Fascinated by the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), Salim Teja, HBA ’96, is helping Ivey explore how this technology will reshape learning, business, society, and even education.

By Cam Buchan

In an Ivey classroom discussion, in the not-so-distant future, HBA student Mina Concord is certain she has the answer: the CEO in the case should acquire the fast-growing competitor. Using her agentic AI learning companion, she analyzes the deal as it unfolds in real time. 

“This is definitely the right call,” she thinks.

“Mina,” the professor interrupts her thoughts. “What’s still keeping the CEO awake at night?”

Salim Teja was awestruck.

A glimpse into the foundational work of Canadian and 2024 Nobel Prize Physics honouree Geoffrey Hinton, whose research helped transform AI into a must-have technology for business, revealed the enormous opportunity AI offered.

It was an epiphany for Teja, who at the time held a leadership role at MaRS Discovery District.

“The first time I got to play with it was when ChatGPT came out in 2022,” said Teja, now a Partner with Radical Ventures. “That’s when I was able to touch and feel the magic of AI.”

Under Teja’s guidance, that magic now reaches the classroom through the Ivey Fellows Program, which invites leaders at the forefront of this technology to share their journeys with students and faculty.

“It’s a great start,” said Teja. “AI will certainly be a big theme the School continues to explore.”

As a venture capitalist, Teja thinks about AI’s potential to accelerate research, drive industry adoption, reshape education, and create both opportunity and disruption.

What should alumni and students focus on to ensure it’s a win for them? AI fluency, critical thinking, and an understanding of risk and compliance are certainly vital.

“This period is going to shake everyone into continuous learning mode again, forcing them to reimagine their career journeys.”

For Teja, the glass is half full. Partnering with agentic AI, advancing personalized education, and addressing global challenges like improving health-care outcomes, climate change, and reimagining manufacturing are all possible.

“It’s a fantastic time.”

Before Mina can answer, her AI companion poses another question.

“Which stakeholder has received the least attention in the discussion so far?”

“Employees!” Mina realizes. As the discussion intensifies, students offer competing ideas. Her AI tracks them in real time, surfacing data and questions tailored to the points being raised.

As she logs out, Mina feels she has spent the class not just studying a leader’s decision. She has practiced making one.

Learn more about the Ivey AI Fellows Program at ivey.ca/about/leadership/ai-fellows