ALL IN (AI) 2025: 8 Strategic Actions to Secure Your Competitive Advantage

Behind ambitious promises and spectacular demonstrations, the reality is more nuanced: many pilot projects fail, Canadian SMEs struggle to keep pace, and trust around data remains hesitant.

However, the conference also revealed a clear trajectory: wherever governance is strong, experimentation is encouraged, and data quality is guaranteed, transformations materialize through increased productivity and measurable results that become real advantages.

To help you move from theory to action, here are the 8 essential strategies from ALL IN AI 2025.

Recommendations to implement now to secure your competitive edge and navigate the AI future from a position of strength.

Today, AI is no longer a concept of the future — it’s operating concretely. From banking institutions to aerospace to logistics, AI is no longer a prototype: it’s operational.

• RBC is deploying more than 300 AI solutions and aims to generate billions in value through smart data exploitation.
• In aerospace, predictive maintenance has become the new standard, more reliable and faster.
• In logistics, AI strengthens resilience in the face of global disruptions.

With AI, waiting means falling behind.

AI now ranks among the essentials, like electricity or the internet: in just a few years, it will be the standard adopted by all. The real advantage? Seizing AI now to widen the gap before your competition catches up.

Action to take today

Identify one task or process that could be optimized with AI. Launch a pilot project, track progress, and showcase the gains: every day lost deepens the gap with your competitors.

The main barrier to AI adoption in Canada isn’t technology, it’s culture. Too many companies remain paralyzed, fearing failure or missteps.

“This ability to test quickly is one of the most important elements. Then, the day we’re confident we’re heading in the right direction, we can move to the MVP and scale production more widely. The idea is to go very quickly back and forth: if it doesn’t work, I want very few people involved, low cost, and fast execution.

And the higher the velocity, the more we can capture, demonstrate value, and move forward as an organization.”
— Panel, iA Financial Group

One striking case: a major Canadian organization went through a chaotic journey with its AI agents and OCR. What seemed like a string of failures turned into a major competitive advantage thanks to a structured “sea of data.”

Pioneers are rarely the ones who plan perfectly, but those who accept discomfort and turn failure into learning.

Immediate action

Host a “Right to Try” workshop in your company. Share a failure openly, analyze it as a team, and identify the innovation opportunities it can generate. Boldness isn’t optional: it’s the key to gaining a real edge.

Flashy demos impress, but measurable results move organizations forward. What matters are precise, quantified outcomes.

• At a promotional products supplier, Openmind automated supplier invoicing. Result: from 2 people and 6 minutes per invoice in 2022 to 0.2 people and 30 seconds in 2024, with a 98% automation rate and staff reallocated to growth.
• RBC showcased its augmented contact centers, which reduce costs while improving customer satisfaction.
• In retail and services, AI frees employees from repetitive tasks. Result: more time for real customer relationships, a better consumer experience, and teams with the bandwidth to innovate.

The “wow” factor gets attention… but the real gains — time saved, costs reduced, humans empowered — are what truly transform organizations.

Action to take

This year, identify (and measure) just one process to optimize. Document your results (time, cost, quality). Share this data with your team and highlight the impact with your clients and partners.

BDC shared a troubling observation: Canadian SMEs lag when it comes to going beyond basic generative AI use.

The main brake? Distrust.

• On the client side, fear of errors or unpredictability.
• On the IT side, doubts about reliability, security, and robustness.

Organizations that advance choose agility.

• They launch small, well-targeted pilot projects.
• They validate value quickly.
• They adjust, repeat, improve, and restart every cycle.

AI isn’t a one-off project. It’s a living process, fueled by trials, failures, learnings, and documented wins.

Takeaway for your company

Focus on mini AI pilots. Dare to test small, track results, and document every iteration. Learn from failures as well as successes, and make the improvement cycle an integral part of your digital strategy.

One striking figure from ALL IN AI: 95% of pilot projects fail due to unreliable data.

