Last Friday, we hosted the inaugural CleanAI Summit in Toronto — a groundbreaking gathering of over 150 leaders from 11 countries!
We opened the day with Rhode Thomas grounding us in his teachings from Six Nations. Anthony DeOrsey then grounded us in the data, highlighting the growth opportunity of narrow, industry-focused AI.
We had keynotes from Tom Chi highlighting how cleanAI can be used as an innovation catalyst, the iconic Jeremy Rifkin sharing a bigger vision on how adapting to a changing climate can also enable more resilient and empowered communities, and Jim Harris, on how decarbonizing our transportation systems will transform how we live.
Sedef Akinli Kocak, dug into how we must balance the energy usage of AI with the decarbonization that is possible. We talked about AI modelling and chip efficiency, how Dipul Patel is building data centres with no water, as well as the decarbonization being led by startups enabled by Lisbeth Kaufman’s programming and in Peter Sun’s portfolio.
Shivani Chotalia, and Vaughn Blake highlighted how cleanAI can enable exponential change rather than incremental improvements in our energy systems, and how utility leaders like Chris Hudson are using copilot systems like Josh Wong has built at ThinkLabs and Patrick Lo is enabling at Microsoft.
Anamika Mukherjee, and Stephan Cizmar shared insights on how cleanAI can both decarbonize our industries while enhancing performance, and Laura Zizzo and Josef Zankowicz dug into the business models needed to enable success in this space.
Elissa Strome showcased how Jessica Pinheiro is building cleanAI to model climate risks and explored implications for both vulnerable communities and the insurance industry. David H. (XPV Water Partners) shared how cleanAI can be used in our water systems, and Tobi Mueller-Glodde, in our agriculture and food systems.
Jean-Simon Venne shared how Brainbox is applying cleanAI to dramatically reduce carbon emissions from buildings, and Julia Langer shared the challenges in decarbonizing our cities. Anna Vartanyan and Pooran Desai pushed us to think bigger about how we can use cleanAI as a tool to bring about interconnectedness in our communities.
Nicholas Parker, Djoann Fal, Karin Henriksson and Guillermo Freire showed us how we can think globally to build connective tissue across borders and facilitate the scaling of cleanAI solutions around the world.
And throughout the day we heard from leading cleanAI innovators including RaptorMaps, Novamera, erthos, Xatmos, RWI Synthetics, GeologicAI, Neupeak and more.
Thanks to our sponsors Export Development Canada | Exportation et développement Canada, MaRS Discovery District, BDC, City of Toronto, Alectra, Fasken, Corporate Knights, Cleantech Group and Radical Ventures, and all those that made this day possible.
We have launched an inspiring community of leaders in cleanAI. This is just the beginning – we’re looking forward to much more to come!