Regina AI conference weighs Saskatchewan data centre role

Artificial Intelligence Saskatchewan (AiSK) hosted a full-day conference on data centre development in Saskatchewan on Wednesday at Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina, drawing speakers from Bell AI Fabric, SaskTel, Siemens EDA, two provincial MLAs and representatives from George Gordon First Nation.

The event, called DiSK — Data Centres in Saskatchewan, ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and covered power requirements, land use, provincial and federal regulatory frameworks, and First Nations governance considerations. Seats were priced at $375, with tables of eight at $3,000.

Jaethan Reichel, chief operating officer of Bell AI Fabric, delivered the morning keynote. Bell AI Fabric is listed as a conference sponsor and, according to the program, a new AiSK corporate member.

Ty Sutherland, director of IT operations at SaskTel, led a session billed as a plain-language overview of what a data centre requires and how compute infrastructure has evolved. Kyle Fisher, senior director of research and development at Siemens EDA, followed with a session on AI and cloud workloads driving demand for data centre capacity.

The afternoon included a panel on power generation, staffing and construction requirements, moderated by Christian Boyle of Shape Shift, with participants from Mulrooney Advisory and TEKSystems Canada.

Don Ross, CEO of George Gordon Developments Ltd., appeared twice on the program — once on a panel examining provincial, federal and First Nations rules for data centres, and again in a stand-alone slot to discuss George Gordon Developments' partnership with Bell AI Fabric.

Dr. Ryan Tessier, newly appointed director of the Government of Saskatchewan's Artificial Intelligence Office, was introduced to attendees at midday. The program described his role as leading AI strategy, governance and responsible adoption across provincial ministries and agencies.

Travis Keisig, MLA and representative of the Crown Investment Corporation, and Brittney Senger, NDP MLA for Saskatoon, both appeared on panels. Ray Orb, reeve of the Rural Municipality of Sherwood, spoke on a panel examining local impact and consent.

The program's final item, scheduled for 3:50 p.m., was listed as a "SPECIAL AI ANNOUNCEMENT" from AiSK and partners, to be delivered by AiSK founder Alex Fallon. The record does not describe what was announced.

Conference sponsors included the University of Regina, Bell AI Fabric, Economic Development Regina, TEKSystems Canada and Spartan Controls.