Without strong governance and traceability, no AI moves from experimentation to production.

In Québec, this becomes a strategic lever: digital sovereignty. Companies that master their data (location, compliance, access) build client and partner trust faster.

Security, governance, sovereignty: the trio of sustainable competitiveness.

Action to take now

Audit your data management: check location, access, and compliance. Modernize practices to ensure traceability and security, then share your progress within your network. Trust is built on concrete actions.

AI success never happens in isolation. A few examples:

• RBC emphasized partnerships with local startups and major companies like Goodyear to test and deploy solutions in secure environments. (Panel “Accelerating AI Adoption”).
• The Canadian government is supporting adoption with a $300M skills fund and open computing platforms for the ecosystem. (Panel “Building the Global Future of AI”).
• Universities, SMEs, and large companies are multiplying collaborations, sharing resources, and accelerating adoption. (Panel “Optimizing Supply Chains”).

Innovation moves at the speed of the network. Leaders are those who mobilize, activate collective strengths, and build bridges across sectors.

Action to take now

Join a collaborative AI initiative. Identify partners, propose a workshop (like Openmind’s roundtables 😉), or join a sectoral group. The more you open up, the faster your organization accelerates toward digital automation and positions itself as an essential ecosystem player.

Today, only pioneers are taking advantage of it. Within 3 to 7 years, AI will be standard. The real benefit? Taking advantage of it before others do.

The school system is struggling to keep pace: too many new graduates enter the job market without real AI preparation.

That means companies must step up to fill the gap and build their own expertise. They must:

• Train new hires.
• Identify and empower “super-users” who can embody AI innovation within teams.
• Establish sharing rituals through cross-team workshops and spaces for collective reflection.

The key skill of the future is no longer static knowledge. What truly drives progress is the ability to learn continuously, adapt, and evolve with the tech landscape.

Action to implement

Establish an AI learning routine. Each month, organize an internal workshop where team members present a tool, a use case, or a new idea. Encourage mentorship and peer learning to build a genuine culture of continuous progress.

At the heart of every technological breakthrough are committed humans.

• Employees who actively identify use cases and fuel reflection.
• Managers who become innovation facilitators.
• Leaders who embrace doubt, cultivate ethics, and practice listening to guide their organizations through healthy transformation.

AI should never be seen as a substitute for talent. It’s an amplifier, enhancing potential and expanding the impact of humans in every team.

Action to take today

Make humans your priority. Run an internal survey on expectations, concerns, and inspirations related to AI. Encourage idea sharing and create a space where initiative, openness, and skill development are celebrated.

The ALL IN AI 2025 summit confirmed it unequivocally: AI is now a strategic reality shaping the future of organizations.

• The signals are clear: adoption is accelerating, gains are measurable, data sovereignty is becoming crucial, and the ability to learn truly determines the lead to be gained.
• Yet a paradox remains: technology evolves at breakneck speed, but adoption lags — slowed by corporate culture and fear of the unknown.

The opportunity for organizations is here, now:

• Dare to experiment.
• Establish strong guardrails.
• Invest in continuous learning as a powerful growth lever.
• Mobilize humans at the center of the journey.

And political signals point in the same direction:

• At ALL IN AI, the Government of Québec unveiled a plan to accelerate innovation and AI adoption. Priorities: support SMEs, strengthen training, and ensure data sovereignty. An open call for projects was also launched to boost AI adoption among Québec SMEs and startups.
• Also at ALL IN AI, on Day 1, Canada’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Evan Solomon, introduced a refreshed AI strategy, two years ahead of schedule. A 20-member expert group was tasked with proposing bold solutions in research, commercialization, infrastructure, and security.

Together, these announcements confirm what ALL IN AI revealed: the time to act is now.

One question remains for most organizations: will you wait until AI becomes the norm, or seize the opportunity to stand out today — gaining the advantage while it’s still within reach?