the AI skeptic
23:26 Should AI be taught in schools?
27:01 AI's biggest win is fixing government
33:50 What is sovereign AI?
39:41 Best case vs worst case for Canada
43:10 Why only 12% of businesses use AI
49:32 The future of education
58:13 Inside Build Canada
1:07:45 What's next
1:22:55 Changing messaging

We're starting a podcast. Every single episode will be an in-person interview with a CEO, politician, or founder making a real impact.

We think the way people try to sell you on AI is backwards. You need to know how AI will actually improve the lives of Canadians.

Each interview will dive into the guest’s vision for their industry, how AI could improve it in a meaningful way, and how Canada can get ahead.

Stay tuned for episode 1.