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PODCAST

The BetaKit Podcast Channel

BetaKit Podcast Network

The BetaKit Podcast Channel features weekly podcasts discussing both Canadian tech and innovation, as well as global tech from a Canadian perspective.

technology tech news

All Episodes

52:20

How to fix Canada's Start-up Visa

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/02/23

"Speed is of the essence. This is a super dynamic marketplace. Canada is losing entrepreneurs, we're losing the next generation of founders, and we need to do things, quick." More than a decade ago, Canada launched the Start-up Visa program to attract entrepreneurial talent from around the world. After years of complaints of delays, fraud, and abuse, the program was suspended while featuring a whopping 10-35 year wait time. Boris Wertz (Version One Ventures) and Lucy Hargreaves (Build Canada) join

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59:13

Is BDC too big to change?

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/02/16

"BDC is powerful in the sense that it can make or break a fund… And a lot of people are trying to close funds right now." In 2022, the federal government commissioned a report asking Canada's VCs what they thought about Crown corporation BDC. The report was effectively forgotten, and the feedback was never actioned. Why? What did the report have to say about Canada's largest venture investor? And with Canadian VC in a multi-year lull, is BDC's "steady hand" approach preferred or simply necessary

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56:38

An insider's take on Canada's AI task force report

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/02/09

"If we don't get our AI ducks in a row at some point and we miss that boat to shore up our industries right now, it's not really going to matter what regulations we have on the table. Because we won't have control." The federal government has released the results of its public consultation on AI, including over 30 submissions from Minister Solomon's AI task force. Former ISED senior policy advisor Jaxson Khan joins to discuss how the consultations might inform Canada's AI future, and why the task

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01:05:35

Why Y Combinator cut Canada out

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/02/02

"It's important for the success of Y Combinator to see people investing at a very, very early stage. And if it means, to keep them happy so that they're investing in YC companies, they will do what it takes." Globally recognized tech accelerator Y Combinator will no longer directly invest in Canadian-domiciled startups. Is the change a huge blow to Canada, a big nothingburger, politically motivated, or perhaps simply "formalizing what's inevitable?" Maverix Private Equity founder and managing

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01:09:21

TikTok and Grok are messes Canada can't clean up

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/01/26

"You have just seen control of one of the most popular social media platforms in one of the most influential countries in the world switch from one foreign power relative to you to another." Canada and the US have both claimed national security concerns over TikTok. Our country's (unclear) response might not matter in the face of US-mandated corporate restructuring. As Grok's unchecked deepfake image generation on X raises thorny legal questions, Canada might not have the leverage to regulate. What

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49:54

The Canadian company solving AI's latency problem

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/01/19

"How do I create the 'wow' moment for my end user? And slowness never creates the wow moment." PolarGrid founder and CEO Rade Kovacevic believes GenAI video and voice will be killer apps once they can function in real-time. Enabling real-time GenAI requires uncorking the inference bottleneck that the hyperscalers have helped build. The BetaKit podcast is presented by Fasken Emerging Tech, supporting trailblazing startups, venture capital funds and acquirers of high-growth tech companies for over 30

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53:28

The future is a four-day workweek

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/01/12

"The workweek will continue until morale improves." Jared Lindzon and Joe O'Connor's new book, Do More in Four: Why It's Time for a Shorter Workweek, argues that the future of work will feature more productive employees working fewer days. How is that supposed to happen when boomers still run the world, Gen Z is still Gen Z, and AI is coming for all of our jobs anyway? Let's dig in. -- Solve for X is back! The latest season of the MaRS podcast is exploring more world-changing ideas. Join journalist

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01:07:05

The biggest tech questions of 2026

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2026/01/05

"Maybe we will see the robots that we want in our lives in 2026. But be prepared: they will definitely be controlled by people in India with Xbox controllers." Robots, and IPOs, and AI, Oh My! Managing editor Sarah Rieger joins to ask the biggest tech questions of 2026, after evaluating which 2025 tech questions were definitively answered. Solve for X is back! The latest season of the MaRS podcast is exploring more world-changing ideas. Join journalist Manjula Selvarajah as she talks to the people

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01:07:57

The biggest tech stories of 2025

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/12/29

"2025 is the year that we committed to the bit, and all pretences went away." Special guest star Rob Kenedi (Decelerator) joins for The BetaKit Podcast's annual tradition: stuffing your holiday stocking with the biggest tech stories of 2025. Have a different take on tech this year? Let us know: podcast@betakit.com. Solve for X is back! The latest season of the MaRS podcast is exploring more world-changing ideas. Join journalist Manjula Selvarajah as she talks to the people behind the latest

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53:36

Canada's job market sucks for Gen Z

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/12/22

"Can you imagine a quarter—25 percent—of Canada isn't sure if they'll be employed next year? That is a wild statistic." Kevin Kliman, president of Canadian business at Employment Hero, joins to explain why Canada's workforce is underemployed and anxious about 2026. He also shares data indicating things are particularly bad for Gen Z, before offering tips on how they can make their mark in the modern workforce—with AI. Solve for X is back! The latest season of the MaRS podcast is exploring more

