Saskatchewan’s first tech incubator, Co.Labs, is branching out from its tech-exclusive programming to offer training in AI adoption for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Co.Labs executive director Jonathan Lipoth announced the branch-out earlier this week in a LinkedIn post, where he told followers that Co.Labs was looking to “help non-tech companies use AI like a tech company.”
“If we can help local businesses stay competitive, then they have more optionality and control to … stay local.”
Co.Labs is based in Saskatoon and has operated for the past nine years. The organization is designed to help early-stage tech founders grow their businesses.
In an interview with BetaKit,Lipoth said Co.Labs felt
In an interview with BetaKit,Lipoth said Co.Labs felt compelled to expand its AI offerings to the broader business community after partners outside the tech industry began asking for it.
“We’ve been working on all kinds of AI adoption internally at Co.Labs, and with our startups, for a while now. It’s one of those things where it kind of just feels like market pull,” Lipoth said.
Officially launched this week, Co.Labs’ AI adoption training will cast its net across the whole province, looking to serve businesses in both Regina and Saskatoon, as well as in rural communities where the training could be offered remotely. Training is open across a variety of industries, with businesses in the accounting, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors as early participants.
Lipoth said that while the training program
Lipoth said that while the training program is intended to serve a broad spectrum of potential clients, its ideal customer profile looks like a management or executive team that’s technically savvy enough to know about AI, but is struggling to figure out how to integrate it into their business effectively.
“They’re not always certain as to how they can roll that out across their company, especially in the non-technical parts of a company,” Lipoth said.
While still in the early days, Lipoth said Co.Labs is focusing on building a case study repository defining how the organization has seen AI successfully integrated in non-tech-specific ways and then offering an ad-hoc advisory role for companies seeking Co.Labs help. The technical training will be carried out by Co.Labs staff and will be priced based on the size and scope of the company.
Lipoth said there’s also an opportunity for collaborative
Lipoth said there’s also an opportunity for collaborative training. He told BetaKitthat Co.Labs is planning to host free workshops on AI adoption this autumn, including at Memo Festival, a conference for creatives and designers held in Saskatoon this October.
While the majority of Co.Lab’s focus and programming will remain on tech startups exclusively, Lipoth said he and his colleagues felt that helping non-tech companies stay up to date with emerging technology would ultimately benefit the larger Saskatchewan and Canadian tech ecosystems.
“If we can help local businesses stay competitive, then they have more optionality and control to … stay local as long as they want,” Lipoth said. “If we can really push that forward and help small businesses look at tech as a kind of opportunity, then we’re helping not only the local tech ecosystem thrive, but we’re helping a lot of other businesses to think of themselves as tech companies.”
BetaKit’s Prairies reporting isfunded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.
Feature image courtesy Jonathan Lipoth
