January 8, 2025
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the way we work across sectors and industries around the globe. From increasing operational efficiency to improving decision-making, these unprecedented advancements can translate into business results and more meaningful work – but only if you’re comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Tony Payne, BCI’s Senior Vice President, Technology & Innovation and Chief Technology Officer shares how BCI is harnessing the power of AI to create efficiencies and why being nimble and resilient to change is essential for global investors.
Q1: You have led technology teams for more than two decades. What’s your current philosophy around innovation?
TP: Innovation is not just a thing that happens; it’s a process that supports human aspirations. I believe there is always room for improvement, efficiency gains, and challenging the status quo. If you stop paddling, you will float downstream. To see what is around the corner and explore new horizons, you need to press forward, seek opportunities, and generate excitement on the journey.
That’s the approach we take at BCI. It’s not always easy, but we are laser focused on delivering for our clients and that means building a culture where we can constantly evolve. The willingness of our people to embrace innovation as a process and seek different ways of doing things makes it easier to bring new ideas to life.
Q2: When you look at the AI landscape, what’s top of mind?
TP: Digital transformation and disruption are in the DNA of technologists. What’s most exciting for me right now is the pace at which AI is evolving and creating new opportunities. Not so long ago, the smartphone revolutionized personal computing by combining multiple devices and functions into one – going beyond just traditional phone, music, and camera capabilities to become our go-to for things like banking and health data. The proliferation of AI alongside robotics will generate a whole new world of possibilities, enabling people to truly do things differently.
As AI continues to be embraced by mainstream users, the focus is shifting to how we can add value and tackle challenging thought-work, while leaving mundane tasks to AI-enabled tools. This is pushing people to step out of their comfort zone and re-imagine their roles in a modern world.
Q3: BCI was an early adopter of AI. How is that changing the way you deliver for our clients?
TP: When embraced, technology is a critical enabler that can help BCI operate more efficiently and open new operational and investment approaches. We see AI as a key capability, tool, and facilitator, and actively look for ways to integrate it into our work. From automating basic administrative tasks to assisting our investment teams with advanced data analysis using natural language processing, AI is at the forefront of the tools we leverage. It’s freeing up more time to do the work that generates the returns our clients depend on.
BCI was one of 10 companies in Canada chosen by Microsoft to participate in its Early Access Program for Copilot and Azure, two groundbreaking generative AI-integrated tools. Of BCI’s 300 initial Copilot users, 84 per cent reported a 10 to 20 per cent increase in productivity while 76 per cent of users said they would not be willing to go back to working without it. Importantly, our participation gave us the opportunity to provide feedback and influence the development of these tools.
Q4: As a leading global investor, what drives you to stay ahead of emerging technologies?
TP: With a portfolio of more than $250 billion in assets under management, our ability to leverage technology to create value is central to our competitive advantage. Across our portfolio, we analyze massive amounts of data to support new and existing investments. Carefully factoring AI into our investment process allows us to derive better insights from available data and create process efficiencies, leading to faster and better decisions. At our current size, even incremental improvements can translate into business wins that ultimately benefit our clients and the communities they serve.
Strong partnerships between BCI’s technology and investment teams are at the core of our approach, and together we focus on the highest impact opportunities and create fit-for-purpose solutions. For example, ESG is deeply integrated into our investment processes across asset classes, and we actively use AI to improve the coverage and quality of sustainability data for our portfolio managers. We are also collaborating to look at how AI can support the development of net-zero roadmaps for our private equity and infrastructure portfolio companies.
Q5: What advice do you share with employees and partners about navigating the ambiguity of AI?
TP: Both new technology and technological disruption change everything, but there is no silver bullet to fix complex things. AI is currently going through a hype-cycle and, in the process, there will be wins and losses. We have to stay resilient, embrace change, and look for opportunities – big and small.
That means taking calculated risks and not being afraid to learn from failure. BCI has guiding principles that act as guardrails and allow us to accelerate AI use in a measured way that aligns with our risk tolerance. In this new landscape, navigation really comes down to each of us feeling empowered by new technologies and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Learn more about how BCI is enhancing productivity through generative AI.
