Bell announced Monday a strategic partnership with Cohere — described as a “security-first enterprise AI company” — to provide full-stack sovereign AI solutions for government and enterprise customers across Canada, and to deploy proprietary, secure AI solutions within Bell.
As part of the collaboration, Cohere will make its secure enterprise-grade AI solutions available through Bell AI Fabric, “providing government and enterprise customers with access to fully sovereign, advanced models and customized applications,” a Bell press release said.
“This includes leveraging North, Cohere’s agentic AI platform for both customers and Bell employees,” the release added. “In turn, Bell will become Cohere’s preferred Canadian AI infrastructure provider, while Cohere will become Bell’s preferred Canadian agentic AI solution and LLM (Large Language Model) provider.”
Bell and Cohere will offer a turnkey solution for Canadian organizations wanting to deploy AI capabilities, the release said, adding that customers will also be able to create AI agents and automation solutions without having to manage AI infrastructure, and while maintaining security, privacy and data residency in Canada.
In addition, Bell will deploy Cohere’s North agentic AI platform throughout its company, “enabling employees to build and manage AI agents built on proprietary Bell data to meet specific needs and drive efficiencies across the organization,” the release said.
Bell said its deployment of North will also enable it to offer better managed and professional services to its government and enterprise customers via its tech services operation Ateko, which will leverage Bell’s experience with North in its work with clients on their AI deployment.
“At a critical time for Canada, we’re proud to partner with Cohere to create a sovereign, full-stack AI solution, custom-built to support Canadian government and business,” said Mirko Bibic, Bell president and CEO, in the press release. “Working together, we will both transform Canadian businesses through cutting edge AI capabilities, while ensuring that the data remains secure and within Canada.”
“Our partnership with Bell Canada will provide the Canadian government and enterprises with world-class options for sovereign, security-first AI. This has the potential to be truly transformative for organizations looking to massively increase their productivity and efficiency without any compromise on data security and privacy,” said Aidan Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Cohere, which is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in San Francisco, New York and London, UK.
“These companies exemplify the spirit of Canadian ingenuity and are solidifying Canada’s sovereign AI capabilities,” said Evan Solomon, Canada’s minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation. “This partnership will help strengthen our position on the global stage and pave the way for a brighter, more advanced future for the Canadian economy.”
