In an exclusive interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Alison Simpson, President and CEO of the Canadian Marketing Association, and Karla Congson, CEO and CTO of Agentiiv, share a timely and powerful perspective on what it will take for Canadian small businesses to compete in an AI-driven economy.
Interview By Maheen Bari
Together, they unpack the vision behind the You.Scaled. Accelerator Program, a national initiative designed to give SMBs and non-profits the strategic, technical, and operational support they need to adopt AI with confidence.
Alison is an accomplished executive leader, and an award-winning marketer with extensive brand and agency experience. Prior to CMA, she was president of several agencies and has served as marketing lead for top tier brands, including Holt Renfrew, Rogers Communications, and TMX Group. She is a director of the CNIB Foundation (Ontario + Quebec Regions) and serves on the Advisory Board for the Master of Management Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Program at the Smith School of Business.
Karla Congson is a pioneering technology leader and serial entrepreneur at the forefront of AI innovation. As CEO+CTO of Agentiiv, she architects proprietary AI agent platforms that transform how organizations harness artificial intelligence for enhanced productivity and risk management. She’s received industry recognition through the following awards: Canada’s Top 50 Women Over 50 by The CEO Magazine, Women of Influence Entrepreneur Award in the “Ones To Watch” category and Women in AI Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist. Karla is recognized for her contributions to advancing AI adoption and innovation in enterprise environments.
What inspired the creation of the You.Scaled. Accelerator Program, and how does it address the real challenges faced by Canadian SMBs and non-profits when considering AI adoption?
FROM KARLA CONGSON
The inspiration came from watching Canadian small businesses face an impossible choice: invest precious resources in AI to stay competitive or focus on immediate survival while watching larger competitors pull further ahead. When only 12% of Canadian businesses are using AI, we’re creating a dangerous two-tiered economy—and this matters because SMEs account for 63% of Canada’s private sector jobs.
The real challenge for small business owners isn’t understanding that AI matters. It’s time. They don’t have time to evaluate dozens of AI tools, invest in extensive training, or hire technical expertise. A small business owner’s most valuable commodity is time, and the AI learning curve consumes enormous amounts of it.
You.Scaled. addresses this by removing every barrier simultaneously. We’re not saying “here’s a tool, good luck.” We’re providing $4 million in comprehensive support: enterprise-grade AI platform access through Agentiiv, systematic AI education through the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA), business setup and legal support through RBC’s Ownr, operational infrastructure through Staples, and specialized nonprofit guidance through CCNDR.
This isn’t charity; it’s strategic national investment. When we help 500 organizations across Canada adopt AI effectively, we’re ensuring Canada’s productivity transformation includes the businesses that employ the majority of working Canadians.
Canadian SMBs face significant hurdles—cost, expertise, and security concerns—in leveraging AI. What are the most persistent barriers you observe, and how does the You.Scaled. program directly help address or lower them?
FROM ALISON SIMPSON
We consistently see the following hurdles: financial constraints, limited technical expertise, and uncertainty about how to adopt AI responsibly. Other barriers include knowledge, trust, resources, and implementation. For many SMBs and non-profits, exploring AI requires investments they cannot justify, software subscriptions, training, consulting support, and time required to learn new tools that often feel out of reach. On top of that, leaders can feel overwhelmed by the pace of change and be unsure of where to start, which creates hesitation and ultimately, inaction.
You.Scaled. helps to remove these barriers. The program provides fully funded access to Agentiiv’s platform, allowing organizations to experience the benefits of AI without any upfront cost. Through access to the CMA’s training, robust AI resources and membership, participants receive practical education on how to adopt AI confidently. The structured onboarding process also helps organizations build a roadmap that reflects their goals, so they can implement AI with a clear purpose, measurable impact, and responsible data practices.
The CMA teaches the strategic thinking, Agentiiv provides specialized agents that understand industry-specific workflows, and ongoing support ensures sustainable adoption.
