Intelligence Artificielle - AI Montréal Plaque Tournante

[Normand Hamel]

Intact to Acquire RSA's Canada, UK and International Operations with CDPQ's Support

Intact Financial Corporation will invest $1.5 billion in technology in Quebec over five years

MONTREAL, Nov. 18, 2020  - Intact Financial Corporation today announced that, together with Tryg A/S (Tryg), it has reached an agreement for the acquisition of RSA Insurance Group plc (RSA). Pursuant to the transaction, IFC will, with the support of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), acquire RSA Group's Canada, UK and International operations and co-own RSA Group's Danish business with Tryg. To support its customer driven digital strategy and the growth resulting from the acquisition and integration of these operations, IFC will invest $1.5 billion in technology in Quebec over the next five years. This acquisition will also significantly increase the role and influence of several strategic teams based in Quebec, consolidate IFC's significant economic impact in the province, and increase that impact through these additional investments.

"Intact Financial Corporation has its roots in Quebec," said Charles Brindamour, CEO of Intact Financial Corporation. "While our success now extends well beyond Quebec's borders, we still run a significant portion of our North American operations there. With the support of CDPQ, our acquisition of RSA will create additional demands and opportunities for the teams supporting our global operations; coupled with our future tech investments, this will provide a significant and lasting boost to the expansion of our strategic teams based in Quebec."

"We've been partners with Intact Financial Corporation for over 10 years," said Charles Emond, President and CEO, CDPQ. "Our investment has yielded positive returns for our depositors, thanks to the company's strong track record of successfully integrating the companies they have acquired. We're delighted to support this new acquisition, which will provide new growth opportunities for IFC, strengthen its leading position in Canada, and have a significant impact in Quebec's financial and technology sectors."

Additional investments in cutting-edge tech sectors
IFC's growth is based on a long tradition of innovation and investments in technology that will accelerate with the acquisition of RSA. IFC will invest $1.5 billion over the next five years to support and grow the work of its digital, tech and AI development labs and software engineering teams. These Quebec-based teams will expand their scope and responsibilities as a result of the company's growth and international operations, and to do this they will be hiring new talent. Over the next five years, more than 1,500 Quebec experts in user experience, design, mobile and software engineering, cybermetrics, machine learning and AI will work on developing and improving the digital customer experience, in addition to using technology to improve the efficiency of the company's global operations.

Quebec talent driving growth for Intact and the Quebec economy 
A number of IFC's core operations are based in and directed from Quebec. The company has major teams that not only serve Quebecers, but also the rest of Canada and divisions across North America. Most of these teams will see their operations expand as the company's international growth creates additional demands.

This includes the Intact Investment Management team, which will lead the company's global investment operations and see its assets under management grow from $20 billion to $40 billion.

These expanded responsibilities for the Quebec-based teams will also enable IFC to act as a talent accelerator by providing even more high-calibre job opportunities for the next generation of Quebec university graduates, particularly in the actuarial, finance, technology and AI sectors.

IFC: A major employer rooted in the local economy
Since its beginnings in Quebec in 1907 (for the legacy company of Intact Insurance) and 1955 (for belairdirect), IFC has continued to grow steadily across the province in terms of its number of employees, investment, market share and community engagement.

IFC in Quebec today:

• Over 5,000 employees in its Montreal, Anjou, Québec and Saint-Hyacinthe offices. Nearly one in three Quebecers and nearly one in four companies are insured through our Intact Insurance and belairdirect banners. 
• More than 530 property and casualty insurance broker partners of all sizes located across Quebec. 
• $1.6 billion in claim payments to Quebec customers, contributing to the province's economic vitality by mobilizing the home restoration and renovation and automotive repair industries. 
• Collaboration with several major Quebec universities, including Université Laval, Polytechnique, Université de Sherbrooke, ÉTS and the Institut de valorisation des données (IVADO), a collaboration between HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal and Université de Montréal.

[steve_36]

Il y a 9 heures, budgebandit a dit :

Would you rather be the Expos or the Yankees/Red Sox? 

I always stand by the local guys, always, no matter how good or bad they are !

[steve_36]

Il y a 12 heures, Normand Hamel a dit :

Dans le passé une telle acquisition aurait représenté un certain danger que nos talents soient expatriés aux États-Unis. Mais ce n'est plus le cas aujourd'hui car l'exode des cerveaux s'est en fait inversé, surtout en intelligence artificielle.

C'est que Montréal est maintenant reconnu internationalement comme l'endroit où il faut aller si on veut travailler en IA. C'est d'ailleurs pourquoi ServiceNow va amener 200 chercheurs additionnels à Montréal pour développer sa plateforme existante.

