A Quick Note
What you'll see today is a glimpse into the future - where we believe AI can take us. This is not indicative of where we are today.
Getting there means building the right foundations first - compliance, governance, and adherence to our IT guiding principles. We'll take a measured approach, putting the building blocks in place to make sure we remain within our lines.
Also - how this is being delivered is Matt experimenting. This presentation itself was built with AI tools - the interactive slides, live Q&A, all of it. This is not an endorsement of the approach or a green light to go do the same as part of your BC Transit work.
Agenda
We'll start simple, build confidence, peek around the corner... then bring it back to the exchange
Foundations
How LLMs work, training stack
Better Results
Prompting, custom instructions
Tools
What's available today
Agents
Autonomous AI systems
AI Trends
What's coming next
BC Transit
Vision, governance, roadmap
How to Participate
Ask Along the Way
Feel free to interrupt with questions at any point during the session.
No question is too basic!
Questions appear on screen and get answered by our AI assistant in real-time.
What We're Not Here To Do
AI Vision
To augment human capabilities: empowering teams, streamlining operations, and shaping a transit experience that is smarter, safer, and more connected for our community.
AI Mission
To use AI as a strategic enabler that supports our people, enhances transit services, and drives sustainable improvements - ensuring every decision prioritizes efficiency, safety, and community impact.
Improve the delivery of services for riders, and create smarter, more sustainable transit
Augment human capabilities by automating routine and repetitive tasks
Improve customer interactions through personalized services, quicker response times, and enhanced user experiences
Uphold high ethical standards in the development and deployment of AI, ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability
How the Garden Works
(or how the sausage is made)
How AI Responses Are Shaped
Seven layers influence every answer you receive
Vector Space: Transit Words
Similar concepts cluster together. Watch the relationships animate, or click any word.
Watching vector relationships...
Why this matters:
Words with similar meanings have similar vectors. This is how AI "understands" that subway ≈ metro ≈ underground, even though they're completely different strings of characters.
Vector Bias: Where AI Learns Stereotypes
Training data reflects societal biases. Watch how professions cluster with gender.
Watching bias patterns...
The problem:
"Doctor" is closer to "man" than "woman". "Nurse" is closer to "woman". This isn't truth - it's training data reflecting historical bias.
Why it matters:
AI reproduces and amplifies these biases in hiring tools, content generation, and decision support systems.
Getting Better Results
Practical tips for working with AI
Spend more time than you think you should with...
Explain the Constraints
Define the Output / Format
Be Clear with Instructions
Double Pro Tip: Prompt your AI to make your prompt!
Exercises to Try at Home
1. Basic Summarize
Open Copilot, drag in a document, and ask: "Summarize this document for me"
2. Summarize with Context
Context: "I am a director of ___ at BC Transit..."
Task: "Evaluate the document. Identify issues, risks, and opportunities..."
Format: "Create an executive summary with prioritized key points..."
Try both approaches and compare the results!
Custom Instructions
Example: My personal setup (available in most AI tools)
Identity & Context
Director of IT Business Services at BC Transit. Lead Privacy, Data & Analytics, Portfolio Management, Enterprise Architecture, AI Governance. ~50 staff, $34M portfolio.
Scale recommendations accordingly, not Fortune 500 solutions.
How I Work
- Technical background but focus on business strategy
- Audience: senior executives in public sector
- Value directness, precision, structured output
Response Style
- Be practical. Minimal fluff. Canadian English.
- Known problems: respond succinctly
- Open problems: ask clarifying questions
- Push back on flawed reasoning
Output Defaults
- Tables for comparisons, prose for narratives
- Start reviews with critical issues first
- "Draft" means 80% ready, not skeleton
Domain Calibration
- Don't suggest "consult privacy" when I am the authority
- Consider public sector procurement constraints
- Avoid corporate buzzword density
Key Takeaway
The more context you give AI about who you are, how you work, and what you need, the better the results.
This is available in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini.
BC Transit Style Guide
For branded content generation - copy/paste into your custom instructions
Primary
Secondary
Neutrals
BC Transit Style Guide (for branded content only)
Primary Colours:
Blue RGB(9,62,113) | Green RGB(54,181,79)
Secondary Colours:
Magenta-pink RGB(212,15,139) | Orange RGB(243,143,30)
Red RGB(217,26,51) | Cyan RGB(3,171,206)
Neutrals:
Cool Gray RGB(122,135,142) | White RGB(253,253,253)
Typography:
Helvetica Neue (primary), Myriad Pro (alt),
Arial/Segoe UI (fallback)
General Tips & Tricks
Analyze & Extrapolate
"Analyze this spreadsheet and give me trends. What patterns do you see? Extrapolate for next quarter."
