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The Discovery Foundation AI Business Accelerator

Strategic AI Integration for Every Stage of Growth

The Discovery Foundation AI Business Accelerator is a two-stream AI training program led by AI strategist Rochelle Grayson. Designed for BC technology and tech-enabled companies, the program helps increase efficiency, maximize productivity, and implement AI strategically.

Stream 1 is returning for a one-day intensive on November 23, 2026. This hands-on workshop is designed for early-stage companies looking to better understand AI and identify practical ways to integrate it into their business.

Stream 2 was created for growth-stage companies ready to turn AI from an idea into a measurable business advantage. Stream 2 provided mentorship, frameworks, and practical strategies to accelerate AI adoption and drive business impact. Applications are now closed, and the current cohort will conclude in December 2026.

Stream 1

Join us for a one-day hands-on workshop on November 23rd, 2026 tailored specifically for pre-revenue and early-stage BC technology and tech-enabled ventures. Led by serial entrepreneur and AI expert Rochelle Grayson, this session will break down the complexity of artificial intelligence and guide you in building a practical, high-impact AI implementation plan that drives measurable traction and scalable growth. We’re also offering a limited number of 1:1 mentorship hours with our Program Advisors for an additional fee. These sessions will be held following the workshop. If you’re interested, please indicate this during registration when prompted.

Program Outcomes:

  • Fundamentals of AI & Market Validation: Understand foundational concepts and discover how AI directly supports your market and customer needs.
  • ​Models of AI Implementation: Compare frameworks and choose the right deployment models for your startup’s product and operations.
  • ​Hands-On Tool Exploration: Identify vetted AI tools, best practices, and integration strategies to optimize workflows.
  • Actionable Roadmap Development: Structure an internal AI implementation plan designed for immediate execution.
Register Now

Stream 2

Designed for growth-stage companies, Stream 2 companies will move beyond AI foundations and into measurable and impactful AI implementation, with direct AI mentorship support throughout the program.
What to expect:
  • Five workshops focusing on AI implementation, data readiness, and AI governance
  • Panel presentation: Companies will pitch their implementation-ready plans, and receive feedback 
  • Ongoing mentorship: Up to 10 individualized executive mentorship sessions where companies will receive guidance to de-risk and accelerate decisions.
  • Ongoing peer learning and accountability through cohort touch-points and online collaboration space
Applications for Stream 2 closed on September 7, 2026, and the program will conclude in December 2026.

Stream 1 One-Day Intensive

  • Workshop fee: Free
  • Eligibility: Pre-revenue and early-stage BC technology and tech-enabled companies
  • Date: November 23, 4 – 6 pm PCT
  • Location: Online, via Zoom
  • Mentorship with Program Advisors (optional add-on): Limited number of mentorship hours available for an additional fee. Hours allocated by application.
  • Mentorship Hours: Late November through December 18, 2026
Register now

Program Lead

Rochelle Grayson

Rochelle is an Afro-Latin, trilingual, serial entrepreneur, and digital strategist with over 30 years of experience in business, marketing, finance, tech, and education. She has worked with several women’s organizations, been nominated as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, awarded Vancouver’s Top Forty Under 40, and named one of Vancouver’s Top 10 Women in Technology.

Program Advisors

Yeritza Bohorquez (She/Her)

Co-founder & Vice-President at Glu SocialRead More

Stephen Parslow (He/Him)

Co-founder at BetterCartRead More

LX Cast (They/Them)

Co-founder of SpaciousRead More

Luis Guerrero (He/Him)

Co-founder & Vice-President at Glu SocialRead More

Ildar Akhmetov (He/Him)

Founder & InstructorRead More

Co-founder & Vice-President at Glu Social

Yeritza Bohorquez (She/Her)

We’re Yeritza and Luis. We analyze businesses, assess where optimizations need to happen, then implement AI in a practical way: to make better decisions, tighten operations, and scale without adding chaos. Yeritza brings a data-driven background from biotech and laboratory logistics. Luis brings experience growing companies through marketing and hands-on execution. Together, we blend AI with proven operating systems to drive measurable progress and build toward strong exit plans.

Co-founder at BetterCart

Stephen Parslow (He/Him)

Stephen Parslow has been writing code since he was 9. With 25 years of experience building software companies, he currently runs salonMonster (a salon management platform that’s processed over $650M with under 1% monthly churn) and co-founded BetterCart Analytics, recognized as a top-1% Canadian AI company. His focus is the human-computer interface, and he loves helping founders figure out what to build, how to build it, and where AI actually moves the needle.

Co-founder of Spacious

LX Cast (They/Them)

LX Cast is a researcher, community convener, program designer, strategist, and product leader who has worked on communication and collaboration tech serving millions of people for over a decade. They are the catalyst of Folk Tech, co-founder of Spacious, and principal at Changemaker PM, helping nonprofits develop product discovery practices. They’re a board member at Tech Fleet and Prosocial Design Network. Past roles include Program Designer at AI Stewardship, Head of Research at Marco Polo, Sr. PM at Notion, Chief Storyteller at Olark, Resident Fellow at Integrity Institute, and steward of Collaborative Technology Alliance.

Co-founder & Vice-President at Glu Social

Luis Guerrero (He/Him)

We’re Yeritza and Luis. We analyze businesses, assess where optimizations need to happen, then implement AI in a practical way: to make better decisions, tighten operations, and scale without adding chaos. Yeritza brings a data-driven background from biotech and laboratory logistics. Luis brings experience growing companies through marketing and hands-on execution. Together, we blend AI with proven operating systems to drive measurable progress and build toward strong exit plans.

Founder & Instructor

Ildar Akhmetov (He/Him)

Dr. Ildar Akhmetov helps founders work out what AI can realistically automate in their business, whether to buy or build, what the trade-offs and risks are, and when a quick build is enough versus when it needs real engineering. He teaches computer science at the University of Alberta and previously directed computing programs at Northeastern University in Vancouver. He has built software for over 20 years and founded companies in publishing and AI ed-tech.

In partnership with the Discovery Foundation:
A registered charity, the Discovery Foundation has been a committed champion and enabler of the science and technology sector in BC since its formation in 1979. Its principal activity is the delivery of the Technology Education Program via agents that provide education and guidance to entrepreneurs in BC.

New Ventures BC acknowledges that we gather and work on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

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