Daniel Wigdor, CEO and Co-Founder of AXL and a professor at the University of Toronto, appeared on BNN Bloomberg to talk about how Canada can speed up the development and real-world use of artificial intelligence.
A University of Toronto professor is setting an ambitious goal to transform Canada into a powerhouse for artificial intelligence (AI). Daniel Wigdor, a professor of computer science and CEO of venture studio Axl, plans to launch 50 AI companies over the next five years. His mission? To keep Canadian talent and innovation at home—and to make sure the economic benefits of AI don't get shipped overseas.
Wigdor is concerned that most of the groundbreaking AI research done in Canada ends up profiting global tech companies instead of Canadian industries. According to him, 75% of Canada’s AI patents are scooped up by international tech giants, and only 7% of the remainder stay in Canada. This, despite the fact that Canada leads in both AI development and application.
“I want our research to fuel Canadian innovation, not just sit in a paper or get exported abroad,” Wigdor said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg.
Turning Research into Real-World Impact
Wigdor isn't new to the startup scene. He has already founded multiple tech companies that employ hundreds across North America. In 2020, he sold his company Chatham Labs to Facebook, where he later helped build Meta’s Reality Labs in Toronto. With 60 patents under his name, he’s ready to bring Canadian AI out of the lab and into the market.
His venture studio, Axl, is housed at the Schwartz-Reisman Innovation Campus, right beside the Vector Institute and the University of Toronto’s Computer Science Department. From this tech-rich environment, Wigdor aims to build companies that tackle real business problems using existing AI research.
Rather than creating AI from scratch, Axl identifies challenges companies face and uses proven AI methods to solve them. The idea is to automate tasks, improve workflows, and offer long-term partnership opportunities.
A Strategic Approach to Innovation
Wigdor emphasizes that true value in AI comes from applications, not just the underlying technology like large language models. Axl’s goal is to build AI-powered solutions that make businesses more efficient—and more competitive.
The team at Axl doesn't just guess what the market needs. They dive deep into each partner company’s business over several weeks, identifying hidden problems AI can solve. Only when they find a clear, validated need, a ready customer, and an investor do they launch a startup.
$15 Million Raised, and More to Come
Recently, Axl secured a $15 million venture fund to support its startup-building efforts. They're already working with partners like Dentons, Canada’s largest global law firm, and Dillon Consulting Limited. These partnerships help Axl better understand industry challenges and build tailored solutions.
Wigdor explained, “With Dentons, for instance, we look at what they need internally and what their clients might struggle with. We aim to solve these issues before anyone else even realizes they exist. That’s the power of AI when used right.”
A New Era for Canadian AI
Through Axl, Wigdor is not only pushing Canada to the forefront of the AI race—he’s also building a foundation for long-term economic growth rooted in home-grown innovation. If successful, his initiative could shift Canada from being a research hub to a global leader in AI applications.
