Julie Bilodeau:
Welcome to BDO Digital Digest, where, as curious leaders, we are here to explore how evolving technology propels businesses forward and reshapes our work. I'm Julie Bilodeau here with Hamed Faghfoury. We are leaders in the BDO technology practice. Today's episode is all about Futurecraft, BDO Canada's bold initiative to embed AI and innovation into the fabric of how we work. Futurecraft isn't just a program, it's actually a mindset shift. It's about equipping our people with the tools, confidence and community to turn ideas into impact. So whether you're curious about AI can do for your team or looking for inspiration for your next big idea, this episode's for you. And Hamed, what an episode this is going to be. I'm super excited about this one.
Hamed Faghfoury:
Yeah, I know a lot of folks that we've talked to have talked about the importance of upskilling learning and development, and also just changing your mindset as you get into AI. So really interested in diving in here with our special guest today.
Julie Bilodeau:
Yeah, agreed. So we are actually going to be here with our guest, Craig Marchand. I'm going to be inviting him to the stage now. And he's our VP of Innovation at our Exponential Labs Innovation Hub here at BDO Canada. He's based out of our Ottawa office, and he plays a pivotal role where he helps shape the future of innovation and client service. He's been a key partner in our Futurecraft initiative, bringing both strategic insight and hands-on experience to the table. Craig, welcome to the show. It's great to have you here.
Craig Marchand:
Hey guys, awesome to be here. Thanks so much for having me.
Julie Bilodeau:
Absolutely. We were just giving an intro about Futurecraft and we're super stoked to talk about this with you today. So why don't you tell us a bit more about what is Futurecraft and how does it play into the future of our work?
Craig Marchand:
Yeah, great question. Thanks for this, Julie. So working in our Exponential Labs Innovation Hub here at BDO Canada, part of our job is to foresee the future as a matter of some of the emerging and converging advanced technologies taking place that's affecting our business and perhaps more importantly, affecting the business of our clients. We like to think about this as the exponential age where we have several new general purpose technologies such as AI, for example, that's really giving rise to these massive disruptions across all industries.
So given that about three years ago, we started really investing and thinking about what are some of the implications of these exponential dynamics in the marketplace and how might that affect the future of work for our professionals here at BDO Canada? And so that's what really gave rise to this idea of a Futurecraft program all about thinking through what are some of the implications of AI on the future of work and how we create value for our clients, how we deliver that value to our clients and how we remain distinctive as a professional services firm in the competitive arena.
Hamed Faghfoury:
Very cool. And Craig, I can imagine when you're in BDO Canada with the variety of skill sets, there's an approach with Futurecraft that has to be taken into your planning. How is Futurecraft not just a tool for learning, but how does it have an impact on an organization like BDO that has so many different practices and different types of skill sets and all sorts of different elements like that that you have to factor in?
Craig Marchand:
Yeah, so that's a great question. In order to really confront some of this massive disruption that's taking place, it was really important for us to dig pretty deep and really do some research, some analysis, some consultation with our stakeholders around the firm about what is a vision for the future of work? What is work in a professional services firm going to look like in two, three, five years kind of thing? And so we arrived at what we call our AAA framework for this vision of the future of work.
So the key characteristics in that AAA framework is number one, we want to make sure that we position our people to be able to deliver that authentic customer-centric value. So we want to be able to champion ethical innovation, ethical AI for a better future in the communities that we serve. The second A is all about being augmented, making sure that our professionals have the tools that they can use, the most advanced technology in the world, safely and securely to be able to generate and deliver that value for our clients. So we want to make sure that everyone has the tools and skills to augment their own skills, experience and expertise to really drive this transformation in our firm.
And then the third A in that AAA framework is all about being purposefully adaptive. So recognizing that we are all going to have to continuously learn, continuously experiment, and continuously innovate with AI in order to really remain on that frontier edge of delivering high-quality services for our clients. So we need to be able to evolve, to adapt, and to shape our future of work and lead in our future of work with intention and purpose. So that's really how we think about the future of work, what it's going to look like, what it's going to feel like, and that gives us our north star, if you will, to be able to drive towards that in the way that we both work with our people as a matter of learning and development, as well as on board some of these frontier tools that are going to assist us in this future.
Hamed Faghfoury:
I love that. Yeah, that's great.
