Under the mantle of impact entrepreneurship is the fire of passionate individuals. However, passion alone is not enough; the greatest impact businesses are also financially healthy and leverage traditional go-to-market strategies where appropriate. Speaking with INNOVATEwest ahead of the inaugural summit, co-founder of impact investment fund Spring, Keith Ippel, shared his view of how impact entrepreneurship can build better businesses.

Studies routinely show that women build amazing companies that deliver for customers and shareholders. Yet women receive a tiny portion of VC funding. Groups like The Firehood aim to solve that problem by investing in women-led companies and helping build stronger connections for up-and-coming founders. Speaking with INNOVATEwest, co-founder Danielle Graham explained how the team structured The Firehood’s go-to-market to make it more inclusive—a process she wants other VCs to copy.

AI is going to “disrupt” this or “decimate” that. But what does that mean for the individual who is getting “disrupted” and “decimated” by AI? Speaking with INNOVATEwest about the human perspective, Kris Krug, founder of MØTLEYKRÜG Media, shared more about his secret recipe for thriving as a creator in the mid-21st century.

Vancouver’s unique mix of geography and traditional industry provides a clear path to becoming a global leader in creative tech industries. But getting there requires more than potential. Speaking with INNOVATEwest, Dan Burgar—co-founder and CEO of Frontier Collective—shared more about what he thinks is necessary to capture Vancouver’s innovation moment.

Adding “AI” to your pitch deck or board minutes might sound good… but how are you actually going to implement it? Or, more to the point, how will AI help you increase productivity, revenues, or profitability? How will it empower your people? These are questions that Rogayeh Tabrizi, CEO and Founder of AI product company Theory+Practice, is begging business leaders to ask before picking an AI tool. Speaking with INNOVATEwest, she shared a practical framework any leader can use to figure that out for themselves.

For AI to truly impact our world, it has to be trustworthy—and that requires the right infrastructure. Speaking with INNOVATEwest, Michael Matrick, the VP of Enterprise at Improving after the company acquired his startup Jump Analytics, explained more about how business leaders can build the crucial elements that make AI possible.