Dec 16, 2025
Why isn't Canada a leader in AI adoption? Sabrina Geremia, Vice President & Country Managing Director at Google Canada, tells Alison Simpson, CEO of the CMA, that Canada was a leader in AI creation but is falling behind in adoption. With only 26% of Canadian organizations having adopted Generative AI, despite the potential to save workers 170 hours annually, Google suggests empowering people, accelerating AI value creation, and contributing to the Canadian national ecosystem.
00:00:01:18 - 00:00:23:12
Presenter
Welcome to CMA Connect, Canada's marketing podcast, where industry
experts discuss how marketers must manage the tectonic shifts that
will change how brands and businesses are built for tomorrow, while
also delivering on today's business needs. With your host CMA CEO,
Alison Simpson.
00:00:23:14 - 00:00:27:21
Alison
The artificial intelligence revolution isn't just changing how we
work. It's redefining what's possible for Canadian businesses and
the economy as a whole. There are many benefits, but also risks
associated with that are super important to understand. As AI
continues to innovate at breakneck speed, the question really
becomes how can Canadian marketers and businesses harness these
advances to drive growth and close our productivity gap in ethical
and responsible ways? For today's episode, I'm pleased to welcome
Sabrina Geremia, VP and Country Manager for Google Canada.
00:00:54:10 - 00:01:25:21
Alison
Sabrina will be celebrating her 20th anniversary with Google in May
and next year Google is actually celebrating their 25th anniversary
in Canada as well. Sabrina has led Google Canada's strategic
direction and advertising business since 2017, focusing on
fostering Canada's digital economy by assisting businesses in
growth, supporting the tech sector and enhancing digital skills
among Canadians. With over 25 years of experience spanning
marketing, public relations, sales and general management, Sabrina
brings a unique perspective to the intersection of technology and
business transformation.
00:01:26:02 - 00:01:48:19
Alison
Her journey actually began in consumer packaged goods before making
a strategic pivot to technology during the early dot-com era. At
Google she has held various leadership positions, including
managing director of Integrated Solutions, building her expertise
as a trusted advisor to Canada's C-suite. She's been recognized as
one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women and the recipient of
the Women in Communication Technology Women of the Year Award.
00:01:49:01 - 00:02:11:00
Alison
Sabrina is deeply committed to advancing digital skills and
innovation in Canada. Her experience really positions her uniquely
to speak about AI's potentially transformative impact on marketing,
as well as Canada's productivity challenges and the evolution of
digital advertising in an increasingly AI-driven landscape.
Welcome, Sabrina. It is an absolute pleasure to have you join us
today, and I'm looking forward to a terrific conversation.
00:02:11:05 - 00:02:13:06
Sabrina
Hi, Alison, it's so great to be here.
00:02:13:08 - 00:02:30:23
Alison
So I'd like to kick things off by hearing a bit about your career.
So as I mentioned, you started your career in consumer packaged
goods with P&G, and then you pivoted and have spent the
majority in tech, including your upcoming 20th anniversary with
Google. What inspired you to change industries fairly early in your
career and what's kept you in tech?
00:02:31:01 - 00:02:55:22
Sabrina
Yeah, well, it's so great to be here and I love spending time with
the CMA. You know, especially as a former board member, I know that
the work that you do is so valuable and important to Canada. So
thank you for that. Yeah, my career has been an interesting one. I
have actually lived through the three arcs of technology. So I have
been working for close to three decades, and I've kind of gone from
no internet to the internet, from internet to mobile,
00:02:55:22 - 00:03:18:21
Sabrina
and now this just enormous and transformative AI moment. And so
pre-internet, I mean, I am Canadian, I grew up in Guelph, just
outside of Toronto, and I went to Laurier, for university, and I
did my last year in Italy as an exchange student. And from there I
worked at Procter and Gamble. And when I worked at Procter and
Gamble, it was really underlying what you know very well,
Alison.
00:03:18:21 - 00:03:38:21
Sabrina
Just like the importance of marketing and how important the
foundation fundamentals of marketing are. So I worked there for
about five years. I worked across cosmetics and some of their
laundry business all across Italy. But I had friends who were in
the Valley, and I saw the internet coming, and I knew that it was
coming. And I just, you know, knew it was going to be very
transformative.
