Top of Mind in Tech: Easy, right? Alexandre Synnett helps the feds tackle AI, fix the Phoenix pay system

November 19, 2024

In this instalment of Top of Mind in Tech, Alexandre Synnett speaks with Techopia’s David Sali about CGI’s role in helping the government implement AI and fix Phoenix.

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No one can accuse Alexandre Synnett of easing his way into the National Capital Region’s tech scene. After a decades-long career in senior finance roles at the National Bank of Canada and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in his hometown of Montreal, Synnett decided 18 months ago it was time to take on a new challenge. In June 2023, Synnett joined global IT giant CGI as senior vice-president of its Ottawa office. The 48-year-old executive – who briefly played professional hockey in France before returning to Canada and eventually earning an MBA from the University of Montreal – now splits his time between his hometown and the National Capital Region. Not surprisingly, one of Synnett’s biggest clients is the federal government, which is working with CGI on a series of key files, including replacing the troubled Phoenix pay system and implementing AI strategies. Last week, Synnett took part in a live discussion on LinkedIn focused on how AI is affecting the delivery of public services. The panel also included the senior federal official in charge of overhauling Phoenix, Public Services and Procurement Canada associate deputy minister Alex Benay. Synnett recently spoke with Techopia’s David Sali about CGI’s role in helping the government implement AI and fix Phoenix. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. DS: Tell me a little about CGI and your role at the company. AS: We often say that we’re one of the best-kept secrets (in tech). When we tell people that we’re one of the largest independent IT and business consulting groups in the world with 91,000 partners, people go, ‘Oh, wow. I didn’t know that.’ I am responsible for all activities that go through the (National Capital Region). We are structured by physical region. It enables us to have a better understanding of the clients and our ecosystem needs in terms of digital transformation, in terms of technology expertise. When we engage with the public sector, we want to be seen as bringing the experts to the table and accelerating their digital transformation for the benefit of Canadian citizens around innovative technology such as AI. At the end of the day, there are three elements we’re trying to achieve: modernize the government; (implement) AI and innovative technologies; and run a digital-first modernization of the operation of the government. DS: From your perspective, what are the biggest issues facing the feds as they try to implement AI? AS: The key elements for public-sector (clients) across the world are three things: AI; digital modernization – how to be cheaper, faster, better; and cybersecurity. These are entangled together. If you don’t have a defined modernization road map, it’s hard to build an AI (strategy). All of these things relate to one another. That’s what we’re trying to solve. For AI in the public sector, one of the key elements is data – making sure data (has strong) foundations, so that you have the ability to get the right data at the right time with the right level of quality to do these analyses. The type of AI they want to use will require a lot of data, so that’s a key element. The second one would be around our ability to do proof of concepts. The government has been trying to use some of these AI innovations and test them. The question is: which ones have been followed through up to the implementation phase? This is where it gets a little more tricky, but I think it can be solved. We’ve worked with Alex Benay on a data tool that is in production right now and is being monitored and tested. To be fair, it takes a lot of work. We need to remove some of the (roadblocks) to get these innovations (implemented). All of the guardrails need to be in place so that the focus is on the right things. DS: There is, of course, typically a lot of red tape involved in dealing with the government. What challenges does that pose when trying to implement new technologies? AS: One of the key challenges is the procurement process. I think the government could leverage the expertise of its partners a lot more to define solutions. To find solutions, how do we leverage all the expertise that’s available? I think there’s an opportunity for the government to do that in a different manner than what's being done right now. The procurement process is very rigid, and it’s there for good reasons. But to have better solutions at the end for all Canadians, we need to make sure we leverage all the expertise around the table. DS: What’s going on with the process of replacing Phoenix? AS: Working on (solving the problem) is not an easy task, with all the chaos that was going on. But for us, we felt we had the right team and the right expertise to help with this. We’re helping civil servants to get the proper pay – it’s a key for us. The PSPC group has done a lot of fully transparent sessions, with questions from the public and civil servants. The algorithm that we are using and all the coding is being published. Everything has been done with 100 per cent transparency. In that case, I think it’s the right thing. The team from the government is extremely talented. It’s a good partnership and a great team. With (help from) our experts, they will be able to solve this backlog. We are fully aware of what happened, and we are happy to be here to help make this a better situation than it is right now. DS: What is your take on Ottawa and its tech ecosystem so far? AS: It’s a very vibrant market. Maybe people in other parts of Canada have a tendency to underestimate how vibrant it is. There is a big ecosystem of technology providers in Ottawa. For me, it’s a different way of doing business with the public sector than with the private sector. One thing that I’m most impressed with is the quality of the leadership in the government. (Senior managers) are very strong and very knowledgeable. This is a large-scale organization; people on the outside maybe don’t understand the size of the government. It's a very complex environment. The expertise is there; it’s strong.