Digital Transformation: An Analysis of the Role of Technology Service Providers in Montreal’s Emerging AI Business Ecosystem

This chapter is based on a qualitative survey, including 3 focus groups, 3 co-construction meetings and 25 semi-structured interviews with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology experts. This allows us to report on the dynamics of key actors in the AI business ecosystem and their contribution in supporting various forms of AI solution integration and digital transformation in general. Following a thematic analysis of our interviews, we present the results of our qualitative analysis of the needs of AI project managers that technology service providers can meet in order to help companies to make their digital shift. Indeed, some companies and industries are having difficulty with starting to modernise their facilities, especially in the manufacturing sector; many are wary of technological changes and are worried about data protection, amongst other preoccupations