CIPS Webinar: “The Practical AI Playbook: Strategy, Trust, and Real Outcomes”

Missing the live event? Watch the On-Demand Webinar:

CIPS Saskatchewan Presents:

The Practical AI Playbook: Strategy, Trust, and Real Outcomes

Thursday October 16th, 2025 @ 2 pm EDT (Virtual Event)

Included with CIPS Membership  /  $40 for Non-Members  (Not a CIPS Member? Join Here)

AI is no longer a lab experiment—it’s a leadership discipline. The real differentiator isn’t which model you pick; it’s how you set direction, find the right bets, and embed new habits in teams and workflows.

Ryan Tessier shares a practical leadership playbook shaped by years of experience driving data and AI adoption in both resource-constrained non-profits and complex enterprises. When organizations with limited budgets succeed, the lessons travel everywhere.

Attendees will learn:

• 3-layer strategy frame (Outcomes → Capabilities → Platforms) to align AI work with business goals, proven in both non-profit missions and enterprise priorities.
• Where AI actually sticks: high-leverage use cases that survive budget scrutiny and real change-management barriers—lessons first surfaced in non-profits, now scaling to corporations.
• Operating-model shifts leaders need (governance, funding, talent, and workflow design) to make AI routine, drawn from cases where small teams punched above their weight.
• Risk & responsibility made usable: simple patterns for privacy, safety, and oversight that ensure trust—vital in non-profits serving vulnerable communities and equally critical in business.
• A 30-60-90 action map to move from “cool slideware” to shipped outcomes—without boiling the ocean—because non-profits can’t afford wasted cycles, and neither can enterprises.

Who should attend?

Designed for CIOs, managers, architects, BAs, and senior ICs, this session gives you practical artifacts you can reuse the next day: an AI opportunity screen, a lightweight governance checklist, and a scorecard to track adoption and value.

About the Speaker:

Ryan Tessier leads technology strategy and innovation at Saskatchewan’s provincial natural gas utility, where he builds the multi-year IT roadmap, govern major solution investments, and guide responsible adoption of new technologies including data and AI across the business. He has designed governance processes, chaired review boards, and partnered with business leaders to turn strategy into executable roadmaps.

Nationally, Ryan led Microsoft Canada’s Digital Skills initiative training over 1,000 professionals across the country in data and AI practices. He also mentors non-profits through Data for Good, helping teams stand up practical analytics and AI projects. With a background in applied mathematics and machine learning, Ryan blends executive-level planning with hands-on fluency in modern data and AI tools.