In the Spotlight: Jil Macdonald by Women in AI Canada
Women in AI Canada is honouring our members by highlighting a new member every month. This month’s Women in AI Canada Member in the Spotlight is Jil Macdonald.
How did you first become interested in AI and what inspired you to pursue a career in this field?
I first became interested in AI almost a decade ago. I spent the early part of my career in performance improvement using Lean Six Sigma and statistics to save capital and to inform decision making. It felt seamless and like it was a natural evolution. With the Alberta Energy Regulator I figured how to use AI technology to solve very complex problems in complex multivariable situations.
Could you describe your current research or work in the AI community?
Over my tenure with both the Alberta Energy Regulator and AltaML, I’ve been part of the development of over 200 AI products and solutions. Those cover areas from environmental regulatory to health to fraud and financial sectors alongside energy development and transportation opportunities. My work is focused on translating the business problem and challenge against what AI can do to help provide insights, recommendations or solutions to that challenge.
What do you think are the most important problems that the AI community should be addressing, and why?
I would love to continue to see advancements of AI in relation to human health, augmenting human longevity health-based outcomes like cancer treatment. There are also complex situations that many industries face where AI could be very applicable for example supply chain and the dynamics that are at play in that sector and the need for complex algorithms to support it.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you have faced in your career in AI, and how have you overcome them?
The largest challenge I face as it relates to AI is adoption. I believe that this is a challenge that many organizations and individuals face not only in the development but also in the sponsorship of AI products and solutions. You have to understand how AI is going to be integrated in the business process alongside the technology architecture and you need to enroll individuals of various levels early on so they can be an advocate for change and an influencer in how the product and solution is created.
How do you see AI evolving in the coming years, and what role do you see yourself playing in this evolution?
AI continues to evolve in areas where the consumer and frontline customer directly interact with an AI solution like chatGPT. I think that is where you’re going to continue to see evolution. We’re already seeing AI being used to support transactional information as it relates to individuals from where you are going locationally to what your purchases may look like to how you optimize your day. I think that that’s going to continue to evolve because our access to data has been more unlocked and our ability to manipulate and transform that data evolves every day. The role that I see myself playing in my current role with Walnut Insurance is about how the use of AI can prompt opportunities to offer access to insurance for customers at unique times. Not simply through an email but a text-based prompt or in-app when an action has been done that supports that customers need for risk-based coverage at their unique moment In time.
What advice do you have for young women who are interested in pursuing a career in AI?
My advice for young women who are interested in pursuing a career in AI is simply that AI will touch you in both your personal and professional life in many facets. I see value in knowing and understanding the intricate nature of how AI solutions are developed, its applicability and your role in interacting with these solutions. I believe the diversity in technology is continuing to increase by the day and in my experience women and individuals of all backgrounds have a strength and power in developing digital products and solutions. If we have diverse ways of thinking in development we also bring diverse ways of tackling a problem. Diversity is important to make sure that we combat any ethical implications of AI and that we build tools responsibly.
Could you tell us more about your role as COO of Walnut Insurance and the technology infrastructure that you are building to automate the insurance process?
Walnut Insurance allows brands to unlock the insurance opportunity seamlessly and quickly. Our technology which is underpinned through multiple API webhooks and many other elements allows our partners to offer a branded embedded insurance buying experience, one that is industry leading and allows customers to buy insurance at the right moment in time of their need and through simplicity of five clicks or less. We all know how challenging it is to buy insurance, how much information you need to share and it’s also very hard to compare pricing and coverage options. Walnut is a new way of both offering and exposing insurance to customers alongside an Innovative world-leading way to buy insurance
You have had the opportunity to work on over 200 AI product opportunities at AltaML. Could you share some examples of the most interesting or impactful projects you have worked on?
Some of the most interesting and impactful products I’ve been able to be a part of are those that are impacting human based outcomes from better treatment options to detection of certain diseases in a faster, more predictive way, to supporting better environmental outcomes and mitigating disaster-based events or enabling proper reclamation of certain areas.
You have a background in geophysics and a MBA, as well as lean Six Sigma certifications. How have these diverse areas of expertise come together to inform your approach to leadership and process improvement?
The diversity in my educational background from geophysics to a Masters in Business have all been centered around using data in different ways to help identify challenges and opportunities and solve problems. Interestingly enough this centre point is how data can be used responsibly and appropriately to predict and achieve the right outcomes. It’s fascinating that I started my career coding and over a decade later I’m back doing the same.
You have a strong commitment to community service and sit on several boards. Could you tell us more about your involvement in these organizations and the impact you hope to have?
I truly value community and recognize the importance each of us play in volunteering and engaging with our community. For me that’s been a very important personal element of my life. My involvement is always centred around how we can augment where we live and how we can bring the right people together to support that. I currently have the opportunity to be a part of the cabinet at own.cancer where we are working towards raising $250 million dollars to support enhancing patient outcomes and better cancer detection leveraging data for the Alberta Cancer Center. My role there is not only providing a perspective as a cancer survivor but also on how we engage our younger generation to become lifelong philanthropists.
How do you see the role of AI evolving in the insurance industry, and what are some of the challenges and opportunities you see on the horizon?
I see the role of AI evolving the insurance industry in a number of ways. I think we can recognize that AI is used from an underwriting and/or risk-based identification perspective. I believe that that’s going to continue to change where more and more diversity, equity and inclusion parameters are included and we ensure that the ethical nature of insurance products supports all individuals at their moment in need. I see AI being able to leverage transactional data and other information to offer insurance which is more customized to what they require and allows them to have an exceptional selection and buying alongside customer service experience. I see AI evolving in the role that you might have with an insurance carrier in a claims process and hopefully supporting enhancing the customer experience of that process alongside the data collection and capture.
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