graduation and University of Waterloo Signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a Chief Technology and AI Officer program for senior translation leaders. A.I. Connect strategy to measurable business outcomes.
The agreement was highlighted in a LinkedIn post by Mayank Kumar, co-founder of upGrad and BorderPlus, who noted the signing ceremony, which took place on the sidelines of IndiaAI discussions, along with Evan Solomon, Canada’s Minister of AI and Digital Innovation, Somen Roy of Canada’s Tata Consultancy Services, and leaders from the University of Waterloo.
Kumar wrote, “I am honored to share the honor of the upGrad Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony with Evan Solomon, Minister of AI and Digital Innovation, Canada, Soumen Roy, National President of TCS Canada, Dr. Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo, and Sanjeev Gill, Vice-Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Waterloo, alongside AI speaking about the impact of AI and the workforce in India.” Transformation. ”
From AI experimentation to executive authority
In his post, Kumar positioned the program as a broader shift in the place of AI within organizations.
“AI is moving from experimentation to boardroom priorities, and today’s CTOs and CXOs are expected to leverage augmented intelligence to drive not just systems, but strategy, capital allocation, governance, and measurable business outcomes,” he wrote.
The six-month AI-CTO program will be streamed live online through WatSPEED in Waterloo and is designed for current and future technology leaders. The aim, according to Kumar, is to enable participants to “translate their AI ambitions into real, measurable enterprise impact.”
The curriculum spans business and technology alignment, ROI modeling, governance, MLOps, and executive communications. Participants choose between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship tracks, with an emphasis on applying AI across venture-building or enterprise transformation contexts.
AI Leadership Certification
Program materials state that participants will create deliverables for the board, including a 90-day CTO plan and strategic initiative dossier. The fee is listed at £8,800 and the next cohort is expected to start in March 2026.
The announcement comes as the government formalizes its AI policy structure. Kumar writes: “It is amazing to see the government appointing an office to lead AI transformation through policy and setting out the challenge for a sustainable and sovereign AI infrastructure.”
Unlike introductory AI literacy courses, the AI-CTO program is explicitly centered around corporate mandates. The focus is not on learning tools, but on managing them. As AI budgets shift from innovation labs to executive oversight, qualifications that combine technical fluency with financial and governance accountability are likely to become more prominent across the executive education portfolio.
ETIH Innovation Award 2026
The ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 is now open and recognizes education technology organizations that are driving measurable impact across K-12, higher education, and lifelong learning. The award welcomes applications from the UK, the Americas and overseas, and applications will be assessed on the basis of evidence of achievement and practical application.