00:03:38:21 - 00:03:58:01
Sabrina
I remember one day driving past the Colosseum and just reflecting
on like, wow, like that amazing moment when all of this new
technology and these new advancements were happening in Rome. I
want to be part of that. So I left my job and I did what, you know,
many people do. I took a year to kind of move around.
00:03:58:01 - 00:04:16:16
Sabrina
I did a lot of nonprofit work. I did a lot of volunteer work. I
went to Asia. I did some work with the UN on what the internet
could mean for the digital divide. And this was all, again, just at
the emergence of the internet. And then I went and landed at Ask
Jeeves and after that, Reckitt Benckiser and really learned the
foundations of the internet.
00:04:16:16 - 00:04:39:22
Sabrina
And I was working in London and globally at that time. And then
from there, Google found me, and I started working at Google in
2006, in London, in the UK, and I helped them set up like our whole
consumer packaged goods practice on how were we going to work with
CPG companies like Reckitt, like P&G, the largest advertisers
in the world, and help them shift and transition to this internet
future?
00:04:40:00 - 00:04:55:15
Sabrina
So a little while later, I came back to Canada and was so happy to
come back. And during my time and, you know, working all the aisles
of the grocery store in Canada, that was the big shift to mobile.
And the shift to mobile was big. Like, no one believed that you
would ever buy a pair of running shoes on a mobile phone.
00:04:55:19 - 00:05:13:05
Sabrina
And yet we know today people buy cars on mobile phone. They do all
sorts of things on their mobile. The form factor had changed. And
so, you know, fast forward to today. It's the third shift. It's a
really big one. It's very transformative. We've done it before.
We're going to do it again. And you know what inspires me
really
00:05:13:06 - 00:05:36:19
Sabrina
you know, to stay in tech, and I've been in tech like, you know, we
said for over 20 years and even more, if you count my experience
before Google, is that really it's our mission. Like our mission at
Google in this moment is really on helpfulness, and it's making AI
helpful for everybody. And in Canada, what inspires me is our
shared mission as a team to help make Canada a global leader in AI
in the value creation phase.
00:05:36:19 - 00:06:04:10
Sabrina
We've been such leaders in the creation of the tech. I want us to
be leaders in the adoption and value creation. And this really
means empowering our people, it means accelerating AI value
creation with all of the amazing partners that you work with every
day, and also contributing to the national ecosystem in Canada, and
and it really is important to get this right in Canada, because
while we were leaders in the creation of AI, we're starting to fall
behind in the adoption phase.
00:06:04:12 - 00:06:25:15
Alison
I love your career story and the fact that you actually started
internationally, spent a number of years. I also love that you've
demonstrated great bravery as you decided I want to try something
different. Most people would find another job and grow that way,
and you took a bet on yourself that clearly paid off and led to
some fascinating experiences, including work with the UN, and
ultimately brought you to tech.
00:06:25:15 - 00:06:46:18
Alison
So lesson number one for our listeners is that willingness to bet
on yourself and take some measured risks throughout your career can
be an amazing accelerator. So AI is certainly shaping the future
across industries. From your perspective as head of Google at
Canada, what do you see as the biggest opportunities that AI
presents for businesses and the economy in Canada right now?
00:06:47:00 - 00:07:10:14
Sabrina
That is a really important question, Alison, and probably one that
I think about every day. We talked earlier about being so ahead in
the primary research. If you think about many of the AI greats who
contributed to this technology, a lot of them were here and a lot
of them are here today. And, you know, we have a lot of great
primary researchers and a lot of engineers and technological
strength in the AI fields.
00:07:10:16 - 00:07:33:12
Sabrina
But some of the latest reports are showing that we're lagging in
the adoption of AI right now as an economy. So there was a Deloitte
report out recently that only 26% of Canadian organizations have
adopted AI, and that's about, you know, ten points lower than other
companies in a global peer set. So this idea here that we created
it, but we're not moving fast enough to adopt it.
