A major shift in the AI conversation this year pointed squarely toward Reinforcement Learning (RL). Early in the year, our Chief Scientific Advisor, Richard S. Sutton, and his long-time collaborator Andrew Barto, were awarded the prestigious Turing Award for their foundational work in creating the field of reinforcement learning.

Often referred to as “The Nobel Prize of Computing Science”, Sutton and Barto received the Turing Award for their definitive textbook, “An Introduction to Reinforcement Learning”, a text still universally studied not just in computer science but also in neuroscience and psychology. With this text, Sutton and Barto put focus on learning from interaction and experience, and the exploration-exploitation dilemma, setting the field of reinforcement learning in motion.

An enthusiastic champion of big ideas, Sutton continues his pursuit to understand intelligence through his ongoing research, fostering a powerful legacy of intellectual mentorship for the next generation of researchers.

This year, AI captured our collective imagination. Through foundational research, it demonstrated the potential to advance human capabilities and redefine the limits of scientific imagination. A testament to this is our growing team of world-class researchers. This year, we were excited to welcome seven new Amii Fellows and six Canada CIFAR AI Chairs to Amii, expanding our research capacity to 58 Fellows and Chairs.

The breadth of our research is both deep and highly interdisciplinary, bridging AI with fields like chemistry, mechanical engineering, biological science, and space, to name a few. We are proud to support these critical advancements and the boundless potential they unlock at the forefront of AI science.

Amii strives to make AI and ML primary drivers of sustainable growth for business by taking breakthrough AI research out of the lab and into the real world.

During our fiscal year, we were privileged to have 201 product engagements with 175 companies across diverse sectors and time zones. Through this engagement, the businesses we supported gained access to top AI talent, made crucial new hires, successfully upskilled their existing teams, and significantly advanced their AI adoption journey.

These collaborations allow us to bring leading-edge AI research to real-world industries. This year, we were chosen to provide our deep expertise in reinforcement learning from industries such as a $13.9M AI-aerospace project, where we focused on predictive maintenance models for the aviation industry, improving efficiency while protecting safety.

This year also saw further success with the PrairiesCan initiative, which is investing $3.1 million into helping 30 small- and medium-sized businesses in western Canada adopt AI into their operations. Among those businesses is Edmonton-based Visionstate, a leader in data-driven facilities management. The company worked with Amii to use machine learning to optimize task management. From that single project, the company identified and is developing two commercial products that it plans to release to the market in the near future.

We believe that AI literacy is the defining knowledge of our modern age, and access to fundamental AI knowledge is essential for everyone. This year, we made significant strides in training across all demographics and learners of all ages.

• K-12 Literacy: We continued our work in K-12 education, including co-organizing the inaugural Edmonton Public School Board Student AI Conference, and hosted a dedicated AI Literacy program track at Upper Bound that convened leaders in AI and education.

• On-Demand Access: Building on our success in best-in-class training, we proudly launched the AI Literacy for Everyone platform—a robust, on-demand platform designed to empower individuals and organizations to understand and apply AI responsibly.

• Our large-scale training efforts expanded nationally:

  • AI Workforce Readiness program, supported by Google.org, this fully funded nationwide program is set to equip over 125,000 post-secondary students and currently involves a network of 41 post-secondary institutions across the country (and growing).

  • AI Pathways: Energizing Canada’s Low-Carbon Workforce, funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program. This initiative will provide nearly 5,000 Canadian energy workers with the essential AI skills training needed for a more dynamic and resilient energy sector.

A few years ago, we set out an ambitious goal: to be the best place in the world for the world’s best AI talent. This year, we made significant strides toward that vision:

• AI Career Accelerator Growth: Our AI Career Accelerator Program surged past a major milestone, reaching 1,000+ active post-graduate participants choosing to build their careers with Amii. We supported this community through hundreds of professional development sessions, resume reviews, and networking opportunities.

• Work-Integrated Learning Opportunities (WILO): Launched in 2022, the WILO program has become a flagship initiative for emerging AI talent, helping participants gain real-world experience, build professional networks, and cultivate skills outside of the lab. This year, we celebrate over 400+ WILO contracts deployed since program launch.

• National Partnerships: Our commitment to diverse talent extended nationally via partners like the AI4Good Lab, supporting women and gender-diverse people in AI. We also reinforced our national research network by hosting our first AI Research Pitch competition at Upper Bound, featuring finalists and judges from CIFAR, the Vector Institute, and Mila.

• Global Education: Amii successfully hosted the annual CIFAR Deep Learning + Reinforcement Learning (DLRL) Summer School. Over 100 international students engaged in high-level scientific exploration, collaborated on projects, and forged professional networks.

