Douglas Soltys

Toronto

Founder and Editor-in-Chief at BetaKit

Co-Host at The BetaKit Podcast Channel

word czar. two-guard. currently: @BetaKit previously: @MobileSyrup @BlackBerry and a bunch of dead sites you might remember fondly. "Wildly out of control."

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Articles

Will AI agents replace SaaS before SaaS replaces employees with AI?

3 days ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

It’s May, which means we’re at the start of wildfire season in Canada. Actually, that’s not quite true. Traditionally, wildfire season spans from late April to August, but recent years have shown that wildfires are no longer seasonal. That change has been devastating across Canada. 2023 was both an outlier and a sign of what’s to come: 16.5 million hectares of forest burned and 640 million metric tons of carbon released into the atmosphere.
Half of the internet is bots and they’re feeding you lies

4 days ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

A recent report from cybersecurity company Imperva claims that more than half of all internet traffic now comes from non-human sources, or bots. That stat is worthy of discussion on its own, but I want you to focus on another one: over a third of all internet traffic is now bad bots—malicious automated actors. What are these bad actors doing online? Disinformation and defamation campaigns, targeting businesses and governments with ‘irregular warfare’ to manipulate markets and elections.
CEO Don Murray says Safe Software’s new features will help replace enterprise SaaS with AI agents

1 week ago | betakit.com | Alex Riehl |Douglas Soltys

Safe Software’s Don Murray is one of the many tech executives betting that artificial intelligence (AI) will eat the world. But the CEO of the Surrey-based data integration company says Safe makes an important distinction: AI is an assistant, not an authority. Founded by Murray and Dale Lutz in 1993, Safe Software offers a software platform to help enterprises share different types of information, including spatial data.
Canadian angels just want to write the cheque

1 week ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

Last week, I suggested that the work required to ensure Canada meets the current moment must continue after the ballots are counted. I’m pleased to find many Canadians agree. Canadian tech certainly wasted no time reminding Prime Minister Mark Carney of his long to-do list on day one. Madison McLauchlan has you covered with a story on the hard work that lies ahead.
Joe Canavan has a plan for Canada to become an innovation nation

1 week ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

I have just returned from an action-packed week in sunny Ottawa. In addition to the election, there was also the NACO Summit, where I had the opportunity to speak with Joe Canavan, Canada’s 2025 angel of the year. “I feel like doing this is one of the greatest gifts of my life. Working with these people energizes me.”Joe CanavanIf you don’t know Mr. Canavan, he has a storied history in financial services, leading several firms, including Assante Wealth Management and Fidelity Investments Canada.
The best political party for Canadian tech

2 weeks ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

I’m writing to you from my hotel room in Ottawa, where I await the main event in our capital city this week: NACO Summit. In January, I reiterated former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s call for Canadians to show “spine and toughness.” Three months later, I’m happy to say you’ve done an admirable job. Elbows are all the way up. Interprovincial trade barriers are (slowly) falling, US contracts are being ripped apart, and the pressure is on to replace them with honest-to-God Canadian procurement.
How does an online car retailer survive a trade war?

2 weeks ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

According to CEO Dan Park, online car retailer Clutch has seen its share of “existential crises” over the last several years. “I think for any entrepreneur that’s navigated the last five years, I don’t know if there was a worse time to be building a company.”Dan ParkClutch CEOFirst, there was the COVID-19 pandemic, which changed how people try and buy cars.
Canadian VCs have performance anxiety

3 weeks ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Douglas Soltys

CIX recently hosted its closed-door Investor Forum, so BetaKit snuck reporter Josh Scott in and hid him behind the largest possible office plant to write about it . The piece shows a VC ecosystem taking a hard look in the mirror after years of struggling with prolonged fundraising, poor investment returns, fraught LP relationships, and competitive pressures from the south.
Canadian VCs have performance anxiety

3 weeks ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

CIX recently hosted its closed-door Investor Forum, so BetaKit snuck reporter Josh Scott in and hid him behind the largest possible office plant to write about it. The piece shows a VC ecosystem taking a hard look in the mirror after years of struggling with prolonged fundraising, poor investment returns, fraught LP relationships, and competitive pressures from the south.
How Toronto Tech Week plans to host 10,000 people this June

3 weeks ago | betakit.com | Douglas Soltys

Last year, BetaKit broke the news that major tech conference Collison would not return to the city of Toronto, relocating under a new name to Canada’s West Coast. So what was Toronto tech supposed to do for those few days in June when the weather is nice? Fear not, because this year, BetaKit also broke the news that local tech leaders had come together to fill the gap with a new, non-profit, volunteer-run event called Toronto Tech Week. “ Toronto Tech Week belongs to everyone.