AI AND TRADE
“AI should be aligned to our strategy. Otherwise, there’s no point in using it. In fact, it could lead to negative consequences.” — Kiran Pedada, associate professor of marketing, University of Manitoba
programs for exporters are those that compile market research, analyze market trends, analyze trade practices in different markets, evaluate demand and costs, locate suppliers, localize their products for other markets, create communications materials, offer customer support in different languages and many more. “For example, if you’re a British company and you want to sell your products into the U.S. and Canada, you might have to turn your terminology from biscuits to cookies,” says Goulart, a Brazil native who recently became a Canadian citizen. “All of these things matter. They can help you understand the culture of a new market.” Innovation is another key area in which local exporters can benefit from using AI. While new product designs used to take month or years, AI can help brainstorm and whip up prototypes in mere minutes. Manitoba especially has a lot of small and medium enterprises that are often resource constrained, says Pedada, and AI democratizes many previously unattainable processes. “A lot of these tools were once only available to larger enterprises,” he says. “But today, thanks to generative AI, access has become much easier.” Trade facilitation is another process made simpler with AI-
repetitive tasks happen like that going forward, but maybe not immediately.” In the meantime, Pedada is seeing local exporters using AI for website development, market research, market scanning, communications and email campaigns. “My suggestion to companies is AI is going to stay,” he says. “It’s very important for companies to understand the transformative powers of generative AI and agentic AI. They must start thinking about the ways that they can leverage these tools.” ■
Kiran Pedada
PHOTO BY DARCY FINLEY
who teaches marketing strategy and integrated marketing communications at the Asper School of Business and co-authored a book called Product Management in the Digital Era . The best way to leverage AI is to use it enhance our work and not to replace our work, he adds. “AI should be aligned to our strategy,” he says. “Otherwise, there’s no point in using it. In fact, it could lead to negative consequences.” One common issue is hallucination, which refers to an AI-generated response that contains false or misleading information presented as fact. “I am always thinking of AI as your overzealous intern that has unlimited energy but doesn’t always know what they’re doing,” says Peters, who stresses AI doesn’t take the place of knowledgeable employees, who should trust their instincts if information or results don’t add up. “It gives you an answer but it does hallucinate; it makes mistakes.” Once a specialized AI action plan is in place, companies can start accessing tools tailored for their markets. When it comes to trade specifically, some commonly used
generated documents and contracts that can quickly be translated to various languages for clients in other countries. As well, agentic AI will eventually
be used in trade as a tool for negotiating and even signing customer contracts, Pedada says. “That is still a futuristic thing, but I’m sure it’s going to happen. My hunch is 80 per cent of
Juliano Goulart
35 WINTER 2025
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