00:07:33:14 - 00:07:57:09
Sabrina
What's at stake is productivity and opportunity. And you know, the
valuation of this is around 230 billion in economic impact for
Canada. So that's eight points of GDP. It could save the average
worker three and a half weeks per year, 170 hours per year of work.
And that's kind of lower value tasks that then you can kind of
uplevel and do different things and do them more effectively.
00:07:57:09 - 00:08:17:09
Sabrina
So I think really about having Canadians being able to use the
tools, adopt the tools. We know that people know it's important. We
did a poll of businesses and 84% of C-levels in Canada and business
leaders think that AI really does offer an important opportunity
for the Canadian economy. Almost 80% of them agree that it's going
to have a positive impact on productivity.
00:08:17:14 - 00:08:41:06
Sabrina
But we need businesses of all shapes and sizes, from the SMBs to
retailers, to manufacturing to agriculture. This is a multipurpose
tool, right? We need adoption to accelerate and the value creation
to follow that. So really it's about putting AI to work for
Canadians today. And the really good news here is like we're
talking to an audience of marketers, is that marketers are playing
an outsized role in the adoption of AI at this moment.
00:08:41:08 - 00:08:44:12
Sabrina
And they are leaders in using AI to supercharge their strategies
and results. So we do know that it's working.
00:08:47:00 - 00:09:13:06
Alison
Building on that, we did some CMA research and found out that, to
your point, marketers are ahead of other Canadian knowledge groups,
including scientists, so that's encouraging. But we're still
sitting, I think 72%. So there's still lots of growth. We know even
before AI, Canada's productivity gap is a real challenge. The fact
that we had such an amazing head start and leadership role in AI,
and we've given some of that up for sure.
00:09:13:08 - 00:09:24:03
Alison
And then combine that with your recent research. Around 80% of
Canadian business leaders know this is a powerful tool. So what do
you think is getting in the way of our adoption?
00:09:24:05 - 00:09:44:13
Sabrina
You know I mean I think we're going to get there. So I have faith
in Canada. Like we are smart, we are resourceful and we are
talented. But you know what we're focused on really Google Canada's
two things - like one is really about skilling Canadians. Right.
And people and skills matter foundationally so much. And then
second is about creating and scaling business value.
00:09:44:13 - 00:10:01:09
Sabrina
So if we look at the people and skills there, there is some data to
suggest that Canadians are a little more fearful of AI than their
global peers. And that is probably, you know, creating some of the
adoption lag here. And we know the opportunity and it's 230
billion. But we know that Canadians want to learn AI skills.
00:10:01:09 - 00:10:19:09
Sabrina
And so 63% of Canadian workers want to acquire these skills. I was
in a cafe this weekend and I was with my son, and we were sitting
next to two people who were working on laptops, and he kind of gave
me the elbow and he said, listen, mummy, they're talking and
teaching each other how to use Gemini. So they were in a cafe
teaching each other how to use Google Gemini.
00:10:19:09 - 00:10:41:23
Sabrina
I think they might have been teachers. And I turned to him and I
said, yeah, because everybody knows that using these tools is
really going to help them supercharge their skills and supercharge
what they're doing. So we are trying to contribute to that through,
we launched an AI Opportunity Fund. It's a $13 million fund, and
it's a goal to actually support two million with AI skills.
00:10:41:23 - 00:11:07:03
Sabrina
So 2 million Canadians supercharged with AI skills. We have an
amazing roster of nonprofits and partners that we're working with,
like the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, Skills for Change,
the First Nations Technology Council, and the Toronto Public
Library. If you live in Toronto and you go into a TPL branch, you
will probably see a sign that says, join us for learning circle
around a Grow with Google AI Essential certificate.
00:11:07:03 - 00:11:25:14
Sabrina
And so these certificates are micro-credentials. They're short
courses that you can do in one batch, or you can do it a little bit
at a time. And it's really helping people use the schools to be
more effective in their work, and to build practical, hands on AI
skills. This AI essentials that is part of the Grow with Google
portfolio,
00:11:25:18 - 00:11:46:11
Sabrina
it's the most popular Gen AI course on Coursera of all time
globally, and what I find really promising about it is we talk to
many of the people who have graduated, and there's been 54,000
Canadians who have graduated so far, and 75% of them are reporting
a positive career outcome after they take this course. They might
get a promotion.