Julie Bilodeau:
Yeah, I really resonate with that adaptive piece because that's what I keep hearing in terms of the skills for the future is what kind of set do future workers or even present, to be honest, need in order to adapt in the world of even gen AI and working with more technology tools and being adaptable, that continuous learning is the number one skill set, let's say, that they're going to need, that we all need in order to ensure that we're getting the most we can out of technology as well and adapting to what's out there.
Hamed Faghfoury:
And there's another piece of it. I think the authenticity piece of it is overlooked sometimes, which is we tend to be so drawn to the ability to produce outputs, but what I think is becoming more and more apparent is how do we ensure that authenticity? So it's a good call out, Craig, as many of the organizations I've talked to really want to maintain that level of brand and authenticity in their outputs, but want to be able to create some of those AI outputs. So it's a great [inaudible 00:07:14] into the Futurecraft program. [inaudible 00:07:16] as one of the big capital As in the big program, which is important.
Julie Bilodeau:
Go ahead.
Craig Marchand:
Yeah, we began this journey from this notion where we have a great deal of respect and admiration for the firm that we are and the people that are and have been a part of this firm for over 100 years now. And so we took this approach of standing on the shoulders of giants and really zeroing and focusing on that key, let's call it value proposition, that our employees and our partners bring to the table. They're brilliant folks.
So really this was all built on a directive direct from our CEO Bruno Suppa who wanted to create an army of elite AI operators. He wanted everybody right across the firm at every level and in every practice group to be armed with the skills and the mindsets and the ways of thinking, the mental models if you will, in order to employ AI in their day-to-day lives. Not only for the work that we do today, but thinking about what might be those services that our clients require in the future, and how might we adapt to be able to deliver that service or even create and generate new services, create awareness and reach out to some of our clients who maybe they're not used to us bringing things like cyber security to the table or being able to guide clients through potential acquisitions.
For example, some of our small medium enterprise clients may not have thought about that. But now with AI, for example, our AI-powered professionals are able to research, analyze, ingest, derive key insights from vast data sets, and be able to provide these new kinds of insights and advice to our clients. So it is really exciting seeing this kind of multidisciplinary trend of leveraging AI to really augment the services that we provide right across all of our service lines.
Julie Bilodeau:
That actually represents, for me, the disruption, as you mentioned, that AI is bringing into all of our working lives and into our businesses. And that disruption is causing new services now to be creative, like you're saying. We all need to be guided. And how is AI breaking down the silos within organizations? And that to me leads me to think of the strategy behind how is business strategy going to change because now we're breaking down these silos... We're all working together. End-to-end processes are not just within a silo anymore, it's across different disciplines or different domains, let's say, of a business. So can you speak a bit more, Craig, to how this is impacting strategy of a business as well and how Futurecraft is able to play into that?
Craig Marchand:
Yeah, absolutely. So within the Futurecraft program, as I say, it's been designed not just to teach AI skills, but to provide our graduates with the mindsets, the frameworks, the problem-solving approaches is probably how I would characterize it, to be able to go forth and solve problems for our clients, but also to innovate in a very methodical way. So being able to empathize using that authenticity, being able to really define and identify what are the root causes of some of the key problems or opportunities that our clients have out there in their own ecosystems, their business ecosystems.
And then being able to think about, in a structured way, how might we find... Where are those high leverage points where we can intervene in the business system, whether it's through an acquisition, whether it's through fortifying our risk profile, for example. These are ways where clients can generate new value. And we're able to offer high quality services in these areas, not only more quickly, but with more insight and more value than we ever have before leveraging AI.
And so within Futurecraft, there are actually four modules of four seminar sessions each, and they each focus on a slightly different strategic opportunity that we see for our people. The first part of Futurecraft is really all about AI fundamentals, so getting to know some of the models, some prompting techniques, and we really focus on human machine collaboration such that we do continuously rely on the discretion on the skill and expertise of our professionals. And we work on augmenting that with AI. So that's really in module one. And then I think to your point, Julie, the next three modules, everything we learn tends to be... We go up to the strategic level, so module two. We talk a lot about innovation, strategy and management so that they can come out with not only design thinking skills to be able to innovate new products and services themselves, but an innovation strategy kind of lens so that they can cascade that through to their teams.
