Scaling Responsible AI Solutions

Mentorship tailored to your needs

Join the global movement of responsible AI changemakers! In the race for AI adoption, those who prioritize responsible scaling and working collaboratively can gain a distinct competitive advantage. Join the next mentorship cohort to receive the robust support you need to navigate uncertainty, build trust, and achieve sustainable success!

We are currently welcoming applications for the 2026 cohort.

About SRAIS

Our tailored mentorship program empowers participating teams to operationalize responsible AI principles for their own AI solutions as they develop and seek to scale their offerings. Originally developed as part of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI)’s Scaling Responsible AI Solutions project, managed by CEIMIA and under the leadership of a network of international responsible AI experts, the program has been tested worldwide.

The mentorship cycle provides direct access to internationally renowned AI experts who guide teams through a “Deep Dive” process that explores their unique challenges and develops associated mitigation strategies, following up with an “Action Plan” that operationalizes the learnings. Upon completion of the mentorship cycle, teams are equipped with a ready-to-implement plan for scaling their AI solution responsibly, enhanced networking opportunities, and improved prospects for attracting investors.

Take a look at insights from the 2023 and 2024 editions of the GPAI SRAIS program:

What does Scaling Responsible AI Solutions actually mean?

A responsible AI solution is grounded in a vision of AI that is human-centered, fair, equitable, inclusive and respectful of privacy, human rights and democracy, and aims at contributing positively to the public good.

Scaling refers to expanding the capabilities of a digital product. This can mean increasing the number of clients, features, services, or adapting to new legal jurisdictions / territories.

A true responsible AI solution is one that maintains responsible attributes from its design phase to its large scale adoption.

The biggest challenge? Finding a balance between efficiency and ethics. Our solution avoids manipulative tactics, such as dopamine-driven engagement, we do not want to maximalize the satisfaction but we want to respect user autonomy. We apply a responsibility-by-design approach, ensuring that AI operates transparently, complies with regulations, and prioritizes user well-being. Thanks to the GPAI Scaling Responsible AI Solutions project, wise and experienced mentors we refined this system by leveraging global best practices. We believe that the future of Virtual Assistants lies in AI that not only understands but fundamentally respects the user.

The SRAIS project gave us the unique opportunity to deepen and advance the state-of-the-art in the standardization methods for deploying Responsible AI-powered smart clothes, namely wearables, applied to future workers in industry and healthcare application domains. We have been able to define the steps towards a framework that manages all risks associated with the concept, design, and deployment of AI-powered wearables that predict health indicators of future workers, without impacting their privacy and while guaranteeing reliable outcomes. Now the problem is to understand how the framework may lead to clear regulations impacting Italy and Europe, while ensuring a level of compatibility with the international standards.

To navigate the various challenges of scaling AI responsibly, we need a comprehensive framework that integrates the evaluation of responsible AI applications and the maintenance of their integrity during scaling. This framework should address key issues such as technical interoperability, ethical and social considerations, legal compliance, and economic impacts. By adopting such a holistic approach, we can harness the full potential of AI while mitigating its risks, leading to a more sustainable and inclusive future.

We learned many lessons from these mentorship experiences that we hope can be useful for other teams and mentors as well. Mentors need to be aware that teams face diverse challenges while scaling responsibly; its important to be open to find the most pressing challenge and focus on that. Even a few months of mentorship can significantly enhance a team's responsible AI maturity and ability to integrate responsible IA practices into their daily work. This involves not only raising awareness of RAI concepts but also developing and implementing action plans tham embed these concepts into their existing work.

As someone deeply entrenched in the small business world, I understand the unique challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the AI landscape: Limited resources, lack of specialized expertise, and primary focus on product development with little capacity for responsible AI practices The SRAIS project has made significant strides in making SMEs overcome these limitations

The teams I mentored have represented a broad range of applications. They have represented diverse organisations from midsize service companies, product vendors to RnD centres of global enterprises. All the teams have demonstrated original, transformative business innovations based on AI technologies. My work as a mentor was to assist the teams with three key aspects: First, by identifying their responsible AI challenges. Second, by coming up with adequate solutions. And third by planning implementation that integrated responsible AI principles in product and solution design, development and deployment processes.

When we go over the review of the AI product, participants have a ‘Ah Ha! Moment when they find out that responsible IA requirements are not just an add-on to what they have developed, and it needs to be factored in from the beginning from their functional requirements. Further, they realise that scaling is not just dimensioning their solutions, but also verifying that they are well received worldwide and across cultures, and that scaling is also in responsible AI.

About GPAI-Associated Projects

The Network of Centres are developing experimental and applied projects in complementarity to the GPAI brand through their exploratory, use-case-based approach. The GPAI-associated projects are designed to develop applied outputs anchored through an evidence-based dynamic and oriented by scientific advisors.

The strength of the integrated partnership is combining consensus policy-oriented projects through the GPAI brand and exploratory applied implementation initiatives through the associated brand. This is a distinctive element of the GPAI framework in the international conversation; it federates the existing knowledge of scientists and practitioners to support consensus.

About CEIMIA

In an era of rapid development in AI, including the arrival of generative and agentic AI, governments are faced with the crucial task of effectively navigating the complexities surrounding the deployment of AI and its impact on society. It is in this context that the International Centre of Expertise in Montreal on Artificial Intelligence (CEIMIA) develops and implements high-impact applied projects fostering responsible AI practices.

CEIMIA is also one of three Centres associated with the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), a multilateral forum on AI-related priorities and, since 2024, part of an integrated partnership with the OECD. In this capacity, CEIMIA delivers GPAI-associated project such as Scaling Responsible AI Solutions (SRAIS).

About GPAI

Launched in 2020 under the leadership of Canada and France, GPAI is a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice in the development of responsible AI. Grounded in the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence, GPAI fosters international collaboration by bringing together experts from science, industry, civil society, governments, international organizations, and academia.

A major milestone occurred on July 1, 2024, when GPAI officially entered into an integrated partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This transition marked a turning point in GPAI’s governance, solidifying its international reach and operational maturity. The integrated partnership now brings together 44 member countries, including the European Union, and more than 500 international experts, which include the Network of Centres.

About the Network of Centres

The Network of Centres is a hub for international and multistakeholder collaboration to develop applied projects and solutions for responsible, trustworthy and safe AI. The Network is a collaboration between three AI-focused Centres in Canada (CEIMIA), France (Inria) and Japan (NICT), each undertaking applied projects. Initiated in the context of the GPAI, now part of an integrated partnership with the OECD, the Centres lead applied, evidence-based projects within the GPAI framework by mobilizing their respective research and innovation ecosystems.

Together the three Centres act as catalysts for collaboration, breaking down silos and encouraging cross-sectoral dialogue. By connecting diverse stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society representatives, they facilitate the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and perspectives enabling the co-creation of tools informed by a diversity of viewpoints.

The multidisciplinary approach adopted by the Network is essential for tackling the complex challenges posed by AI, a rapidly evolving field with far-reaching implications for societies. Addressing these implications requires expertise from a wide range of disciplines, including computer science, law, ethics, and social sciences, amongst others. By bringing together experts from diverse fields, the Centres ensures the development of an informed and nuanced understanding of responsible AI practices.