00:11:46:11 - 00:12:04:15
Sabrina
Then maybe they get to work on a new project. They might find a
job. And so we know that when they, you know, work on their skills
and learn how to use these tools, they create value. So I think the
skilling of Canadians is really foundational. It's really
important. I encourage anyone listening who wants to learn to check
out the Grow with Google.
00:12:04:15 - 00:12:26:17
Sabrina
There are also many other options out there. But again, we want to
get every Canadian, not just the 2 million powered up with AI
skills. Then the second area is really about business value
creation. Like we have to accelerate the business adoption and
value creation as the tools are emerging. And one of the things
that I think is really important is that AI isn't a strategy.
00:12:26:22 - 00:12:47:02
Sabrina
Your business strategy can deliver more with AI. So I'm always
asking folks like, what is your business strategy enabled by AI?
Right? And then that becomes a totally different conversation. And
that's really important for marketers, like marketers right now,
it's it's a tough balancing job. And you know this, right? You you
probably hear it from all of the CMA members every day.
00:12:47:07 - 00:13:08:07
Sabrina
You're being asked to drive exponential growth. You're being asked
to do it while delivering on efficiency. You're being asked to do
new creative things differently. And what we've seen is that
leading marketers who are using AI are seeing 60% business results,
whether it's making media work better, finding new customers you
didn't know you were looking for, it could be personalizing
creative and delivering it at scale.
00:13:08:11 - 00:13:32:14
Sabrina
It might be back end processes where you're iterating, etc. or it
might be in the emerging fields of solving customer needs better
with AI agents. So when I look at all of these use cases with a
really powered up workforce in Canada that knows how to use these
tools, I think that this is the building block of really seeing
that 230 billion economic impact for Canada become real.
00:13:32:14 - 00:13:46:08
Sabrina
I see so many glimmers of this happening, and I just, you know, my
hope for Canada is that we can figure out what works, we can scale
it quickly, and we can avoid pilot paralysis where we're stuck in a
bunch of pilots. We're actually scaling what's working.
00:13:46:12 - 00:14:22:22
Alison
Well said. And I share your optimism for Canada as well. And I was
at your kickoff for the $13 million accelerator. And just to see
the organizations that you're partnering with and the active role
you're playing in helping upskill 2 million Canadians is such an
important step in our ability to really deliver on the opportunity.
Now you talked a bit about how this is impacting marketing, and
you're absolutely right that whether it's AI or any new major
market shift, consumer shift or technological shift, when you're
sitting around the executive table, all eyes tend to turn to the
CMO first with an expectation that we're going to figure it out
first, which also can be a little intimidating.
00:14:22:22 - 00:14:40:14
Alison
You've had over two decades in tech. You've seen incredible
transformation, including the three major cycles that you've talked
a bit about. How have Canadians habits, especially around
expectations of brand and marketing, fundamentally evolved during
this time, leading us into today's more AI-driven landscape?
00:14:40:16 - 00:15:03:23
Sabrina
It's evolving. You know, on the whole premise, one of the main
values of Google is like, you know, follow the user and all else
will follow. And as technology emerges, user behaviour evolves. And
it's happening pretty quick. So Google DeepMind, which is our
primary research, it's our team at Google and it's led by Demis
Hassabis. And he actually says that it's it's happening at 10x the
industrial revolution, happening at 10x the speed.
00:15:04:01 - 00:15:20:14
Sabrina
So if you put that math together, it's happening at 100x. So maybe,
you know, I'll share a little story with you. Like I realized that
I needed to buy a swimsuit for an upcoming trip. And so I turned to
Search and I started searching for swimsuits. And I came across a
new brand that I had never heard of, which is called Left on
Friday.
00:15:20:16 - 00:15:44:12
Sabrina
And I thought, that's really interesting. I'd like to learn more.