Visualize Data
"Create an infographic based on this data. Visualize the key metrics in a way executives would understand." Use JSON for better results.
Meta-Prompt
Ask AI to write your prompt. "Help me write a prompt that will get you to summarize legal documents effectively."
Use Templates
Provide a template or example output. "Write a status report following this format: [paste example]"
Chain Your Tools
Take output from one AI and pass to another. Summarize in Copilot → refine in Claude → visualize in Gemini.
Summarize Long Chats
When context gets full, ask: "Summarize our conversation so far" - then start a new chat with that summary.
Tools
What's available today
Mainstream Commercial Tools
Because I'm Asked Regularly "What Should I Use?"
Microsoft Copilot
- Integrated with M365
- Uses OpenAI GPT
- BCT approved for confidential data
OpenAI ChatGPT
- Synonymous with AI
- Good all around
- Most obedient model
Google Gemini
- Strong multimodal capabilities
- Deep Google integration
- Good for research tasks
Anthropic Claude
- Strongest reasoning
- Best for long documents
- Most "thoughtful" responses
What Can You Use Where?
Data sensitivity determines which tools you can use
Microsoft Copilot
BCT approved for confidential data
- Internal documents and reports
- Budget and financial discussions
- Strategic planning content
- Employee-related discussions
- Personal information (PI) - avoid or anonymize when possible
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.
Public/non-sensitive use only
- General research and learning
- Public information queries
- Personal productivity (non-work)
- Code examples and technical help
- No confidential, sensitive, or personal data
When in doubt, use Copilot - but always minimize personal information exposure.
What Can Copilot Do Today?
Copilot Chat (Free) vs Copilot Full (Licensed)
Copilot Chat (Everyone has this)
- General Q&A and brainstorming
- Summarize documents you upload
- Draft emails and content
- Web search and research
- Analyze data you paste in
Copilot Full (Licensed users)
- Everything in Chat, plus...
- Teams: Meeting summaries, catch-up on missed meetings
- Outlook: Draft replies, summarize threads
- Word: Generate docs, rewrite sections
- Excel: Analyze data, create formulas
- PowerPoint: Generate slides from prompts
You Don't Need a License to Do This
Copilot Chat + a detailed prompt = serious analysis power
Upload a file to Copilot Chat with an extensive, structured prompt and it becomes a domain expert. No full license needed - everyone has access to this today.
Example: Capital Project Report Analysis
Tell it how to read the file
Cell map, tab structure, column layouts - teach it the template
Define what to look for
Red flags, anomalies, patterns - 15+ automated checks across budget, schedule, risk
Set the output format
Findings by severity, systemic observations, actionable recommendations
A goal of the IT team is to build a catalogue of reusable prompts like this for common BC Transit workflows.
Coming Soon
Teams Recording & Transcription + Copilot Chat = meetings, handled
Record a Teams meeting, download the transcript, and drop it into Copilot Chat with a structured prompt. No Copilot Full license required.
What you get
Meeting Minutes
Structured summary of discussion topics, decisions made, and key points raised
Action Items
Extracted tasks with owners and deadlines, ready to drop into Planner or email
Executive Summary
Brief overview for stakeholders who weren't in the room
Agents
I Keep Hearing About Agents...
What is an AI Agent?
An AI agent is an AI system that can take a goal, break it into steps, use tools or information, and keep working until the task is done.
Example: Agentic Fire Detection
An AI that monitors, reasons, and acts autonomously
Camera Feeds
Weather Data
News & Events
AI Agent
Monitors, reasons,
decides action
The agent pulls in multiple signals, applies rules and context, and decides whether to act.
Decisions are contextual, not hard-coded rules.
AI Trends
What's coming next in AI
What's Happening Right Now
February 2026 - The frontier model race continues
GPT-5.2
400K context window, unified routing that auto-adjusts reasoning depth, 100% AIME math score
Claude Opus 4.5
First model above 80% on SWE-bench coding, 1M token context, strongest long-document reasoning
Update: Opus 4.6 & Sonnet 4.6 dropped Feb 2026
Gemini 3 Pro
3x faster than Gemini 2.5, 60-70% cost savings, embedded across all Google Workspace
The era of "just make it bigger" is over - smart beats big in 2026
Claude Cowork
January 2026 - Anthropic's "SaaSpocalypse" moment
What is it?
