Show Notes
"A win for AXL is that, ten years from now, instead of nine of the top ten biggest and most successful companies in the world being on the West Coast of the United States, half of them are in Toronto." Dr. Daniel Wigdor has a lofty goal: help launch 50 AI companies in the next five years *and* keep them in Canada. Is it enough to stop our country's AI brain drain? The entrepreneur, computer science professor, and former Meta and Microsoft employee joins to discuss his new venture studio AXL, and why Canada is so bad at commercializing its innovations. The BetaKit Podcast is presented by The BetaKit Newsletter. Your inbox deserves better, and so do you. Stay informed on all things Canadian tech by signing up for The BetaKit Newsletter today.
More from The BetaKit Podcast Channel
"The United States economy definitely has a cold right now. And when the US sneezes, the whole world catches a cold." Economic commentator and New York Times bestselling author Kyla Scanlon joins to discuss the concerning connection between debt and the AI data centre buildout, how AI companies drive the US economy with impunity, and the impacts of AI adoption on the labour market. Related Links: Waving the AI bubble red flags Religious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them. -- Amid global uncertainty, the path forward is clear: Canada's moment to build is now. Presented by Uber Canada, DMZ, and National Bank of Canada, BetaKit Most Ambitious is back, telling stories of nearly 100 Canadian innovators strengthening our nation's autonomy, security, and prosperity. Read BetaKit Most Ambitious now.
"I think that we will look back on prediction markets the same way we look back on altcoins and … NFTs." Canada's newest FinTech unicorn also seems poised to become Canada's newest bank. In a wide-ranging interview, Koho CEO Daniel Eberhard discusses what both milestones mean for the company, the impact of international competition flooding into Canada, the possibilities of launching a telecom (!), and why Koho won't touch prediction markets. Let's dig in. -- Amid global uncertainty, the path forward is clear: Canada's moment to build is now. Presented by Uber Canada, DMZ, and National Bank of Canada, BetaKit Most Ambitious is back, telling stories of nearly 100 Canadian innovators strengthening our nation's autonomy, security, and prosperity. Read BetaKit Most Ambitious now.
"Transformative technology doesn't become transformative when we invent it. It becomes transformative when we adopt it." AI and quantum are two potentially transformative technologies at very different stages of development. Leaders from Xanadu (Nikki Bhatia), Nord Quantique (Marc-Antoine Lemonde), IonQ (Lisa Lambert), and CGI (Chris Juryn) discuss where they intersect live on stage at ALL IN 2026. -- Amid global uncertainty, the path forward is clear: Canada's moment to build is now. Presented by Uber Canada, DMZ, and National Bank of Canada, BetaKit Most Ambitious is back, telling stories of nearly 100 Canadian innovators strengthening our nation's autonomy, security, and prosperity. Read BetaKit Most Ambitious now.
"I think—and I hope I'm right—that we can build the next OpenAI, or Anthropic, or world model here in Canada." Mila entrepreneur-in-residence Alex Shee joins to explain the cultural shift among academic institutions toward supporting the entrepreneurial journeys of locally trained AI scientists and the "generational opportunity" it could create for Canada. Recorded live at ALL IN 2026. -- Amid global uncertainty, the path forward is clear: Canada's moment to build is now. Presented by Uber Canada, DMZ, and National Bank of Canada, BetaKit Most Ambitious is back, telling stories of nearly 100 Canadian innovators strengthening our nation's autonomy, security, and prosperity. Read BetaKit Most Ambitious now.
"We're focused on 'the future of', so that gives us a lot more liberty of the type of speakers we can book." Elevate is the type of tech festival that plays host to everyone from Akon to Al Gore to Michelle Obama. This year, Kyle Lowry—The Greatest Raptor of All Time—will take the stage. CEO and co-founder Lisa Zarzeczny joins to share lessons learned and funny stories from a near-decade of Elevate, alongside how she has modified the program to address the pressing questions facing Canada today. -- Amid global uncertainty, the path forward is clear: Canada's moment to build is now. Presented by Uber Canada, DMZ, and National Bank of Canada, BetaKit Most Ambitious is back, telling stories of nearly 100 Canadian innovators strengthening our nation's autonomy, security, and prosperity. Read BetaKit Most Ambitious now.