Like, is this a Canadian-founded company? That was the question
that I asked. And it actually took me to AI Overviews. And it told
me, yes, indeed it was. It's a company founded by two Canadians and
they're based in BC, and they have created this brand. So then I
pivoted to AI Mode, which is the tab that actually allows you to
have a conversational experience with the AI.
00:15:44:16 - 00:16:04:06
Sabrina
And I started asking about their product assortment reviews and
doing comparisons and so on. Then I went back to Search and I asked
to go to the site, and I started looking at places that I could buy
it, and I found out where the store was, and there's one in
Toronto. And so this is just such a perfect example of how Canadian
consumers are just doing things differently.
00:16:04:06 - 00:16:27:18
Sabrina
Right? It's more complex. They're searching, they're streaming,
they're scrolling, they're shopping. They're watching the game,
often simultaneously. Right? They're doing a lot of things all at
once. And consumers are now interacting with around 130 mobile
touch points a day. So when you think about that story of what I
did, like, you know, the the AI overviews, 2 billion people are
seeing this every month.
00:16:27:18 - 00:16:43:05
Sabrina
AI Mode, we just launched it. It's already at 100 million users per
month. And users of AI mode, they're asking questions that are 2 to
3 times longer than traditional queries. That's not even to mention
Google Lens, Circle to Search, all of these new features that we
have.
00:16:43:07 - 00:17:02:20
Alison
Sabrina, you clearly have your PhD in multitasking. And I can
personally vouch for the Left on Friday swim brand. I have a couple
of their bathing suits, and I'm a proud supporter of outstanding
Canadian business. I'd love you to go a little bit deeper on AI's
impact and gains in advertising, and share some of the tangible
gains marketers who are actively investing in AI are seeing in
their campaigns.
00:17:04:18 - 00:17:24:22
Sabrina
You know, we said earlier, like, this is just such a huge boost. I
think marketers are ahead in leveraging AI tools, and we know that
when they're integrating AI tools, the reporting 60% greater
revenue growth. And that's what's so important is that we're now
able to measure two business outcomes, right. We're not talking
stories of media metrics anymore.
00:17:24:22 - 00:17:53:00
Sabrina
It's really understanding how we can make Canadian companies grow.
And there are a lot of different use cases. You know, another one
of my favourite stories is a Aritzia. So, you know, I don't know if
you know, the Super Puff, Alison? My daughter bought one of them
last winter and she swears by it. She absolutely loves it. But
Aritzia worked with us and they used AI to identify that Super Puff
jacket demand and people interested in it wasn't happening just in
October and November and in the winter. It was spiking as early as
June.
00:17:53:05 - 00:18:15:22
Sabrina
So it's something that you may not think about, you know, like when
your demand is spiking for something like a warm winter jacket. So
they pivoted quickly. They looked at how they could meet demand
earlier. They worked with us on Demand Gen, YouTube, on early
awareness, search and performance max on conversion to high tech.
They played the entire funnel and they optimized their performance
against profitability goals.
00:18:15:22 - 00:18:37:06
Sabrina
Again, a business goal, not of media metrics. And the Super Puff
team saw that 55% year over year increases in demand were happening
thanks to the efforts that they did. So I think that's just like
one example of many on the media front of just really being
thoughtful of where demand is, how to actually measure to the right
number on demand.
00:18:37:11 - 00:19:00:08
Sabrina
But then how to use AI to maximize profitable outcomes,
irrespective of what you might think that someone is going to be
shopping for a Super Puff in the winter as opposed to starting in
June. And so that's on the media front. We're also seeing a lot of
use cases on the process front, on the creative front. And again, a
lot of new emergent areas in AI and agents as well.
00:19:00:10 - 00:19:26:08
Alison
So you shared some very compelling reasons for our listeners, if
they're not already embracing AI, to start, having 60% better
revenue growth, having 55% increase in year over year demand. So
it's clear there are a lot of very powerful benefits with AI. There
are also risks. So how is Google ensuring the ethical and
responsible adoption of AI? And what advice would you give to
marketing professionals who have tuned in today?
00:19:26:10 - 00:19:48:05
Sabrina
Alison, that is a really important question and I'm really glad
that you asked it. And, you know, it's something that we talk about
a lot at Google, because it's really important to us. And the
premise here is really about building AI boldly and responsible
together. You know, the idea is that we want AI to benefit
everyone, right? This is a multipurpose tool that has a lot of
potential.