- AI agent that works directly on your computer
- Reads, edits, and creates files in folders you choose
- Multi-step task execution with planning
- Integrates with Slack, Figma, Canva, Box, Salesforce
- Claude Code capabilities without the terminal
Why it matters
- AI moves from "chat assistant" to "digital coworker"
- Completes work autonomously, loops you in on progress
- $285B market impact - disrupting legacy SaaS tools
- Sets new bar for what "AI at work" means
Available now on Claude Desktop (Pro plan) - Windows & macOS
140K+ GitHub stars - Viral in late Jan 2026
Connects to WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, iMessage, Teams
Feb 14, 2026: Creator hired by OpenAI
Project moving to open-source foundation
Browse web, read/write files, run commands - "The gap between imagination and reality has never been smaller"
Key Industry Shifts
Reasoning-First Models
Models now "think" before answering. Trade speed for accuracy on complex problems.
Agentic Workflows
AI that plans, executes, and iterates autonomously. The biggest trend of 2026.
Efficiency Over Scale
GPT-4 level performance at 10% of the cost. Running out of training data forces innovation.
Vendor Integrated AI
Vendors embedding AI directly into existing products. AI becoming a feature, not a separate tool.
Enterprise AI Adoption
AI has moved from experimentation to early mainstream - but most are struggling
of OECD firms using AI in 2025 - more than double since 2023
of companies using "physical AI" (robots, automation) - projected 80% within 2 years
adoption at large enterprises vs ~17% at small firms - gap creates opportunity
of AI pilots deliver zero measurable return (MIT NANDA study, 2025)
of companies scrapped most AI initiatives in 2025, up from 17% the year before
of AI projects fail overall - double the failure rate of non-AI IT projects (RAND)
Top causes: data not ready, no clear business case, unchanged operating models. This is why we need a focused, governed approach.
AI Enters Regulated Industries
Healthcare, finance, and government - new frontiers with new risks
ChatGPT Health (OpenAI)
Health-oriented AI for triage, patient education, care navigation
- Signals push into regulated domains
- Raises liability and safety questions
- Potential "digital front door" for healthcare
EU AI Regulation Package
Omnibus package harmonizing AI governance
- Clearer rules for EU operations
- Global firms adopt EU standards as baseline
- Higher bar for transparency & oversight
Execution risk (data, governance, talent) now more pressing than model capability
What's Next for BC Transit?
Vision, governance, and roadmap
AI Centre of Excellence DRAFT
BC Transit's single governance and standards body for AI
AI Governance Framework - Ensures AI initiatives align with corporate strategy and ethical principles.
Policies & Standards - Guides responsible AI use, covering data privacy and security.
Risk Management & Compliance - Guidelines for risk, compliance, technology and vendor selection.
Architectural Patterns & Tools - Reference designs and approved toolsets for scalable AI.
AI Centre of Excellence DRAFT
Operating Model - Bringing together key stakeholders
Cross-Functional Team
BRM, IT architecture, privacy, cyber security, legal and data leadership working collaboratively.
Advisory Role
Guides innovation teams without creating barriers to development.
Risk & Compliance Review
All AI projects reviewed for risk, data governance, ethical AI, and regulatory compliance.
Responsible Innovation
Ensures AI solutions are innovative, responsible, and scalable.
AI Centre for Enablement DRAFT
"Bringing ideas to life!"
Rapid Experimentation
The CfE accelerates AI innovation by quickly developing proofs of concept (PoCs) and pilots to test ideas rapidly.
Technical Support & Resources
CfE provides technical expertise, AI platforms, tools, and coaching to support project development success.
Concept Validation
Validated PoCs and MVPs are then formally put through the IT intake process to follow standard funding and project governance model.
AI Community of Practice DRAFT
"Learning and Growing Together"
An open forum for all employees who are interested, curious, or actively using AI. Share knowledge, build skills, learn from one another.
Share Ideas - Talk about ideas and lessons learned
Learn Together - Demos, discussions and external speakers
Experiment Responsibly - Encourage responsible experimentation
Build AI Literacy - Grow AI understanding across BC Transit
AI Roadmap DRAFT
Education/Training
Development Workshops
Promptathon
BRM Engagement & Intake
BRM & Intake for use case development & prioritization
Initial PoCs to demonstrate program value
"Full" Copilot Roadmap
(high level)