Ahmad Nassri

AI Adoption by SMEs | Prepared by the OECD - OCDE This OECD discussion paper, prepared for Canada’s 2025 G7 Presidency, provides a comparative assessment of AI adoption by SMEs across G7 economies. It maps diffusion trends, adoption gaps, sectoral patterns, and productivity linkages using OECD surveys, Eurostat, and national statistics, evaluating government strategies to diffuse AI within digital transformation and industrial agendas. AI adoption among SMEs remains nascent and uneven. Only 11.9% of small firms (10–49 employees) use AI, versus 40% of large firms—a gap three times that of cloud or IoT. Generative AI has accelerated uptake since 2022, yet use remains peripheral. Adoption concentrates in ICT and professional services; construction, hospitality, and transport remain below 10%. Productivity premia for AI adopters shrink significantly when controlling for pre‑existing digital capabilities, skills, and complementary investments. The paper proposes a taxonomy structuring SME adopters along digital maturity, complexity of AI use, and scope of application: AI Novices, Optimisers, Explorers, and Champions. Case studies across G7 illustrate heterogeneous pathways and persistent barriers—data readiness, workforce skills, legal uncertainty, integration costs—providing a diagnostic for tailored policy. Four critical enablers—connectivity, AI‑enabling inputs (data, algorithms, compute), skills, finance—remain structurally constrained. Urban‑rural and firm‑size broadband gaps persist; compute access is concentrated; over 50% of SMEs cite skill shortages; fewer than 30% of AI‑using SMEs offer AI training; post‑2022 credit tightening has curtailed long‑term investment. G7 policy responses include Canada’s CAD 2.4 billion AI strategy and Compute Access Fund; France’s EUR 200 million Osez l’IA and IA Booster; Germany’s EUR 30 million Generative AI for SMEs and AI Service Centres; Italy’s Transition 5.0 tax credits and Competence Centres; Japan’s JPY 500 billion subsidy scheme and AI Guidelines; the UK’s GBP 1.2 billion skills investment and BridgeAI; and the US NAIRR pilot, SBIR/STTR grants, and AI Resource Hub. Yet fragmentation, limited SME reach, and insufficient tailoring constrain effectiveness. The OECD concludes AI is transitioning from experimental technology to strategic determinant of SME competitiveness. Countries aligning connectivity, compute and data access, upskilling, and diversified financing within coherent, stage‑aware frameworks will narrow adoption gaps and capture economy‑wide gains. It calls for differentiated policy pathways mapped to the taxonomy, sustained international co‑operation, and improved comparable indicators, recommending targeted R&D support, data readiness mechanisms, AI literacy and managerial training, and blended finance with advisory services. #SMEInnovation #AIEconomy #DigitalProductivity

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deepidv, a Toronto-based company, has raised $1M in seed funding to expand its AI-powered platform for identity verification and fraud prevention. Led by Founder & CEO @Shawn-Marc Melo and CTO Omar Tahir, the company is building a comprehensive fraud detection suite designed to tackle emerging threats such as deepfakes, synthetic identity fraud, and document forgery. The platform delivers sub-150 millisecond response times for transaction risk scoring and includes deepcam, a proprietary 8-inch tabletop biometric device capable of performing in-person identity verification in under 3.2 seconds. deepidv is currently onboarding customers across industries including fintech, proptech, hospitality, HR, and iGaming, where fast and secure identity verification is increasingly critical. With engineering anchored in Toronto and a growing presence in San Francisco and Dallas, the company now operates with a tri-city footprint across North America. The new funding will support product development, U.S. market expansion, and team growth across engineering and sales, as the company continues building AI infrastructure to combat the next generation of digital fraud. Avisha H. Andrew Macpherson #CyberSecurity #IdentityVerification #AI #FraudPrevention #StartupFunding #FinTech #DigitalSecurity #DeepfakeDetection #TechStartups #VentureCapital

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⚠️ Most fintech startups think SPF and DKIM are enough. They’re not. In Canada, a surprising number of companies still leave their domains vulnerable to email spoofing. 📊 Some concerning numbers: • Nearly 70% of Canadian domains still lack effective DMARC protection • Only ~9% enforce DMARC with a strict policy (p=reject) • Globally, less than 13% of domains using DMARC actually enforce it For fintech and e-commerce startups, this creates a serious risk, attackers can impersonate your domain to send phishing emails that look legitimate to customers, partners, or even employees. And the scary part? Many startups already have SPF and DKIM configured, but leave DMARC in monitoring mode (p=none), meaning attacks can be detected but not stopped. In industries where trust and digital transactions are everything, email authentication should not be an afterthought. 🔐 Proper DMARC enforcement can drastically reduce: • Phishing attacks • Brand impersonation • Business Email Compromise (BEC) 💬 Curious to hear from founders and security teams: At what stage should startups implement strict DMARC policies? Day 1 or only once the company starts scaling? #CyberSecurity #DMARC #Fintech #EmailSecurity #StartupSecurity #Ecommerce #Canada

