AI is evolving faster than the rules that guide it, navigating both investors and locals through high-probability, high-risk situations.
That’s why the leaders gathered at the latest Haskayne Business Exchangeresearchers at the University of Calgary investigated how smarter AI tools can rein in emotional trading thanks to easily accessible investment apps, and how Alberta’s natural advantages could position it to power the next wave of AI infrastructure.
Home to Canada’s fastest growing and most dynamic fintech research hub, this is the fifth event in the series. Haskayne Business School Uncovering emerging trends in the digital economy.
The event, held on March 3 at Studio Bell, was moderated by Karen Radford, a former executive with 30 years of experience in the energy and communications industries, and provided key insights from industry experts.
Machine learning can be poised to correct investor biases, rather than exploit them.
Marius Zoican presents “Can AI save investors from themselves?”
Kelly Hofer
Many investment apps function like social media, providing instant access to markets and notifications that encourage quick, emotional decision-making. Dr. Marius ZoicanDr. Haskayne, associate professor of finance and Canada Research Chair in Financial Technology, said research shows such designs can encourage people to trade more and make riskier calls.
“Modern trading platforms are not just neutral gateways to financial markets,” he said, adding that an app’s interface design often keeps people active, excited and coming back for more. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Instant mobile access to market is here to stay.”
But Zoican believes AI can also reverse the scenario. A robo-advice model that learns from a user’s behavioral patterns can guide users toward more stable choices by “plain-language warnings of dangerous moments and introducing pauses,” or by triggering a cooling-off prompt before trading when a smartwatch detects an increase in heart rate.
After tomorrow’s keynote on fintech, Karen Radford will moderate a Q&A with Marcos Lopez and Marius Zoican.
Kelly Hofer
Panelist Marcos Lopez (B.S. ’99, serial fintech entrepreneur and current CEO of CreditApp) shared his views on what he calls a hyper-dynamic market and innovative AI use cases in a rapidly changing world.
“Canadian regulators are slowly becoming more open to allowing innovation to occur. It’s a big mountain to climb, but it’s not impossible,” he said, given Wealth Simple’s success in disrupting the investor market.
If tradeoffs can be managed, Alberta could become a hub for the world’s AI infrastructure.
Qiang Wang presents “Preparing Alberta for the AI Infrastructure Wave.”
Kelly Hofer
AI may feel intangible, but it relies on very physical infrastructure. Dr. Wang QiangHaskayne, assistant professor of finance, describes a hyperscale data center as a giant warehouse of servers running non-stop.
More than 10 of these large data centers are already operational in Canada, including two in Calgary. An additional 300 hyperscale data centers are expected to be built around the world, and Alberta’s energy resources and cooling-friendly climate give it a strong competitive advantage.
Panelist Cristina López, BA’01, BComm’01, chief investment officer at Canada Growth Fund Investment Management, added that Alberta is not trying to attract developers with a cheap grid, but rather to operate its own captive power generation and supply the natural gas to fuel it.
“We’ll be able to develop our natural gas resources and get royalties from them, so we’ll have another source of revenue from that,” Lopez said, pointing to Alberta’s long track record of globally responsible production.
After Wang’s keynote address on strengthening the digital economy, Karen Radford will moderate a Q&A with Cristina Lopez and Wang Zhang.
Kelly Hofer
Both Wang and Lopez pointed to Loudoun County, Virginia, often referred to as a data center array, as a case study. As the world began to transition from local storage to cloud storage, this region was ideal for growth due to its abundance of existing fiber optic networks.
“The delay was important,” Lopez said, arguing that Alberta faces a similar moment as demand for AI accelerates, even if the benefits look different.
But Wang warned of trade-offs when growth is expected. Her research shows that after the mega-facility opens, neighborhood home values could drop by nearly 7 percent, with total losses likely to be more than $3 billion.
“This highlights the importance of designing policies so that the financial benefits of data center development meaningfully support the communities most directly affected,” Wang said. “For data center developers, mitigating negative impacts on the region requires careful site selection and collaboration with local infrastructure and residents.”
