Building Trust Into AI: Differly at ALL IN 2026

Artificial intelligence is advancing faster than most organizations can absorb it.

The opportunity is real: better workflows, new products, stronger customer experiences, and more capacity for people to focus on higher-value work. But so are the concerns from privacy and environmental impact to workforce disruption and the growing autonomy of AI agents.

This is not a choice between moving quickly and acting responsibly. Organizations need to do both.

That means treating trust, governance and adoption as part of the innovation work itself, not as controls to add after the technology is already in place. The organizations that create lasting value from AI will be the ones that pair experimentation with clear guardrails, human accountability and a practical understanding of how work will change.

Differly’s Patrice Belmonte reflects on that challenge following ALL IN 2026 in Montreal. ALL IN 2026 was Canada’s flagship AI conference, held in Montréal, bringing together business leaders, researchers, startups, investors, and policymakers to explore real-world AI adoption, innovation, and partnerships. The event featured keynote talks, workshops, demonstrations, networking opportunities, and industry-specific sessions focused on how AI is transforming organizations and the economy.

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Reflections from ALL IN 2026

These questions were front and center at ALL IN 2026 in Montreal, where leaders from Canada’s AI ecosystem and beyond came together to explore the technology’s business, economic and societal impact.

Patrice Belmonte attended on behalf of Differly and described an event filled with energetic conversations, compelling demonstrations and an unmistakable sense that Canada has an important role to play in the future of AI.

One comment from Minister Solomon captured a recurring theme: “Canada’s got what the world wants: trust.”

Trust, however, is not something organizations can declare. They have to design for it.

Patrice noted that conversations inside the conference and demonstrations taking place around it reinforced the importance of hearing from people who are uneasy about where AI is heading. Responsible progress requires leaders to engage with those concerns, not dismiss them as resistance to change.

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Guardrails That Help Innovation Move Forward

One analogy shared at the event compared the need for AI governance with the role of international rules in civil aviation. A common framework does not determine how every aircraft is designed. It establishes shared expectations for how a global system operates safely.

AI needs a similar level of coordination. As AI agents begin to act on behalf of people and organizations, leaders must be clear about what those systems can do autonomously, when a human must remain in the loop and who is accountable when something goes wrong.

These are not reasons to stop experimenting. They are the conditions that make responsible experimentation possible.

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Turning Conversation into Responsible Adoption

The discussions at ALL IN reinforced a principle that guides Differly’s work: technology alone does not create meaningful change. People do.

Successful AI adoption depends on more than selecting tools. It requires leaders to connect AI investments to real business problems, involve the people whose work will be affected, and build the policies, skills and accountability needed to move forward with confidence.

Read Patrice’s full reflections from ALL IN 2026.

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