We’re not just lowering individual barriers; we’re removing the entire obstacle course.
Collaboration is at the heart of You.Scaled.—with technology providers, business associations, and community organizations working together. How does this partnership model amplify impact, and what lessons can other industry leaders draw from it?
FROM KARLA CONGSON
The partnership model amplifies impact through what I call “complementary incompleteness.” Each partner brings something essential that the others can’t replicate and no single partner can solve alone.
Agentiiv provides the AI capability, but without the CMA’s educational foundation, businesses wouldn’t know how to use it strategically. The CMA provides training, but without the technology platform, there’s nothing to apply the learning to. Ownr solves business setup challenges, but without operational capacity from AI, growth stalls. Staples provides infrastructure, but without AI creating bandwidth, businesses can’t leverage expanded operations.
When all components work together, the whole becomes greater than the sum of parts. A recipient doesn’t just get AI tools, training or legal support—they get a complete transformation pathway.
The lesson for leaders is that transformational partnerships require shared accountability for collective outcomes. We don’t measure success by how many training courses the CMA delivered or how many licenses Agentiiv distributed. We measure success by how many SMEs and nonprofits successfully transform their operations and competitiveness. Digital transformation is much stronger when it’s collaborative. Solutions can be built that are more inclusive, scalable, and effective.
The shared mission of strengthening Canadian small businesses is what makes this work. That’s bigger than any single organizational goal.
Could you share a real-world example where Agentiiv’s platform made a tangible difference for a small business or consultant, empowering creativity and strategic growth? What does this shift from “execution to visionary mode” mean for entrepreneurship in Canada?
FROM KARLA CONGSON
I received an email recently from a creative director running a small agency that perfectly captures this transformation. He’d been grinding for years, buried in client deliverables, struggling to keep his business afloat while losing touch with why he loved the work.
After three months with our platform, he met with a high-value prospect facing complex strategic challenges. He listened deeply, asked provocative questions, and shaped a vision for solutions for the prospect.
He fed his thoughts into our platform, and our agents transformed his creative thinking into three concrete deliverables: a comprehensive business strategy, a contract framework, and a compelling proposal. What would have taken him two weeks happened in hours.
He later wrote me: “[Agentiiv] took my big ideas and gave them concrete form. And more importantly, it gave my thinking new shape, which sparked new ideas in me. My greatest value is in distillation, not trying to impress by delivering reams of content.”
He became a strategic thinker again. Talented people can focus on what only they can do—creative strategy, relationship building, innovation—while AI handles the execution that used to consume 80% of their time.
When we multiply this across organizations, we’re not just improving productivity. We’re unleashing creative and strategic capacity that’s been trapped in administrative execution.
As you look to the future, what is your message for Canadian SMB leaders considering AI adoption for the first time, and how do you envision the ongoing role of programs like You.Scaled. in fostering an inclusive, resilient business environment?
FROM ALISON SIMPSON
The message to Canadian SMB leaders is simple: AI is no longer a distant innovation. It is a practical tool that can help you scale and compete, work more effectively, serve your customers better, and grow with confidence. You don’t need to be an expert to begin, you don’t have to figure it out alone, and you don’t need a large budget to see value. What matters most is the willingness to explore and take the first step.
Programs like You.Scaled. make that step significantly easier, by removing barriers that have historically limited AI adoption among small organizations.
Organizations should become strategically literate about where AI creates value in their specific businesses, then leverage programs like You.Scaled. to access education and tools without the overwhelming investment.
Over time, this approach will help build a more inclusive and competitive business landscape, one where organizations of all sizes, in all corners of the country, can participate in the digital economy.
Canada has an opportunity right now to lead the world in demonstrating how AI can strengthen entire economies rather than just enrich a few companies. Programs like You.Scaled. are the proof of concept that this vision is achievable.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. Our platform is dedicated to fostering dialogue and sharing insights that inspire and empower small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.
