Boardroom Governance with Evan Epstein

Nicolas Darveau-Garneau: "The Greatest AI Risk is Inaction."

Jan 16, 2024

Former Chief Evangelist at Google and Chief Growth and Strategy Officer at Coveo, Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, discusses the future of Generative AI, the significance of AI in comparison to the internet wave, and the importance of board governance in AI. He highlights the risks of AI, including confidential information use and bias issues, and emphasizes the need for board members to take action and stay informed about AI developments.

01:04:44

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Nicolas Darveau-Garneau

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Quick takeaways

AI governance is crucial for companies, requiring specialized committees or external help.

Regulation of AI presents complex challenges, requiring specificity and clarity.

The US and the West must balance AI regulation with maintaining competitiveness to avoid falling behind China.

Deep dives

The Importance of AI in the Boardroom

AI is a transformative technology wave that is crucial for companies to understand and incorporate in their boardroom discussions. It has the potential to significantly impact various industries and improve customer experiences. As AI becomes more specialized and adaptable, boards should consider having a specialized committee or seeking external help to navigate the complexities of AI governance and strategic decision-making.

Introduction

2min

From Difficult Childhood to Internet Entrepreneur

10min

From Executive Role to Board Roles: The AI Transformation

3min

AI and Corporate Governance

10min

AI Governance in the Boardroom

28min

The Importance of AI-Aware Board Members

6min

Admiration for Anders Tegenol's Response to COVID

2min

Practical Approach to Learning About AI

2min

(0:00) Intro.

(1:28) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.

(2:14) Start of interview.

(3:09) Nick's "origin story."

(6:36) On his first startup IMix.com (focused on music streaming)

(7:55) His pivot as an equity analyst at Sanford Bernstein.

(8:32) His focus on investing in and advising internet companies.

(9:56) His time at Google (2010-2022), first in Canada then as Chief Evangelist.

(13:21) His time at Chief Growth and Strategy Officer at Coveo, a Canadian AI company (2022-2023).

(14:44) Joining the boards of the Toronto Stock Exchange, iA Financial Group, McEwen Mining, and Alida and advising boards on AI. Teaching at the Rotman School of Management, Northwestern and the Canadian Institute of Directors (ICD).

(16:55) Defining AI. The types of AI: 1) Computational AI, 2) Sensors AI, and 3) Generative AI.

(21:22) The future of Generative AI: Big Tech or startups?

(24:42) On whether the investment mania in AI is justified. "This technology wave is likely to be much more significant than the internet." "It's the most important technology wave that I have ever seen in my career."

(26:19) How corporate directors should think about opportunities and risks of AI. "The most important thing in governance for a board, in my view for AI, is making sure there is movement." Other risks: 1) Use of confidential information, 2) Creating a private version of AI, 3) Hallucinations (fake information by AI), 4) Issues of bias. Corporate training.

(35:07) On where AI fits in board committees, and on surge of AI experts on boardrooms. *recommendation by Nick: Coursera class on prompt engineering (Vanderbilt University).

(39:51) On AI regulation by the US (EO by President Biden), EU, Canada and others.

(46:03) The US-China race on AI - geopolitical implications. *reference to Marc Andreessen's article Why AI Will Save the World.

(50:03) On OpenAI's board fiasco and some of the unusual governance structures of leading AI companies.

(54:45) Books that have greatly influenced his life:

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)
1984 by George Orwell (1949)

(55:50) His mentors: #1 his mother, #2 McKinsey & Co.

(56:33) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives her life by: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" by Wayne Gretzky.

(57:30) An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves: Keeping track and data of his healthcare. He recommends the book "Outlive" by Peter Attia. Two tests that he recommends: Cleerly heart scan using AI and Galleri test for cancer detection. Tracks VO2 Max.

(1:00:04) The living person he most admires: Anders Tegnell (Sweden's state epidemiologist).

(1:02:18) Recommendation for corporate directors on where to get started on getting educated on AI.

Nicolas Darveau-Garveau is an AI and digital transformation expert. He was Google’s Chief Evangelist and worked as Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at Coveo, a leading AI company. He currently serves on the boards of the Toronto Stock Exchange, iA Financial Group, McEwen Mining, and Alida.

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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License