'Systemic challenges around talent and scaling may be preventing many from reaching the level of maturity that is likely to drive competitive advantage'
Only 7% of Canadian tech leaders consider their organizations to be advanced in artificial intelligence implementation, a significantly lower figure than the 17% reported globally, according to a new study.
The AI, Applied – Canada Benchmarks report shows that while a majority of Canadian firms (69%) are still in the early stages of AI adoption—labelled as “Crawl and Walk” phases—nearly one-third (31%) cite competitive advantage as their core motivation, outpacing the global average of 26%.
“Canadian innovators appear to believe that AI has the potential to assist them in growing their business and report active AI experimentation, but systemic challenges around talent and scaling may be preventing many from reaching the level of maturity that is likely to drive competitive advantage,” said James Lamberti, Head of Go-to-Market at Georgian Partners, which released the study in partnership with NewtonX
Developed in collaboration with national institutes like the Vector Institute and Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), the report benchmarks B2B AI adoption across 10 countries and 15 industry sectors. While Canadian companies show strong intent and experimentation, they are notably behind in production-level AI use.
Advanced AI techniques
The study found that just 41% of Canadian companies report using advanced or fundamental AI techniques, compared to 54% globally.
When it comes to large language models (LLMs), 37% of Canadian firms have reached advanced implementation—well below the 45% global average.
Across go-to-market functions, Canadian adoption sits at 54%, seven points lower than the global mean, with the widest gaps appearing in research and lead scoring functions.
Obstacles to scaling AI
A lack of technical talent stands out as a key obstacle. Nearly half (48%) of Canadian R&D leaders identified this as their top barrier to scaling AI—higher than the global average by four points.
“This research showcases a fundamental shift — the number one barrier for companies looking to scale AI is no longer cost, but the absence of technical talent,” said Glenda Crisp, CEO and President of the Vector Institute.
Privacy also emerged as a defining theme for Canadian firms. Among R&D respondents, 79% cited disclosure of sensitive data as a major cybersecurity concern—14 points above their global counterparts—while 53% flagged privacy and data security as their leading AI concern.
Canadian innovation in tech
Despite these hurdles, Canada’s innovation pipeline shows promise. Canadian firms are more likely than their international peers to be testing emerging AI tools. For instance, 47% of R&D teams are piloting automated coding tools (compared to 38% globally), and 42% are testing data analytics applications (versus 32% internationally).
“The report validates our observations: we must understand the gaps between piloting advanced AI applications and scaling efforts to deliver clear economic value,” said Marlene McNaughton, Chief Revenue Officer at Amii. “Our contribution to this global survey and vital knowledge sharing helps us collectively remove these barriers, ultimately unlocking Canada's full AI potential for competitive economic benefits.”
The report underscores the critical need for Canada to bridge the gap between research and scalable AI deployment — or risk falling further behind in a fast-accelerating global race.