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🗞️𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀: Formic AI, a proud Gold Sponsor of Future Lawyer Canada, has officially launched in Canada with an enterprise platform built to deliver transparent, verifiable search results for organisations working with sensitive data. ⚡Positioned as a “Made-in-Canada” alternative in a landscape crowded with opaque AI systems, Formic AI centres its value on three priorities increasingly sought by Canadian enterprises: traceable answers, operational efficiency, and alignment with local governance requirements. 💭“𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘈𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩,” said CEO Daniel Escott. “𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.” 💭Co-founder Varun Ranganathan echoed the emphasis on verification. “𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦,” he noted.“𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.” Formic AI is focusing on sectors where provenance, accuracy, and security are paramount,  including legal, finance, healthcare, and the public sector. By combining citation-backed outputs with flexible deployment options, the company aims to minimise the risk of fabricated content while supporting responsible, everyday use in regulated environments. ➡️Learn more from LegalTech.ca: https://lnkd.in/gmERzXEC 🚨Don’t miss Formic AI’s product demo, 𝘜𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭: 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, led by Daniel Escott at Future Lawyer Canada next week. Register to attend: https://lnkd.in/gyB5Djqr #FutureLawyerCanada #FLC #FormicAI #LegalTech #LegalAI

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Daily Startup Spotlight: Botpress Founded in February 2017 by Sylvain Perron and Justin Watson in Quebec, Canada, Botpress develops conversational AI with an all-in-one platform designed for building, deploying, and managing AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants. The company enables businesses and developers to create custom AI agents that automate complex conversations, customer service tasks, and workflows across multiple channels including websites, WhatsApp, Telegram, and enterprise systems. Botpress's flagship platform stands out as it leverages a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface combined with advanced natural language processing and machine learning capabilities to understand and respond to user queries effectively. The platform also offers extensive integrations with popular tools like Zapier, Zendesk, and messaging apps, allowing chatbots to operate within existing business workflows. Recently, Botpress 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗔$𝟯𝟰𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗕 funding led by Framework Venture Partners, with participation from Inovia Capital, HubSpot Ventures, Decibel Partners, Real Ventures, One Way Ventures, bossa invest, and Panache Ventures, bringing 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 $𝟯𝟵.𝟴𝗠. At AI World, we closely follow Botpress's journey and want to highlight the team behind the success: Jean-Bernard Perron, Michael Masson, Dominic Jodoin, Mathilde Mounier, Léanne Ricard, Anqi Lin, Vanessa Chawi, Vladyslav Udovenko, Adrian Kahali, Justin Bordage, Sébastien Poitras, Souheil Al-awar, Ajaykumar Mudaliar, Nabil Muzafar Shah, David Ferland, Michael Mukwekezeke, Albert Najjar, Matthew Petruzziello, Robert Laurella, PhD, Gideon Chrapko, Kieran Hamilton, François Levasseur, Jeremie Vezina, Aziz Camara, Sarah Chudleigh, David Vitor Antônio, Sam Rees, and the entire Botpress team! 📊 Sources: Crunchbase | BetaKit | PYMNTS | FinSMEs 🔗 Follow AI World for more and explore https://aiworld.eu/

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Modem Raises $4.4 Million in Funding Modem, a Toronto, Canada-based AI product management startup, has raised $4.4 million ($6M CAD) in funding. #AI #SaaS #ProductManagement #DeveloperTools #ProductWorkspace #SoftwareDevelopment #PreSeed #Funding https://lnkd.in/g4ngcjXi

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JetScale AI, a Montréal startup, raised $5.4 million CAD in seed funding to develop AI software that optimizes cloud infrastructure, reducing costs and environmental impact. Founded by former Dataperformers leaders Merai and De Lisi, the company aims to automate cloud efficiency improvements for clients. The funding will bolster JetScale's North American and European expansion and grow its team to support these efforts. https://lnkd.in/gd-y45eq #JetScaleAI #cloudcosts #climateimpact #funding #fundraise

