The sound of silence: Why fear and profit protection are slowing AI progress in Canada

Nicole Janssen is CEO of AltaML. – Photo courtesy AltaML

Nicole Janssen remembers the discomfort of looking around the room trying to figure out why nobody would talk to her.

She had been invited to speak at an insurance summit in Canada, addressing senior executives from some of the country’s top firms.

As the Co-CEO and co-founder of AltaML, Janssen was there to talk about AI and she was scheduled for an opening talk, and a panel later in the event.

But after her opening remarks, something unusual happened — no one approached her.

“No one would talk to me, which usually is not a problem when you’re the speaker,” she says in an interview with Digital Journal in the AltaML head office in Edmonton. “I thought maybe it just didn’t resonate.”

The next day, things only got worse and attendees seemed to be actively avoiding her. So when she sat on her second panel, Janssen decided to address the elephant in the room by turning around and asking the audience directly.

“Why is everyone so afraid of AI?” she recalls asking attendees from the stage. “I’d like to know please. Anybody?”

Later, a participant approached Janssen to talk and admitted the reason nobody was commenting or discussing AI is because nobody at the event wants to see change.

“I came off stage and a woman approached me and said, ‘You don’t understand —in this industry, we make a lot of money and the first person who innovates forces everyone else to innovate, and we’re all friends here’,” Janssen recalls.

The woman also explained that the group consisted of senior executives and actuaries who specialize in analyzing financial risks and use statistical models to make predictions. Many of these leaders began their careers as actuaries (a role that AI is poised to disrupt significantly) and as a result, they were reluctant to discuss or embrace changes that could upend their industry and their own career paths.

This interaction, for Janssen, underscored a deeper issue. 

It wasn’t just about AI — it was about an entrenched resistance to change. That reluctance is not unique to the insurance industry. Across Canada, Janssen has observed a striking trend where companies that are using AI are reluctant to admit it.

“What we’ve seen is that even when Canadian companies are using AI, they often don’t want to talk about it publicly,” she says. “That hesitancy can hold back the momentum needed for broader adoption and innovation.”

This silence often stems from fears about how AI will be perceived by customers, or concerns about data privacy. 

However, Janssen argues that this secrecy stifles growth and undermines trust. 

“One of the principles of responsible AI is transparency,” she says. “What we really need to do is figure out how Canada can win in AI, and I believe we win by carving out a niche where we’re the global leader of responsible AI.”

Part of the winning formula: openly sharing how AI improves processes and outcomes in order to demystify the technology and encourage others to explore its potential.

Resisting innovation is part of Canada’s problem

Janssen has seen this pattern play out across industries in Canada.

While companies often acknowledge the potential of AI, and many are already using it, there are many who also remain hesitant to adopt it openly or invest in transformative change.

Janssen points to several contributing factors, including prolonged decision-making cycles, fear of change, and structural complacency within certain industries.

“AI for the average person, is still a robot coming for your job, which that isn’t the case,” she says.

Recent statistics underscore the challenge: As of 2024, only 6.1% of Canadian businesses were using AI in producing goods and delivering services. And perhaps most surprising for those who follow tech, a whopping three quarters (74.2%) of businesses are not planning to use AI because they feel it’s not relevant to the goods produced or services delivered.

“AI is relevant to every business,” Janssen says. “There isn’t a business we have talked to or connected with where there aren’t relevant use cases that bring return on investment. It’s just a matter of businesses not being ready for it yet.”

An important data point to clarify is that this resistance isn’t universal. 

In industries like information and cultural sectors, AI adoption is higher, with 24.1% of businesses already using generative AI and an additional 7.1% planning to adopt it.

However, broader uptake across sectors is needed for Canada to remain competitive.

One glaring example is the difference in sales cycles between Canada and the United States.

“The sales cycle in Canada on the services side of our business is 18 months long,” Janssen says. “In the U.S., it’s four months. That’s a massive difference.”

This isn’t just an operational inconvenience. It’s a critical barrier to growth.

The drawn-out timelines in Canada make it harder for companies to experiment, iterate, and scale AI projects. This is a stark contrast to the fast-paced decision-making culture in the U.S.

“Canadian companies often approach AI as if it’s a one-time, all-in commitment,” Janssen explains. “There’s a lot of fear and misunderstanding of what it can and can’t do. People look at AI as this big project that’s going to revolutionize their business when, in reality, it’s about integrating AI throughout existing processes.”

AltaML is growing into the U.S.

For AltaML, resistance combined with being a scaleup with experience and ambitious growth goals, means it’s now growing beyond Canada’s borders.

The company has completed more than 400 projects across industries, including public sector, energy, health, and agriculture, and it’s now expanding its operations into the U.S.

Beyond faster sales cycles, there are other challenges that set the U.S. apart as a necessary market for growth.

In Canada, industries with limited competition often lack the incentive to innovate.

“I think part of [the problem] is that many of our largest industries are monopolies, created by government funding and regulation,” Janssen says. “Monopolies don’t need to innovate.”

This lack of competition, combined with cultural risk aversion, has created a perfect storm of resistance in Canada’s innovation landscape.

The result? Companies like AltaML are increasingly drawn southward to find partners who are ready to act.

The economic imperative to embrace AI

The global race for AI dominance has accelerated, with recent developments demonstrating the high stakes for countries and companies alike. 

China’s DeepSeek made headlines this week by open-sourcing a powerful AI model at a fraction of the cost of its competitors, shaking up financial markets and challenging the dominance of Western tech giants. This bold move showcases how aggressive adoption strategies can redefine industries almost overnight.

In the U.S., the Stargate Project — backed by OpenAI and Oracle — represents a $500-billion investment to cement American leadership in AI infrastructure, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company will invest $60 billion on AI in 2025 alone. And late last year, Alberta shared details about a massive data centre play to support AI growth.

For Canada, these global advancements should serve as a wake-up call.

Canada’s slower adoption of AI isn’t just a business hurdle — it reflects a broader economic challenge tied to staying competitive in the global economy.

As the global economy shifts toward technology-driven industries, Canada’s reliance on traditional sectors like energy and natural resources makes diversification critical. 

As John Ruffolo, Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators put it: “The new Cold War is a front based on technology.” 

Ruffolo points out that today, technological superiority is the equivalent military superiority of past generations.

AI presents an opportunity to modernize Canadian industries and create new avenues for growth, but that requires a willingness to embrace change.

To move forward, Canada’s business leaders must take a proactive stance in embracing AI. 

This means looking beyond fears of disruption and focusing on the long-term benefits of adopting cutting-edge tools. The opportunity to modernize industries and remain competitive globally is within reach — but only for those willing to take bold steps.

“We have an exceptional foundation right now in talent and research,” Janssen says in summary. “But we aren’t commercializing or adopting it, and if we don’t get to doing that, we will lose this advantage that we have.”

This article was created with the assistance of AI. Learn more about our AI ethics policy here.