“We are not the owners of innovation — our purpose is to fuel it.”
That line from Mike Mahon, recently confirmed as permanent CEO of Alberta Innovates after serving in the role on an interim basis, was more than a mission statement — it was a signal of change, shared at Inventures during a session I moderated for Digital Journal.
Mahon was joined by board chair Tony Williams for a conversation about what comes next for the agency and the broader innovation ecosystem it helped shape.
What followed was a frank preview of a new strategy that rethinks how grants are delivered, how success is measured, and how Alberta Innovates shows up across the province. The plan marks a shift in posture from builder to enabler, and from central authority to ecosystem partner.
After years of helping build and support Alberta’s innovation infrastructure, Alberta Innovates is preparing to shift its role. The new plan, which Mahon said has been finalized and is awaiting joint release with the provincial government, outlines a different approach focused less on directing traffic and more on enabling others to move faster.
Alberta Innovates has played a central role in supporting the province’s innovation infrastructure, including funding early-stage AI work through Amii and contributing to ecosystem-building efforts that supported organizations like Platform Calgary. That work has helped build a more connected and capable ecosystem, but as the landscape matures, so do expectations for how the agency engages.
The strategy was shaped by a year-long review that included a full program assessment and extensive consultation across the province.
The feedback, according to Mahon, was direct: the agency needs to be faster, more transparent, and more collaborative. Grant processes have become too complex, and communications need to shift toward being more outward-facing and responsive.
What the community wants now is a partner, not just a funder, and Alberta Innovates is listening.
A shift in posture and performance
Alberta Innovates’ upcoming plan centres on three goals: strengthening innovation supports, accelerating commercialization and scale-up, and modernizing Alberta Innovates itself.
Mahon acknowledged that Alberta Innovates has been described as “a little old school” and that its response and delivery times need improvement. That feedback is now driving changes in how the agency delivers its programs.
Changes will include redesigned grant models, a shift toward partnership-driven investments, and new ways of measuring success. Rather than focusing on how much funding is distributed, the agency wants to track what that funding achieves. This includes whether cancer wait times are improving, whether new technologies are reaching rural communities, and whether Alberta firms are growing global markets.
The plan also introduces updated priority areas.
Health innovation will be reframed through a One Health lens, integrating public health, environmental factors, and agriculture.
Emerging areas such as aerospace, advanced materials, and applied digital technologies will also receive more focus.
In each case, Alberta Innovates will step back and help convene the right players rather than try to control outcomes.
Funding stability, projections, and Alberta Innovates’ response
As the conversation turned to Alberta Innovates’ budget, I asked Mahon to respond to recent headlines and clarify what the funding outlook actually means.
He began by noting that current funding remains stable, with funding for 2026–27 confirmed and unchanged. He then addressed concerns about projected reductions in 2027–28 and 2028–29, emphasizing that those numbers are not final and remain subject to change.
“There is a reduction in the budget in 2027–28 and 2028–29,” he said. “But the numbers that are reported in the media are all inaccurate. Just to be clear, I’m not going to get into the numbers because that will take the next 10 or 15 minutes, but I’ll just say they’re all inaccurate.”
Mahon explained that only the first year of Alberta’s provincial budget is locked in and the second and third years are planning projections that could still change. He framed the situation as part of a normal public funding cycle, not a crisis.
“We are in a moment, and we will get through the moment,” he said. “The sky is not falling.”
Looking ahead, Mahon said Alberta Innovates will continue working with government, its board, and the broader innovation ecosystem to make the case for sustained and strategic investment.
As the conversation on funding wrapped, board chair Tony Williams cautioned that focusing only on provincial budgets is short-sighted.
“Everybody’s focused on the Alberta budget and that’s a very narrow view,” he said.
Williams pointed to opportunities with federal agencies like PrairiesCan, philanthropic foundations from outside Alberta, and corporate partners like Siemens that are already bringing capital and expertise into the province.
He emphasized that when Alberta makes a strong case and works collaboratively across the ecosystem, more funding becomes available from sources well beyond the legislature.
From metrics to momentum: a broader measure of success
One example of that broader view in action came from Bruce Birdsell of Siemens, who offered a comment near the end of the session.
Birdsell noted that Siemens has committed more than $125 million to Alberta’s cancer treatment infrastructure through a recent agreement with the province. The deal, he said, involved no incentives.
Instead, it was built through a multi-party partnership that included Alberta Innovates.
“We took a very innovative approach,” Birdsell said. “We put in place a partnership that had been made for everyone, and no incentive.”
Williams said this kind of investment reflects how Alberta should position itself — not as a jurisdiction competing on subsidies, but as a place companies choose because of its talent, research, and opportunity. He said success should be measured not only in economic terms, but in the real-world outcomes that innovation delivers.
“Do cancer wait times go down? Are we deploying artificial intelligence in ways that help companies compete globally? Are we getting technology into classrooms and health care? That’s the measure of success.”
Mahon echoed that shift in thinking, saying Alberta Innovates is moving away from tracking only internal outputs and will instead co-develop performance metrics with partners.
“The much more important metric is what did that money result in?” Mahon asked. “What were the outcome measures that contributed to the evolution of innovation, research, and technology in this province?”
Alberta Innovates will release its new strategy and business plan soon, and if the rollout reflects the direction previewed during the session, it will mark a shift in tone and function.
The agency will no longer position itself as the central node in Alberta’s innovation network and instead focus on enabling others, faster, more flexibly, and with shared accountability.
Digital Journal is an official media partner for Inventures.
This article was created with the assistance of AI. Learn more about our AI ethics policy here.