Montréal est l'endroit présentement où l'on retrouve la plus grande concentration au monde de chercheurs académiques en intelligence artificielle. C'est ce qui attire ici des compagnies comme ServiceNow. La seule chose qui nous manque c'est l'argent et c'est justement ce qu'apportera ServiceNow.

Là où c'est le plus difficile pour nous c'est de transférer notre savoir académique en applications pratiques qui mèneront à la commercialisation de produits. Car pour y arriver ça prend beaucoup d'argent. Et où cet argent se trouve-t-il? Surtout aux États-Unis où il y a plein de gens qui ne savent plus quoi faire avec leur argent tellement ils en ont et cherchent à investir dans des entreprises prometteuses.

C'est exactement ce que je me dis. Le talent de Montréal semble maintenant reconnu mondialement et il attire l'attention des plus gros joueurs. De plus, cela se traduit de plus en plus par des investissements ici-même alors que par le passé ce n'était pas souvent le cas.

[Normand Hamel]

il y a une heure, steve_36 a dit :

Le talent de Montréal semble maintenant reconnu mondialement et il attire l'attention des plus gros joueurs. De plus, cela se traduit de plus en plus par des investissements ici-même alors que par le passé ce n'était pas souvent le cas.

C'est un fait que depuis quelques années plusieurs compagnies choisissent Montréal à cause de notre expertise en IA. Souvent ce sont des entreprises qui oeuvrent en IA mais pas toujours, car certaines ont juste besoin d'embaucher quelques spécialistes en IA et savent qu'ils les trouveront facilement à Montréal. C'est donc un facteur important, avec la qualité de vie, qui peut les inciter à installer leur entreprise ici.

Le plus intéressant c'est qu'avec l'expertise de certaines entreprises, comme IVADO et Element AI par exemple, et des institutions comme Mila, nous arrivons à attirer de nombreuses entreprises qui embauchent des experts venus de partout dans le monde, attirés par les nombreux emplois qui sont offerts ici. Or les experts en IA ne sont pas si nombreux que ça et cela engendre un brain drain vers Montréal. Et plus il vient des experts à Montréal moins il y en a ailleurs car ils sont maintenant ici plutôt que là et cette situation incite encore davantage les compagnies à venir s'établir ici, ce qui a pour effet d'amplifier le phénomène.

Yoshua Bengio avait raison de dire que Montréal est devenue la Silicon Valley de l'intelligence artificielle où le même phénomène se produit en Californie depuis plusieurs années dans différents secteurs de haute technologie. Là-bas ils ont le climat, ce qui n'est pas le cas ici. Par contre nous jouissons d'une belle qualité de vie qui permet à toutes ces personnes venues d'ailleurs d'élever leurs enfants dans des conditions qui, selon les valeurs de chacun, peuvent être considérées comme idéales. 

[mont royal]

In our enthusiasm for our beloved city and the growing conviction that Montreal is becoming a global centre for AI, we need to include a critical eye as well. I have had concerns about Element AI for a while. The hype was exciting; yes, they attracted an important cadre of expertise, but there was very little income and questionable output. 

I tended to distrust the Toronto-based critiques. We should never underestimate their competitive feelings towards Montreal and they will do what they can to discredit our city. They zeroed in on Element AI, and even went so far as to describe it as a Ponsi scheme. I wanted to see this as envy.  The Globe and Mail described this sale as the demise of Element AI.

Unfortunately, some of their criticisms appear  to be valid. Production and revenue are low and even Legault does not seem to be too concerned about this sale.

But, there are reasons for optimism. It is not likely that investors will shell out hundreds of millions of dollars just to expedite a demise. They must see economic potential and, hopefully they will reorient the management towards a more profitable future. Hopefully most of the recruited talent will stay integrated within the Montreal AI community. 

Also in the past several days we have seen highly impressive expansion plans and actions by a number of Montreal based companies: Lightspeed, Garda, WSP,  Nuvei, Lion. Much of this expansion is directly  related to AI opportunities. 

So, irrespective of how Element AI plays out, we seem to be on the cusp of a major economic boom in Montreal. Covid has obscured that dynamism for the past few months...but it is alive and well...and very exciting.

[Normand Hamel]

Il y a 2 heures, mont royal a dit :

I have had concerns about Element AI for a while.

Personnellement je n'ai jamais été très enthousiaste envers Element AI jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit vendue à ServiceNow. Je ne sais pas encore ce que ces derniers en feront mais une chose est certaine c'est qu'ils semblent avoir les moyens qui permettront à Element AI d'enfin croître et de prospérer.

