Jean-François (JF) has been a veteran AI entrepreneur since 2001. He founded and successfully exited three companies in AI and Operations Research, represented Canada as a Technology Investment Champion Speaker for Global Affairs, and is a sought-after expert for educating top-level management about the impact of AI on industry. Besides running his own startups, JF was the former Chief Product Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at JDA Software, where he was the youngest global C-Level Executive of a top-20 Enterprise Software company.

In October 2016, JF co-founded Element AI with ApSTAT partners Yoshua Bengio and Nicolas Chapados, which became part of ServiceNow in 2021.

Believing that AI can be a force for good, JF is actively involved in guiding AI’s impact on business, people, and society. He is an avid supporter of the Canadian startup scene and tries to stay engaged as much as possible.