The third module of Futurecraft is really all about business process, so more about operational management. So we call this AI ops, so being able to study and analyze business processes, identify those high leverage opportunities for using AI and then how to implement those within workflows. And then our final module comes back up to the strategic level. It's all about mastering leadership ethics and change management in the AI era. And again, it's that focus on humans. We recognize that behavioral change, systemic change in large organizations can be very difficult, and we can learn a lot from, as I say, standing on the shoulders of giants and then moving forward, leveraging AI to help us in this really what we like to think of it as total business re-imagination. So this is not just working around the edges and creating a few little AI integrations. We're really trying to create the leaders of the future who can begin to re-imagine, as I say, the value that we deliver to clients and how might we do better in delivering more value to those clients and bringing more to the table.
Julie Bilodeau:
Yeah, very holistic. Very holistic approach, Craig, from what I'm gathering from you, just well-rounded program that hits so many different angles.
Hamed Faghfoury:
Absolutely. Yeah. I know, Craig, we've chatted about it over the years quite a bit, and so I know there's so much we can talk about. And so we may need to follow up just to get through all the different lessons learned because so many organizations we talk to [inaudible 00:14:13] looking at our ability to decipher all these different elements.
But one of the things that I think we have on this show that's unique and how we've adapted a little bit in the new world is having a co-host that's not on the screen but available to us. Her name's Jenny. She's our AI-enabled co-host, and she usually closes out our interviews with a question, and they're quite insightful usually. This one actually is looking out and she tends to look out in the future. And so this one's looking out into the future for you, Craig.
And Jenny wants to know how do you see Futurecraft evolving over the next few years and what role do you think it will play in shaping BDO's AI native organizations? So I think in recent conversations, we've talked about being a frontier firm, Microsoft's definition, AI native organizations and process... And AI re-engineering and re-imagination. To Jenny's question, how do you see that Futurecraft evolving in the next few years to reshape the world?
Craig Marchand:
That's a fantastic question, Jenny, honestly. Well, I think there's really, from my perspective... There's almost two levels to it. One at the strategic level, one at the very operational level. A lot of organizations are concerned at the operational level right now, which is understandable because every organization is going to have to go through the hard work of figuring out how might we integrate generative AI tools and systems into their existing workflows? And one of the key insights that I've found through Futurecraft and helping people from all across our firm map their different workflows as everyone begins by tinkering and adding a little bit of AI into different parts of their workflows. But inevitably, and I mean 100% of the time, people get partway through and then they just wipe it all aside, clean the slate and start from scratch. What if we assume that we have the most powerful AI tools at our disposal? How ought we do this workflow rather than how can we tinker and fix our existing one?
So number one, every organization, doesn't matter who they are, are going to have to find ways of really executing on this hard work. And it is hard work. People have to really immerse themselves in it to figure it out. The second piece, and this is on the strategic level, and again, it's hard work how can we shift our mindset from one with roots in the industrial revolution around mass production to achieve scale, cookie cutter machines, conveyor belts, standard processes, templates, all of this kind of traditional business acumen that has served us very, very well for over 100 years. But what does the future look like? The future look is one where we can embrace complexities. We don't have to have everything the same way. We can tailor and personalize every document, every service, every meeting, every project that we have.
So the future of work is much different. And figuring out ways of governing some of that in a business context that is quite highly regulated in some aspects to make sure that we are at the table at some of those policy briefings with government actors and making sure that we are wrapping our rapid evolution in ethical responsible AI and in one that is able to be managed and measured in a way that we're able to see whether we're able to not just make sure that we can comply with regulations, but measure and manage the way that we are evolving through this journey. So those are two things that I'm really hoping that our Futurecraft graduates, we call them elite AI operators, we're really hoping that those champions out in the business can lead on both of those fronts, the strategic and the operational.
Hamed Faghfoury:
Love that.
Julie Bilodeau:
Well, we know you've had a lot of success so far with the cohorts you've had, Craig, so we wish you guys all the best as you continue. Unfortunately, we've run out of time. This happens very often around here.
Craig Marchand:
No problem.
Julie Bilodeau:
Thank you so much, Craig, for joining us, and thank you all of you listening for tuning into BDO Digital Digest today. Join us next time as we continue to explore the future of technology and how it impacts us in our day-to-day work. Until then, stay curious. Stay innovative. And bend that arc of possibility in your world. Thanks so much again, everyone. Bye now.
Craig Marchand:
Thanks so much for having me, guys. Have a good one.
Julie Bilodeau:
Bye.