Je suis le développement de l'intelligence artificielle à Montréal d'assez près pour savoir qu'Element AI n'a produit rien de vraiment remarquable jusqu'à maintenant. Qu'en sera-t-il dans l'avenir, je n'en ai aucune idée. L'important pour moi c'est qu'ils continuent de faire de la recherche car cela maintiendra les emplois existants et en créera de nouveaux.

On rapporte que ServiceNow aurait payé 400 millions pour Element AI. Si c'est exact il s'agit d'une somme beaucoup plus importante que ce à quoi je me serais attendu. Cela indiquerait aussi que si ServiceNow a dépensé autant d'argent c'est parce qu'Element AI a un gros potentiel de développement.

Bien entendu si dans l'avenir ils font des profits ce sera pour le bénéfice des actionnaires de ServiceNow. Mais pour moi ce qui compte le plus en ce moment c'est que les emplois restent ici, et ils le resteront car Montréal est un hub d'intelligence artificielle qui est aujourd'hui bien établi et qui attire les chercheurs du monde entier. Et qui dit chercheurs dit potentiellement applications commercialisables.

Ce que les gens ne comprennent pas c'est que l'IA n'a pris son essor scientifiquement parlant que depuis 2012. Or Montréal avait déjà une longueur d'avance à ce moment-là car le laboratoire LISA, l'ancêtre de Mila, a été créé par Yoshua Bengio en 1993 alors que l'IA dans son ensemble était sur la glace depuis plus de 20 ans car les ordinateurs de l'époque n'étaient pas capables d'en exploiter le plein potentiel. Il fallait y croire et Yoshua y a cru, tout en obtenant le soutien de l'Université de Montréal.

Il y a encore relativement peu d'applications de l'IA dans le monde entier car il n'y a pas beaucoup d'experts et une bonne part d'entre eux se trouvent ici même à Montréal. Cependant plusieurs de nos chercheurs travaillent pour des compagnies comme Google et Facebook (et maintenant ServiceNow). Ce qui veut dire que les profits éventuels seront exportés.

Mais avec le nombre de chercheurs qu'il y a ici, tôt ou tard l'un d'entre eux effectuera une percée qui amènera la création d'une compagnie d'envergure internationale basée à Montréal. On l'a fait dans le passé avec des compagnies comme CGI par exemple qui est partie de rien et qui oeuvre dans un domaine similaire.

Il faut se rappeler également que le complexe O Mile-Ex n'a été créé qu'en 2018 et qu'une forte proportion de ses occupants sont des étudiants au doctorat ou des post-doc. Et les autres occupants travaillent dans l'ombre pour des compagnies Américaines, Européennes et Asiatiques. Il y a là une force incroyable dont peu d'observateurs comprennent la dynamique. Pour que l'IA fonctionne il faut beaucoup de data et c'est ce qu'IVADO est en train de faire dans le O Mile-Ex en accumulant un très grand nombre de données qui pourront éventuellement être exploitées par les membres participants.  

Lorsque RONA a été vendue aux Américains cela avait créé tout un tollé. On voit un peu la même chose aujourd'hui avec la vente d'Element AI. Or les conséquences ne sont pas du tout les mêmes. RONA ne pouvait que s'en trouvée affaiblie parce que l'expertise et le centre décisionnel s'en allait au sud de la frontière. Dans le cas d'Element AI c'est plutôt l'inverse car ce sont les experts de ServiceNow qui s'en viennent ici.

[rufus96]

^ If SNC is relocating anywhere, it'll be London (where their 2nd largest office is located) or the United States. Their issue isn't with Montreal or Quebec, it's with Canada at large. A few months back during the height of the SNC scandal, an internal memo leaked saying the company was on the verge of deciding to relocate to the States. My money is on London and I fully expect this to occur in 2024. 

[Normand Hamel]

Financial sectors look to AI in site selection

AI hubs are emerging as key locations for financial services investors looking to start or expand their business in new destinations.

By Sofia Karadima - Investment Monitor - 26 Nov 2020

Investors in the financial services sectors are increasingly eyeing locations that have strong artificial intelligence (AI) resources in a bid to benefit from their competitive advantages, especially given the increased importance of the digital transformation following the outbreak of Covid-19.

Indeed, the pandemic has accelerated the need for banking and financial services to embrace AI technologies.

“The adoption of AI has varied significantly across industries,” says Matt Szuhaj, managing director, real estate and location strategy, at Deloitte Consulting. “However, financial services companies have been early adopters of virtualisation due to consumer preferences and market forces, and therefore are positioned to leverage AI more readily.”