00:19:48:08 - 00:20:08:02
Sabrina
So we were the first to develop our AI principles to guide our
work. And it's about having bold innovation and developing an AI
that assists and empowers, inspires and drives economic progress.
We want the AI to improve people's lives. We want it to enable
scientific breakthroughs. We want it to help with some of the
biggest challenges that we're facing.
00:20:08:02 - 00:20:34:01
Sabrina
Like one of the places I find in Google very inspiring is
Isomorphic Labs. Think of the mission to solve all disease. It's
such a bold mission, and this is really about reimagining drug
discovery with AI. And when you look at some of the tools that are
available right now, like AlphaFold, being able to look at DNA
sequences and measure them and actually have them with AI and allow
them to see the entire sequence, it actually just supercharges drug
discovery.
00:20:34:04 - 00:20:57:07
Sabrina
It supercharges solutions in really important areas. So bold
innovation is really important because we need to think bold in
things that benefit humanity. But we also need to do it
responsible, right. So we need to develop and deploy AI
responsibly. We need to acknowledge that there are complexities and
risks throughout the life cycles. We have to adapt as it is evolved
and we have to do this in collaboration.
00:20:57:09 - 00:21:19:21
Sabrina
We create these tools for collective benefit, and we need to
collaborate with different stakeholders to make sure that this is
working. So from a regulation perspective, we know that AI is too
important not to regulate, but it's too important not to regulate
well. And we need to focus on the opportunity, not just the risk
and be balanced. Because AI does have risks, but it also has
tremendous potential.
00:21:20:02 - 00:21:36:23
Alison
On the regulatory side, you're absolutely right, it needs to be
regulated and it needs to be regulated well, which is challenging
given the pace it's moving at. And no one, whether you're an AI
guru or not, can really know where it's heading. So what advice
would you give from a regulatory perspective?
00:21:37:01 - 00:22:06:00
Sabrina
I think from a regulatory perspective, it's really about being
aligned, balanced and competitive. And really looking at the risk
and the opportunity together and working together with the
stakeholder community. You know, talking to startups, talking to
different people who are using it, because it is a moving target in
terms of the technology. So it has to be at the right level of
application, with the right level of inputs and reflect not just
the risk but also the opportunity.
00:22:06:02 - 00:22:07:10
Alison
Now I want to pivot a little bit.
00:22:07:10 - 00:22:26:16
Alison
So there's lots of discussion around many tools and many benefits
of Gen AI, and overlaid with what's the role for us humans in that?
Looking ahead, what's Google's long term vision for integrating Gen
AI into ad creation and campaign management, and how do you see
this impact potentially even enhancing the role of human
advertisers?
00:22:26:16 - 00:22:46:10
Sabrina
Yeah, so today, you know, we've talked through some of the examples
of just how AI is really making it easier for advertisers. They're
going to show up in moments that you can't plan for, you know, like
buying a Super Puff in June or buying a Left on Friday bathing suit
while you're watching the game. And that's where I really we're
investing in all of our campaigns like Performance Max, Demand Gen,
AI Max Research.
00:22:46:10 - 00:23:15:08
Sabrina
We know that the more that these are used, the more surfaces
they're going to be displayed on, and the more demand that they're
going to capture the business outcomes that the client needs. But I
think as we evolve all of our capabilities, one area that I'm
personally very excited about is the potential for SMBs. So Canada
is a country of SMBs, and I think AI offer such a huge opportunity
for them to show up and for them to to market in a way that I can't
even imagine would have been possible when I started marketing over
30 years ago.
00:23:15:09 - 00:23:43:19
Sabrina
You know, the tools that an SMB can have, whether it's on content
creation or finding customers around the world, is pretty
incredible. So like there is a restaurant in Burlington called
Familia Fine Foods. It's a small local restaurant. They do really
great takeaway, and they wanted to go bigger. And so they worked
with us on Google Ads, AI-powered ads with different combinations
of headlines and descriptions and really finding people who cared
about what they were offering.