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59:15

Rogers v. Rogers is Canada's real-life Succession story

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/12/12

"It seems irrational, and irrational behaviour is where drama lives, it's where comedy lives. It's where all the fun is." A communications tycoon built an empire turning airwaves into cash. Now, his son, long dismissed by his father, is fighting for control of the family business. Meanwhile, one shrewd public servant is determined to derail the company's billion-dollar takeover. Is this a plot point from season three of Succession? No! It's a Canadian story… and it's all true—mostly. Award-winning

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43:12

Canada's AI ambitions with Minister Evan Solomon

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/12/06

"It used to be that Silicon Valley was the kind of Mecca of the entrepreneur. What's happening is everyone has got the tools that used to be crowded in there. Now what we need to do is get the capital." Minister Evan Solomon sits down with C100 Executive Director Michael Buhr to discuss the country's future in AI and the feds' commitments to innovation. Recorded live on the BetaKit Keynote Stage at SAAS NORTH. The BetaKit Podcast is presented by QuickBooks on the Intuit platform, built to help

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38:43

How OpenText went all-in on AI

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/11/29

"The technology is there, and everyone loves cool technology, but it doesn't need to be a party trick. It needs to be something that's driving a meaningful business outcome, so pick your challenging problems." OpenText's Shannon Bell (EVP, Chief Digital Officer & Chief Information Officer) explains how she rolled out AI systematically at one of Canada's largest tech companies. As OpenText embraces human and digital resource management, has it found a return on its investment? Let's dig in. Recorded

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46:26

It's 'Valley or Bust' for Canada's young entrepreneurs

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/11/24

"In the beginning, we were like, 'this must be a scam' because with the way things move in Waterloo and Toronto, it seemed way too fast." A chance pitch competition connection took Colare co-founder Nain Abdi from Waterloo to Silicon Valley. He explains what pulled his company south, why his peers are eager to make a similar leap, and what (if anything) could convince him to return to Canada. The BetaKit Podcast is presented by QuickBooks on the Intuit platform, built to help Canadian businesses

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30:45

Dominion Dynamics CEO thinks defence is a...

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/11/15

"Too many American subs dominate this market. Eighty percent of what we buy is from American companies. We wanna reverse that. We wanna make 80 percent of what we buy from Canadian companies. So we frankly don't care what we do as long as we are a Canadian defence company." Dominion Dynamics founder and CEO Eliot Pence wants to build Canada's first "defence prime." On this episode of The BetaKit Podcast, he explains why defence tech matters to Canadian innovation and the future of the country

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01:19:52

Budget 2025: "cautiously optimistic"

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/11/07

It's a power-packed post-Budget panel podcast featuring a plethora of Canadian policy wonks! Vass Bednar (Canadian SHIELD Institute), Benjamin Bergen (CCI), and Jaxson Khan (Aperture AI) join to explore the story Budget 2025 tells of Canada, and what juicy nuggets of tech policy and financial commitments need to be dunked in the dipping sauce of greater detail. Let's dig in! The BetaKit Podcast is presented by Zoho, developers of a unique and powerful software suite that transforms the way you

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01:01:40

What the AWS outage reveals about Canada's digital...

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/11/03

"We were sleepwalking our way into this new economy, and we've had a bit of a wake-up call." Ian Rae, CEO of Aptum and a member of Minister Evan Solomon's AI Task Force, has been building internet infrastructure since 1994. Recorded the day after the AWS outage, Rae joins to explain why such outages happen and what they reveal about the economics of the internet and Canada's digital sovereignty goals. This episode of The BetaKit Podcast is brought to you by The Cyber Challenge—your pathway to new

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49:59

Why Canada doesn’t buy Canadian tech

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/10/20

“If you’re a founder in Canada, you have a playbook, which is: try to get outside of the country as soon as possible. Try to sell outside of the country.” Raymond Luk thinks the “cultural belief we’re not good enough” creates a homecourt disadvantage for Canadian tech. He’s trying to kickstart a solution to our nation’s procurement woes with a new summit called Source Canada, so buyers and sellers can speed date. Is a cultural kick in the pants enough to get Canada to buy Canadian tech? Let’s dig

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59:00

Can Canada build its own social network?

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/10/14

“It’s one thing to say ‘let’s do this in a sovereign way.’ It is a whole other to actually do it.” Gander Social is attempting to do something that seemed inconceivable six months ago: build a Canadian social network. What does sovereign social media look like? And what will prevent Gander from devolving into every other social network? CEO Ben Waldman joins to answer these questions and many more. This episode of the BetaKit Podcast is brought to you by The Cyber Challenge—your pathway to new

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48:14

Are Canadian entrepreneurs willing to let their old...

The BetaKit Podcast Channel ·

2025/10/06

“Don’t talk to your customers because your customers will keep you in the place that you used to be.” AI adoption is now an industry-wide mandate. It’s putting a lot of pressure on Canadian entrepreneurs: to scale with customer demand (safely and responsibly); to reskill employees; even to kill their old company to let the new AI-first version live. What are the challenges and opportunities? Featuring Michael Buhr (C100), Aydin Mirzaee (Fellow AI), Avery Pennarun (Tailscale), and Amanda Arciero

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