AI is, then, making its presence felt across the financial services industry, and this is having an impact upon site selection companies when they determine the best location for banking and financial services clients to relocate to or expand in.

“As AI continues to transform the financial services industry, one of the most important site selection factors for this sector will be the need for skilled talent and relevant academic resources to support the continued development and growth of these companies,” says Mark Simmons, principal at Parker Poe Consulting.

John Boyd of New Jersey-based location consultancy Boyd Company adds that his company’s site searches now focus heavily on those global markets that have strong academic programmes based around AI, given clients’ need for the latest in AI skill sets as well as a requirement for academic resources to continue to train workers in this discipline.

How important are operational costs to AI site selection?

On top of a sustainable supply of talent and academic resources, operating costs are another competitive factor that companies take into consideration in the site selection phase, along with indicators such as a favourable operating climate, regulatory requirements, infrastructure, business disruption risks and incentives.

Indeed, Boyd explains that site searches also prioritise those cities that already house a large number of financial services jobs and skill sets, along with a favourable operating cost profile. His company has identified 25 cities that show a superior fit for AI recruiting when it comes to the banking and financial services sectors. The cities are ranked by the cost of operating a typical operations centre occupying  2,787m² and employing 150 workers.

Montreal is the top-ranked city in terms of cost efficiencies and AI talent. One key reason behind this rating is that it houses an important lab for deep learning research, the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, which is fronted by one of the founders of machine learning, Yoshua Bengio.

The city also benefits from its deep pool of workers in financial services, and Canada’s global recruitment-friendly immigration policies and favourable exchange rate. Indeed, Boyd adds that Boston-based State Street and New York City-based Morgan Stanley have generated 2,000 new jobs in Montreal. The Canadian city has also been the recipient of  new investments from major AI players DeepMind, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Paris-based Thales.

Locations for innovation

AI activities fall into two types of related operations within the financial services sector, according to Szuhaj at Deloitte Consulting. He adds that there is an overlap between the hubs for each type of operation.

The first type includes financial service delivery centres performing fintech, cybersecurity and business analytics activities, while the second type involves software and IT service centres performing design and research and development activities.

Szuhaj says that for financial service delivery centres, traditional/mature hubs – based on high concentrations of sector employment relative to the overall labour force – include Greater New York City, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Boston and Philadelphia. However, there are also emerging hubs in this space, based on jobs added between April 2015 and March 2020, which include San Antonio, Boise, Jacksonville, Dallas-Fort Worth, Nashville and Tampa. Leading emerging hubs are Phoenix, New Orleans, Chicago, Raleigh, Little Rock, Hartford, Dallas-Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Orlando, Portland, San Antonio and Salt Lake City.

The rise of these emerging hubs, alongside advancements in more mature hubs, is causing AI to become more widespread in the financial services industry. Indeed, with financial services firms looking to increasingly leverage AI in a bid to deliver new products and services, reduce costs and generate additional revenue, more and more hubs look set to emerge as options for investors or companies looking to expand in the financial services or banking industries.

https://investmentmonitor.ai/financial-services/financial-sectors-look-to-ai-in-site-selection

[mont royal]

Very encouraging!!!

[mont royal]

5 hours ago, YMQ said:

Please stop using the Toronto card. They won that battle a long time ago. I interact with many fine Toronto business people, and I assure you there's no jealousy/envy. They feel no particular threat from North of the 401 to be very fair. 

There is reason for optimism but EN garde. SNC has hired their engineering services president in Toronto (remember HQ provision ends in 2024). Nearly all of SNC's Exec committee reps are not in Montreal. and our aerospace sector in this city is decimated (without any support from our governments). Airbus/Bombardier/Pratt/Air Canada/Transat have layed off THOUSANDS of Montrealers. Laurentian Bank has appointed their new CEO in...Toronto. Our top export is aerospace...our Tourism industry is likely dead until 2022 at the earliest. Montreal doesn't have the financial services anchor that Toronto has.

All of this to say I'm excited about AI and I'm hoping this creates Montreal based corporations that can shine on the global scale. We need it! I love the lightspeed, NUVEI, Dialogue stories. But there's a significant sector(s) in Montreal that's hurting, and no amount of small AI companies can't make up for this. 

There is no ‘Toronto card’ . Toronto remains our main competitor and they basically control the national English media and much of the national financing resources. That works to their competitive advantage.

As to their envy of Montreal, how could that possibly exist? They are fully aware that they live in the centre of the universe.