00:23:43:19 - 00:24:07:12
Sabrina
And they increased their online sales by 27% in the past year. So,
you know, if you're a small business, a restaurant owner, or any
small business, like that, that can be game changing for you. The
ability to grow your sales 27%. And I think all of these
opportunities now put together is really what is going to drive
some of that $230 billion in economic input.
00:24:07:16 - 00:24:19:16
Sabrina
And we are trying to make all of our platforms and all of our
advertising accessible, not just to the large, amazing businesses
in Canada, but also companies like Familia Fine Foods.
00:24:19:18 - 00:24:38:10
Alison
I love that example because you're absolutely right, SMBs play a
mission critical role in our economy and are driving the bulk of
our GDP, so that 27% growth is a great example of the power that
could be amplified. It's also such a powerful tool for making SMBs
much more scalable and competitive against the big guys.
00:24:38:10 - 00:24:54:16
Sabrina
We're seeing a lot of interest right now in export, Canadian
companies looking to find audiences all over the world and we're
seeing that this is something, again, like an SMB can access
markets outside of Canada in a way that maybe they couldn't have
ten, 15 years ago.
00:24:54:18 - 00:25:08:20
Alison
Absolutely. Now the creator economy is also booming, and I know
YouTube's obviously a dominant player. So what is Google doing to
support creators, and what are some of the new tools or initiatives
in place to facilitate effective partnerships between brands and
creators?
00:25:09:00 - 00:25:35:12
Sabrina
Yeah, the YouTube creator piece is just so amazing. Like if you
haven't had the chance to talk to a YouTube creator, I really
suggest you do. There's 35,000 jobs around the YouTube creator
ecosystem just in Canada. It contributes more than 1.8 billion to
Canada's GDP. Huge exporters. Right? So if you're a creator in
Canada, you're making content for the Canadian audience, but you're
exporting over 90% of your watch time to other markets.
00:25:35:12 - 00:25:57:10
Sabrina
And think about all of these new translation tools and other
capabilities that you can have. And I think one of the things that
people may not be aware of is that for every dollar in advertising
that a creator or a YouTuber makes in Canada, 55% of it or $0.55
goes to them. So this is that 1.8 billion is an enormous economic
powerhouse in Canada.
00:25:57:12 - 00:26:24:10
Sabrina
And these YouTube creators are finding fame and they're finding
audiences all over the world. So I spend as much time as I can with
creators because I find them so fascinating. And I'm so excited
about the work that they're doing. And we really punch above our
weight in Canada. And there was an Ipsos study just recently that
online users are 98% more likely to trust the recommendations of
creators on YouTube, and that's like versus any other social sites
or apps.
00:26:24:13 - 00:26:48:05
Sabrina
And so creators are now embedded in influencing and in creating
opportunities for brands in Canada. So we just launched the Creator
Partnerships Hub. This is a dedicated tool that lives in Google
Ads, and it really lets advertisers see and manage all of their
creator campaigns, so that you can combine this trust of creators
and your AI-powered campaigns, and you can reach different
audiences.
00:26:48:07 - 00:27:04:00
Sabrina
So I think it's really exciting, and I think every every 14 year
old wants to be a creator. And we have Take Your Kids to Work Day.
And one of the things we're going to talk to them about is how do
creators start their businesses, because so many people find that
to be such a fascinating opportunity.
00:27:04:06 - 00:27:11:21
Alison
It really would be a fascinating career. I'm at the other end of my
career where I'm now thinking about retirement, so maybe I should
join and make it part of my retirement plan.
00:27:11:22 - 00:27:27:11
Sabrina
Alison. Absolutely. Well, you know what? The other thing? Podcasts
is one of the fastest growing and largest areas on YouTube right
now. So people are looking at podcasts on video, they're watching
it on CTV on their big screen. So it's maybe that could be your
next calling.
00:27:27:13 - 00:27:42:22
Alison
There you go. Figuring out my retirement plan as a side benefit to
this episode. So for marketers and employees that are navigating
this AI transformation, what is your advice for helping them truly
focus on thriving and making the most of this new era?
