Vanguard Magazine

28 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com G A M E C H A N G E R See the full interview online Q How did you start out in this industry and how has it brought you to where you are today? J-Squared's founder and CEO, Jeff Gib- son, had the foresight to see the important role that AI would play in the upcoming decades. Driving AI adoption within busi- nesses and building and AI-based prod- ucts was a skillset I had built a great deal of experience in as part of my last role as a leader within OmniaAI - Deloitte Can- ada's Artificial Intelligence practice - the first of its kind across the organization globally. Q What is your role at your organization today? As the President of J-Squared, the most important role I play is to execute the strategic direction set for the company. Our business is so multi-faceted, and I cannot be everywhere at once, so I'm fortunate we have such a talented team in place with decades of experience across the military sector and other ver- ticals that handle day-to-day operations. Q What was your most challenging moment? I joined J-Squared during the COVID pandemic, when work was all performed virtually. This both steepened the learn- ing curve to ramp up and made getting to know team members personally more difficult. I'm fortunate J-Squared was and is filled with amazing people, who were very helpful along the way. Q What was your A-HA moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our reader, tell us that story. My A-HA moment of realization came to me years ago. I had recently been pro- moted into a managerial role. We had a massive opportunity with a customer who was struggling with inventory is- sues. We wanted to tie our success on the program to our customer's. At the time, it was a first-of-its-kind program structuring. To make a long story short, I took on the risk of delivering a success- based program and it ended up being a great success - though not without a few bumps and bruises and managing many twists-and-turns along the way. Since then, I've never been afraid to take a risk and try something new. Q How has innovation become engrained in your organization's culture and how is it being optimized? Our team has a shared vision that drives our culture. Our founder, Jeff Gibson, started J-Squared 35 years ago and has that same passion today as he did then. He leads by example. He never shies away from a challenge or problem himself, no matter how big or small. Taking risks and trying new things is encouraged. Q What are some of the biggest impediments to innovation in your industry sector? The disconnect between implementation cycles and the speed with which technol- ogy evolves. Defence programs are large and complex, requiring many years of planning and many more to deploy. It would not be uncommon for the technol- ogy initially designed into a program to be dated by the time it is deployed. Q What is your parting piece of advice? It is going to take us all working together in lockstep to make major advances in this industry. The problems of today — har- nessing AI, interoperability of joint assets across nations, the impact of autonomous assets, just to name a few — are too large and complex for any person or even one company to solve alone. It's important we build and foster a strong ecosystem of companies within the industry and break down barriers that limit collaboration. ANDREW WOOLLARD PRESIDENT J-SQUARED TECHNOLOGIES INC.

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