Startup culture is at Amii's core, and we thrive on empowering founders to use AI to scale their ideas and drive real-world impact.

This year, the demand for our programming saw 37 startups engagements this year adding to a total of 242 startups engaged since program launch. To meet this growth, our dedicated Startup Team actively built connections with founders, investors, and VCs across the country. We also welcomed our first customized health cohort for Level Up, one of our most in-demand programs for technical leads at Amii, in partnership with CAN Health Network and BoxOne Ventures.

We significantly boosted visibility for emerging companies by featuring 74 startups in our highly sought-after AI Startups Pitchbook—a resource that provides investors with exclusive insights on standout AI talent and innovations.

Upper Bound 2025 was truly our biggest and boldest gathering yet, reaching sold-out status for the first time! Over the course of four days (May 20-23), we welcomed 7,000 attendees—both in-person and virtually.

The intersectional nature of our programming was key to its success, attracting a diverse mix of researchers, industry professionals, government, startups, and students from around the world. Themes spanned crucial areas such as: AI in Business, AI in Health, Critical Infrastructure, AI Talent and Workforce, and AI Literacy and Education, ensuring there was valuable learning, discussion, and collaboration for the technical experts and the AI-curious alike.

We also expanded access through the Upper Bound Talent Bursary program, which received a record 1,426 applications from 26 countries. Significantly, 48% of the awarded bursary recipients self-identified as belonging to an underrepresented group in STEM, underscoring our commitment to diverse talent worldwide.

Early in the fall, we were thrilled to welcome a high-profile delegation of Federal Ministers to Amii HQ to showcase our research and applied AI projects in action. MP Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry, MP Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, MP Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families; and MP Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada were on hand to launch our AI Pathways: Energizing Canada’s Low-Carbohave n Workforce initiative. Minster Solomon added to the event by announcing nearly $20 million in federal funding to expand Canada’s AI compute capacity, as funded through the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. After the announcement, we were delighted to host Minister Solomon for a fireside chat alongside Amii CEO Cam Linke and Amii Board Member Elan MacDonald and VP of External Relations at the University of Alberta.

We then opened up our doors to welcome several dozen MPs from the visiting Liberal caucus joining us at Amii HQ, featuring a special showcase of our research, real-world projects and industry partners.

We know that the best ideas travel: a lesson in the lab in Edmonton can help crop optimization in Saskatchewan, or to map the magnetic field on Mars. It is because of this broad reach and collaboration that we are proud to have opened our doors to showcase our work, and also the contributions of our ecosystem partners from coast to coast.

Building on the creation of the Canadian AI Safety Institute (CAISI), Amii established our Trust & Safety Team. This dedicated team is responsible for developing a research-focused portfolio essential for laying the groundwork for safer AI systems, ensuring their responsible adoption, and addressing the critical challenges of trust and safety.

Our Trust & Safety Team is proud to collaborate closely with our national partners, CIFAR, the National Research Council (NRC), Mila, and the Vector Institute, in advancing this vital work. Together, we are defining global standards for AI safety research.

This year, we celebrate two years of Approximately Correct, a podcast by Amii. Hosted by Amii Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair Alona Fyshe and Amii’s Science Communicator Scott Lilwall, the show has generated nearly 752 hours of content and featured 21 engaging guests since its launch.

What began as a dedicated showcase for Amii’s research community has grown into a far-reaching platform, covering top-of-mind discussions on AI’s impact in startups, education, safety, and even hockey! The team made great strides in production this year, securing a permanent studio home, releasing its first clip show, and successfully recording its first live episode at Upper Bound.

Looking ahead, the team eagerly anticipates a new year filled with brilliant guests, insightful conversations around AI research, applications, and impact—all delivered with just the appropriate dose of witty banter.

In April, Amii and the University of Alberta launched Vulcan, a new high-performance computing (HPC) site. Built as a key part of the Pan-Canadian AI Compute Environment (PAICE) project, this initiative directly addresses the rapidly growing demand from Canada’s research community for dedicated national AI infrastructure.

As a vital resource for Amii and U of A researchers, Vulcan is designed to enable rapid iteration and experimentation with complex AI models. This powerful capability will lead to the development of more robust, accurate, and versatile AI solutions that can accelerate real-world impact.

The future of AI is being shaped through global collaboration, and this year, Amii was proudly recognized as a pivotal voice on the world stage.

We were invited to participate in critical discussions and policy formation on some of the world’s largest stages, including the G7 in Kananaskis and high-level engagements in Paris, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

Amii's growing international presence is a powerful testament to the impact of our work—demonstrating how Canadian-led research can successfully transition from the lab to real-world applications. By participating in these global forums, we are actively contributing to an AI-positive future that maximizes benefits and opportunities for all.