00:27:43:00 - 00:28:03:05
Sabrina
You know, I think it can seem overwhelming, but we did it before
with the shift to mobile, so we can do it again. With the shift to
AI, and what I see folks who are actually getting that 60% value
doing is a couple of things. Like, first of all, they're anchoring
to value. They're not having an AI strategy.
00:28:03:05 - 00:28:26:19
Sabrina
They're having a business strategy that's enabled by AI. Second,
they're scaling fast, so they're figuring out of all the pilots are
doing what do they need to scale, what do they need to sunset and
avoiding pilot paralysis. And third, they're bringing their people
along on the journey. And this is the trickiest thing. I truly
believe that the AI transformation is one part tech and three parts
change management, leadership, culture.
00:28:26:23 - 00:28:50:01
Sabrina
And it really is about your whole organization having the basic
skills to understand it and to set that strategy. Having all
members of the C-level table all in. And like you said, the CMO can
be such a guiding light on this. I really feel that strongly. The
HR leader has such an important role to play and to pace the change
and to pace the creation and to scale the value creation.
00:28:50:01 - 00:29:06:05
Sabrina
So, you know, like not everyone needs to be AI-proficient, like
someone being able to create a large language model or set up a
whole system. But everyone needs to understand the basics of AI,
and everyone needs to understand how to anchor to that business
value and process and manage this change.
00:29:06:07 - 00:29:22:04
Alison
That is outstanding advice. Now, I'm very fortunate to have some of
Canada's top business leaders like you as guests on the podcast. So
I end every episode with a question that I know our listeners are
going to be very keen to hear your answer on. What's one piece of
career advice that you would share with listeners who aspire to
follow in your footsteps?
00:29:22:06 - 00:29:39:20
Sabrina
You know, my kids ask me this, and what's so interesting is that
when I was their age, my job didn't exist. So what I always anchor
on, I call it the unicorn of the future of work. So, Alison, I
think that the unicorn of the future of work is a combination of
left brain, logical reasoning, right brain, creative.
00:29:39:20 - 00:30:00:23
Sabrina
So both of them together, left brain and right brain and
supercharged with AI. And tools are going to evolve. Jobs will
evolve. But the skills that you have need to be grounded in using
those tools, but also the combination of both the logic, the
reasoning and the creativity, the collaboration and the
fundamentals of how you work with people are so important.
00:30:00:23 - 00:30:18:18
Sabrina
I think creativity is the undersold super skill of tomorrow, but
you also need to be technically relevant, right? I'm always
encouraging people understand the tools, understand them enough to
be dangerous, and then hire the people around you that are going to
be able to go very deep on it. You know, but all of this is also
just about being curious.
00:30:18:18 - 00:30:46:22
Sabrina
Like there's so much curiosity in everything that we're doing right
now with AI. If you think about your ability to have the world's
information on your phone and now you're able to interact with it
in a multi-modal way through Gemini Live, through some of these new
tools. I just think it is such an exciting time. One to be a
marketer, two to be in Canada, and I'm very hopeful for our ability
to create value for the Canadian economy.
00:30:46:22 - 00:31:02:04
Sabrina
But not just that, to solve some of those big challenges that we
talked about earlier, like the things that really matter to us in
our societies as well, and that we can do it together, and we will
look back on this era and the way that we look back at mobile and
think, wow, we did that.
00:31:02:06 - 00:31:25:21
Alison
That is outstanding advice. And I love the unicorn of the future of
work, and you're absolutely right. So many jobs didn't exist five
years ago that exist today. So your ability to stay curious and
learn and have both sides of your brain engaged is mission
critical. So Sabrina, it's been an absolute delight. I know you're
incredibly busy, and I appreciate how generous you've been with
your time and looking forward to seeing you at an upcoming event as
well.
00:31:25:23 - 00:31:31:06
Sabrina
Thank you for the work that you do, Alison. And like the CMA is so
important and I'm grateful for the partnership.
00:31:31:11 - 00:31:43:01
Alison
Well, thank you. We've got amazing members and I've got an amazing
team or none of this would be possible. So thank you as well.
00:31:43:03 - 00:31:55:16
Presenter
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