In Episode 2 of Bloom, Taproot's new show about the innovation sector, co-host Emily Rendell-Watson interviews Lejjy Gafour, co-founder and former CEO of Future Fields about his move to CULT Food Science.
Rendell-Watson and co-host Faaiza Ramji also discuss a new joint venture from AltaML and Compass Law, and a call from Cam Linke, CEO of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), for Alberta-based companies and the province to invest in AI as the field gains momentum.
"You need real-life businesses who want to see that kind of technology augment the customers they're trying to help, or to create a really unique growth or revenue opportunity in order for people to actually support it," Ramji said.
"Imagine like a camp of some sort where you have a bunch of CEOs in a room trying to think about how AI could push their industry or their company forward."
Ramji and Rendell-Watson also take a look at innovation happening at the Edmonton International Airport, where it has teamed up with Aira, an online service that helps visually impaired people navigate through the terminal. Plus, the University of Alberta and Aerium Analytics have partnered to use automated drones that look like predatory birds to scare real birds away from industrial areas.
Bloom is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and everywhere else you get your podcasts.