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Plaidifying the Internet: How Deck is Unlocking the Next Frontier of User-Permissioned Data by Nima Olumi. “There’s a massive universe of high-value data locked behind usernames and passwords,” said co-founder Frédérick Lavoie. “And until now, there hasn’t been a reliable, scalable way to access it.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gRybDRnU

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ChatGPT is getting more customizable 🤖⚙️ StartUp Ecosystem reports OpenAI will introduce new customization and content options for ChatGPT. That’s good news for enterprises balancing control, brand voice, and compliance. - 🧠 Tailor responses toward domain language, roles, and tone. - 🔒 Finer content controls to align with policy and safety requirements. - 🧵 Configure outputs for documents, code, or support replies to fit workflows. - 🧪 Pilot features with small teams to validate quality and guardrails before scaling. The takeaway: Customization reduces rework and boosts adoption; tighter controls mitigate operational risk and help standardize outcomes across teams. Full story → https://lnkd.in/ehsVxisF #GenAI #ChatGPT #EnterpriseAI #AICompliance #Productivity #CX #Automation #FutureOfWork

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Canada’s AI story this week? 🚨 New tools, new rules, and louder calls for trust. 🔹 OpenAI’s Atlas launches — and raises fresh security questions. 🔹 Ottawa’s AI sprint wraps, setting the stage for national policy. 🔹 Canadian execs double down on data sovereignty as a must-have. The signal is clear: AI adoption is surging, but trust and governance are where Canada will win (or lose). 👉 Read the full Suprvisr AI Insights here: https://lnkd.in/gyDBYByi 📰 Sign up to our newsletter here:

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TechExit.io Vancouver is in less than two weeks! In technology M&A, open source software often becomes a key diligence focus, because how open source is used matters. Some tech companies rely on some form of open source or third-party code. From a buyer’s perspective, the question is whether that use creates unintended obligations that affect the company’s ability to commercialize, license, or protect its proprietary software. As part of diligence, buyers commonly look at issues such as: whether open source components are embedded in core products, whether applicable licenses impose disclosure, redistribution, or pricing obligations, and whether the company’s proprietary source code could be exposed or restricted as a result. These issues can sometimes surface late in the process (sometimes for the first time!) when reviewing disclosure schedules or negotiating IP representations. While open source use is common and often appropriate, gaps in tracking or documentation can introduce uncertainty around what the buyer is actually acquiring. Have M&A questions or want to learn more? Give Mogan Daniels Slager LLP a shout! www.mdslawyers.com Otherwise, we hope to see you at the Vancouver Convention Centre (West) on February 19! 🎟️ Still need a ticket? Head to www.techexit.io/vancouver/ and use discount code MDS30. #MDSLawyers #IPSeries #IntellectualProperty #OpenSource #TechExit #TechExitVancouver #TechMergers #TechAcquisitions #BCTech

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Risks of SaaS Data Storage Outside Canada ---------------------------------------------------------- Canadian companies and organizations must be aware of where their data is stored. Certain industries—such as medical, dental, and healthcare—are legally required to ensure that all files and information are stored exclusively within Canada. Many SaaS applications are hosted on cloud infrastructure located outside of Canada. Even when a vendor claims their primary servers are Canadian-based, backup, disaster recovery, or support systems are often hosted in other countries. SaaS providers are not obligated to proactively disclose where customer data is stored. In many cases, vendors provide vague, incomplete, or incorrect information, and frontline representatives often do not know the full details of their data residency practices. The safest approach is to require the SaaS provider to formally certify in writing—signed by a senior executive—that all data, including backups, remains within Canada. Ultimately, the responsibility and liability rest with your organization, not the SaaS vendor. The fact that a SaaS product is sold or marketed in Canada does not mean it complies with Canadian data residency laws. Failure to verify compliance can expose your organization to legal and regulatory risk.

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📑 Nebula Block Briefs Canada Opens $300M AI Compute Fund — Here’s How to Apply Canada just launched the AI Compute Access Fund, unlocking up to CAD $5M per project to cover 2/3 of GPU, storage, and AI infrastructure costs for startups, researchers, and non-profits. This brief explains who’s eligible, what workloads qualify, and how teams can deploy on Canada-based GPU infrastructure like Nebula Block to meet the fund’s requirements — from training and fine-tuning to real-time inference. 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gCY9vHHw

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New biometrics guidelines from Canada’s OPC cover public, private sectors Purpose, privacy, consent loom large in adopted guidelines for biometric initiatives #biometrics #dataprivacy Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada/Commissariat à la protection de la vie privée du Canada

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