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For more than a decade, Canada has wrestled with a stubborn productivity problem. Despite a highly educated workforce and strong technology sectors, output per worker continues to trail peer economies.
The search for a solution often gravitates toward big breakthroughs – the next transformative technology or industrial revolution. But productivity rarely improves through a single moment of innovation, suggests Asma Aziz, country manager for Intel Canada. She says it improves when the tools people use every day become smarter, faster and easier to use. Incremental and sustainable changes, with the help of technology, can make a huge difference.
“An organization’s productivity improves because you remove friction everywhere, top to bottom. It can’t be done at one level, and then the rest of it is lagging behind,” says Ms. Aziz.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a large part of removing that friction. For years, AI has been exciting, but has largely stayed in the experimental stage, she says. “It lived in pilot projects and innovation labs, in futuristic concepts, but remained peripheral to day-to-day operations.”
Ms. Aziz says significant changes are underway. Businesses are moving from testing AI to integrating it into everyday operations, from manufacturing systems and medical imaging, to customer service platforms and the PCs employees use throughout the work day.
As Ms. Aziz notes, AI can now power robotics that can adapt in real time, enable medical imaging systems to analyze scans within minutes instead of weeks, and transcribe meetings while they’re happening. Not every use is revolutionary. AI might save an employee 30 minutes by summarizing meetings, drafting documents and analyzing data to make faster decisions. But multiply those incremental gains across an organization, and the productivity effects can compound quickly.
“That’s how businesses scale value, and that’s how economies grow,” says Ms. Aziz.
A 2025 study conducted by market intelligence firm IDC on behalf of Intel found that 97 per cent of organizations already implementing AI are seeing tangible improvements, with performance gains of up to 50 per cent. The majority of improvements are coming from operational efficiencies and employee productivity.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board of Canada estimates that AI integration could boost labour productivity by more than 17 per cent and generate up to $185-billion in economic value over the next two decades.
“Canada absolutely needs bold innovation, but we also need repeatable, measurable improvements that can be embedded into everyday workflows,” says Ms. Aziz. “When AI quietly removes friction across thousands of tasks, that’s where you see real productivity lift.”
Across industries, AI is increasingly woven into daily routines, to automate administrative tasks, enhance decision-making and streamline collaboration. Ms. Aziz predicts that in the next few years every PC will come with AI.
This January, for instance, Intel introduced a PC architecture that directly runs real-time transcription, translation, document summarization and image enhancement. With its dedicated AI accelerators, running on-site, the Core Ultra Series 3 is faster and more secure because it doesn’t have to access the cloud to complete tasks.
“When AI becomes embedded directly into the device people use every day, you don’t just improve productivity. You expand innovation and decision-making capability across the organization,” Ms. Aziz says.
As organizations wonder where to start with modernizing their systems, Ms. Aziz cautions against drastic, reactive overhauls. Instead, she advises leaders to take stock of the fundamentals, such as understanding where their data lives and who owns it. Next, identify an area where an improved workflow can make the biggest difference, then scale with intention and with the backing of senior leadership.
“AI is not just an IT initiative. It touches compliance, security, and culture. AI infrastructure is both technical and cultural. If you don’t bring people along, the technology won’t deliver its full value.”
The companies that succeed may not be the ones building the flashiest models. They’ll be the ones embedding intelligence into everyday workflows, from finance and supply chains to customer service, with productivity arriving quietly through their everyday devices.
“If Canadian organizations treat AI as foundational, the way we once treated broadband or cloud, they will drive sustainable productivity and global competitiveness,” Ms. Aziz says. “If they treat it as a side experiment, we’ll fall behind. That’s the moment we’re in right now.”
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Intel Canada. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.