Sage Summit Toronto 2017: Ethics of Code for AI, B

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - Jul 5, 2017) - Sage, the market leader for integrated cloud accounting, payroll and payment systems, inspired thousands of Canadian business builders to celebrate their commitment to their local communities, embrace artificial intelligence and new Sage solutions to accelerate their business at Sage Summit Toronto 2017.

Over the course of two days, thousands of attendees from across Canada came together with Sage executives, Mayor of Toronto John Tory, celebrity speakers, and leading entrepreneurs to honour business builders and discuss the biggest issues and opportunities facing small and medium-sized businesses today.

"At Sage, we are passionate about doing business the right way, making a difference and giving back to entrepreneurs -- the heroes of the economy -- that make a difference every day in their local communities and beyond," said Stephen Kelly, CEO, Sage.

Joining Kelly on stage, Toronto Mayor John Tory welcomed attendees to Toronto, commending Sage's commitment to championing Canadian entrepreneurs. He encouraged businesses to take advantage of Toronto's leadership as a technology innovation hub and the largest metropolis in Canada.

Toronto is the 3 ^rd largest tech hub in North America

"Toronto is Canada's largest tech hub, and the third largest in North America ¹ and I know that small businesses can benefit from and drive our culture of innovation," said Mayor Tory. "The Sage Summit demonstrated that Toronto is a great home for companies interested in applying emerging technologies like AI to help guide local business in a digital economy."

During Sage Summit, the first to be hosted in Canada, Sage stressed its technology-driven vision for invisible admin powered by artificial intelligence.

Live on stage at Sage Summit Canada, Kriti Sharma, Sage VP of AI and Bots, shared ' The Ethics of Code: Developing AI for Business with Five Core Principles ,' a set of values Sage recommends the tech community should focus on as we embark on the 4 ^th industrial revolution. Sage proposes other companies utilize these values to ensure that their approach to building AI is both ethical and responsible to protect the future business consumers of this emerging technology.

"Now that Sage accounting chatbot Pegg is integrated with Sage One, we'll be able to use bots and artificial intelligence to automate the repetitive, mundane parts of running a business," said Paul Struthers, EVP, Managing Director of Sage Canada. "This technological breakthrough will allow our customers to focus more on innovating, improving customer engagement and driving business growth."

85% of Canadian Business Builders are optimistic about the future

Sage also announced the results of a new survey , highlighting small business sentiment in Canada as the country heads toward the Canada 150 celebration. The majority (85%) are optimistic about the future of their business, and two-thirds (74%) are optimistic about the future of small businesses in Canada in general. However, more than half (51%) cite too many government regulations and/or taxes as the most common day-to-day challenge that their business faces, and one-third (32%) note that there is a general lack of support from the government.

The Invictus Games

In addition, Sage launched the Sage Serving Heroes Program ahead of the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 for veterans competing in this year's games. The program honours the service and sacrifice Invictus competitors have made, by supporting their burgeoning business ambitions and unlocking a brighter future for veterans after service. Sage will empower the first cohort of Team Canada competitors to become entrepreneurs through a holistic package of guidance, mentoring and support aimed at developing their business, as well as access to Sage's suite of cloud solutions to power their new businesses.

Joined by 2016 Team Canada captain Bruno Guevremont, 2017 Team Canada captain Natacha Dupuis, and 2017 competitor Joel Guindon, Sage CEO Stephen Kelly and Sage Foundation's Director Vicky Gosling expanded on Sage's partnership with the Invictus Games by announcing the Sage Serving Heroes Program for Invictus and continued sponsorship of the Invictus Games Toronto 2017.

Spokesperson Highlights

Canadian investor, business expert and celebrated "Dragon" on CBC's The Next Gen Den, Michael Hyatt, spoke to the inspirational side of entrepreneurship and what it takes to grow a business in Canada, placing emphasis on his personal journey to success, the challenges he faced as an entrepreneur and helpful takeaways for business owners and professionals spanning across startups to enterprise.

Comedian Rick Mercer delighted and entertained attendees through his comedic keynote celebrating Canada's past, present and future.

Sage Summit Toronto 2017 is the 9th and final event in a global series that has engaged thousands of entrepreneurs and business leaders from London to Paris, Madrid, Singapore, Melbourne, Berlin, Johannesburg and Atlanta. Sage Summit Toronto 2017 is supported by Microsoft as a diamond sponsor and The Answer Company and CIMcloud as platinum sponsors, amongst others.

For more information, please visit https://www.sage.com/sage-summit/en-ca/

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About Sage

Sage is the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs. Sage began as a small business in the UK 30 years ago and over 13000 colleagues now support millions of entrepreneurs across 23 countries as they power the global economy. We reinvent and simplify business accounting through brilliant technology, working�with a thriving community of entrepreneurs, business owners, tradespeople, accountants, partners and developers.�And as a FTSE 100 business, we�are active in supporting our local communities and invest in making a real difference through the philanthropy of the Sage Foundation.

Sage - the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs.

www.sage.com

¹ The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service