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AI-FirstAI-FIRST

Provincial training funding applications close October 18. Book your call by October 16.

Give your members an AI program they'd never build on their own.

An 8-week cohort for your member businesses, delivered end to end by AI-First. Provincial training funding can cover up to 75%.

Book a 25-minute call (opens in a new tab)

Funding applications close October 18.

Sector councils and associations we've worked with.

The problem

Your members are asking you about AI.

They don't need convincing that it matters. They need to know what it means for a 15-person business in their industry, and they're asking you because you're the one they trust to know.

  • The answers out there aren't built for here.

    Most AI advice is written for Toronto, Silicon Valley, or large companies with IT departments. Very little of it speaks to a 12-person business in Truro or Yarmouth, working with lean teams, rural internet, and customers who expect to deal with a real person.

  • You want to help, but you're not the AI expert.

    Members expect you to have an answer. You don't have AI expertise on staff or a trusted partner to point them to, and recommending the wrong one puts your credibility on the line.

  • Your members share the same problems. Solve them once, together.

    Same workflows, same regulations, same data headaches. Alone, each business hits the same potholes (data, policy, tool choice, team buy-in) one at a time. Together, they learn from peers who look like them, and your association becomes the place AI got real for your sector.

How the Accelerator works

8 weeks, with room to stretch the schedule if your members need a lighter weekly load.

  1. 1

    See what's possible

    An all-hands kickoff on where AI fits in your sector, with the essentials of strategy and governance to take back to each organization.

  2. 2

    Build the skills

    Live sessions, on-demand content, and sector-specific challenges.

  3. 3

    Get real results

    Each participant builds a quick win for their own role, with weekly office hours for support.

  4. 4

    Share what works

    A cohort showcase where members share results and learn from each other.

Want to go deeper? Any member organization can continue one-on-one after the program.

The difference

20 to 40 people from across your sector, learning from each other, not just from us.

Every participant gets:

their own access to the AI-First client hub, a prompt and guide library, sector-specific challenges, weekly office hours, and a quick win built for their role.

Your association gets:

a program we run end to end (we help you fill the seats), a sector-level report on results, a sector prompt library, a showcase event plus a free webinar open to all your members, and an association-level roadmap with a 90-day check-in.

Why a cohort works for associations

  • For your members

    A guided start, peers to learn with, and accountability to finish.

    • Guided start
    • Peer learning
    • Accountability

  • For your association

    A funded, high-value program to offer members, delivered by a team that has done this across many industries.

    • Funded program
    • Member value
    • Experienced delivery

Proof

What participants told us when it was over

Two cohort programs we built and delivered: an AI micro-credential with Digital Nova Scotia and StFX, and the AI for Manufacturing Accelerator with Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. This is what participants told us, in their own numbers and words.

AI micro-credential with Digital Nova Scotia and StFX

  • Fall 2024

    a mix of live and recorded sessions

  • 93

    participants

  • 81

    organizations participated

What the participant survey found

  • 82.6%

    of participants rated their overall experience great to excellent.

    Participant survey

  • 76.8%

    feel confident applying what they learned in their own work.

    Participant survey

  • 73.9%

    rated the improvement in their AI tool skills as high.

    Participant survey

  • “The feedback from participants who completed the courses in Fall 2024 was overwhelmingly positive, with many highlighting the relevance and applicability of the content to their professional roles.”

    Derek LeungDevelopment Lead (Business & Partnerships), Digital Nova Scotia

  • “I was able to completely streamline a process of my job that took me hours a week by creating my own personal GPT.”

    Program participant, AI micro-credential

Figures from the end-of-program participant survey: 69 responses, a 75% response rate.

AI for Manufacturing Accelerator with Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters

  • March to June 2026

    live sessions twice a week

  • 22

    participants

  • 10

    organizations participated

What participants reported

  • 2.5 to 3 hours a week

    recaptured by a food production team, with meetings 66% shorter.

    Self-reported

  • 15 to 30 minutes a day

    of manual fleet and truck data entry, now automated, reported by a logistics professional.

    Self-reported

  • 40 hours a week

    of manual data entry eliminated, reported by a manufacturing manager.

    Self-reported

  • “It's gone beyond Capstone… it's become quite addictive. I've added feature functionality in about half an hour that would have taken weeks of back-and-forth issues.”

    Mike HaleyProcess Improvement Architect, Landmark Decisions

  • “How many times will I use AI in a week? Probably a couple times before the course started. Now it's multiple times a day.”

    Business consultantProgram participant

Outcomes and quotes were self-reported by participants in the program wrap-up discussion, June 2026.

Funding

Provincial training funding can cover a significant share of the cost for eligible organizations. The amount varies, so we'll work out what applies to your members on the call.

Your association applies for provincial training funding. We'll help you with the application.

YOUR NUMBERS

Run the numbers for your members.

Set the sliders for one member business, or for your whole cohort, and see the hours and dollars sitting in their workflows every year.

20
5200
2
2h10h
$40
$30$100

Annual cost sitting in your workflows

$83,200

2,080 addressable hours per year

From the field

50+ organizations. In their own words.

Every quote below came unsolicited, from leaders who ran the program on their own calendars and saw the results firsthand. Workshops, accelerators, lunch-and-learns. Different formats, same pattern: their teams walked away doing the work.

Participating in the AI-First Accelerator was incredibly valuable for DeNova. It helped us build the foundational skills, tools, and governance frameworks needed to integrate generative AI into our operations responsibly and effectively. The team was exceptional to work with: deeply knowledgeable, professional, and committed to delivering a program that was thoughtfully customized for our organization.

Talia Boates

AI Program Lead, DeNova

We hired AI-First to present at our company's offsite manager's meeting. The team was incredibly engaging, breaking down complex topics and explaining them in an easy to consume manner. Tremendous value added to our meeting, and we look forward to working with them again.

Drew Redden

Atlantic Poultry Incorporated

The lunch and learn was awesome. I took a lot from it, it was organized in a very digestible manner and impressively effective presenting.

Lee Vicars

Project Manager, Pomerleau

Practical and tactical information. Always so good. Well done.

Crystal MacGregor

Food Island Partnership

Relevant to the industry, used storytelling effectively. Always delivers!

Ila Jay

Digital Nova Scotia

There are a lot of negative views on AI around but this session made me feel more confident in exploring AI within my work.

Hope Young

Steele Auto Group

Much more actionable items than other AI sessions I have attended. Thank you!

Dominic Paxton

CBDC PEI

Approachable manner. Well informed and easy to talk to.

Patti Devine

Innovation PEI Rural Action Centres

Engaging, easy to understand presentation.

Russ Kelsey

Cavendish Agri

Frequently asked questions

Provincial training funding applications close October 18. Book your call by October 16.

Book a 25-minute call (opens in a new tab)

Not ready for a cohort? We also run workshops, advisory retainers and keynotes. Talk to us (opens in a new tab)