Alberta’s brs Lands Strategic AI Partnership with U.S. Veteran-Led Tech Startup

In a move set to disrupt how regulated industries approach artificial intelligence analytics, Calgary, Alberta’s Bow River Solutions (brs) and Bellevue, Washington’s Data² have announced a strategic partnership that promises to deliver unprecedented transparency and trust in AI-powered business insights.

The collaboration brings together brs’s two decades of expertise in data consulting, security, and governance with Data²’s cutting-edge explainable AI technology, creating a powerful solution for organizations that require both advanced analytics and regulatory compliance.

The partnership directly tackles one of the most pressing challenges in enterprise AI adoption: the “black box” problem that has left many regulated industries hesitant to fully embrace artificial intelligence.

61% of CEOs in a 2023 IBM Institute for Business Value CEO study cited concerns around data lineage or provenance as a top barrier to the adoption of generative AI. Report authors commented, “Generative AI, in particular, when asked a question, often expresses itself with certainty, but sometimes ‘hallucinates’ its answer. AI trained on generic datasets—AI that lacks transparency in its logic—could function as an opaque engine of mistakes and misinformation, hampering rather than helping CEO decisionmaking.”

Data² and brs say the patented reView platform addresses this concern by linking every AI-generated response back to its underlying data sources through sophisticated knowledge graph relationships.

“Over the past year, brs has prioritized collaborating with top-tier innovators, and Data²’s exceptional executive and technical team exemplifies this standard,” said Mathew Bruneau, Managing Partner at brs. “We are excited to join forces and drive transformative success together.”

This explainable AI approach enables decision-makers to understand, verify, and audit their insights. This has proven to be a critical capability in industries where regulatory compliance and accountability are paramount.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, brs has established itself as a leading provider of end-to-end data consulting services, with particular strength in data security, privacy, and governance. The company specializes in transforming data into actionable insights through Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft Azure, and other enterprise technologies.

Data², a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business based in the United States, brings specialized expertise in analytics, machine learning, and explainable generative AI to the partnership.

“Our mission at Data² is to close the trust gap in AI by building systems that explain themselves,” said Jon Brewton, CEO and co-founder of Data². “Partnering with brs allows us to bring the reVIEW platform to even more businesses that want to solve their toughest data challenges.”

The companies’ joint offering will initially focus on sophisticated applications that leverage the combined strengths of both companies, such as predictive maintenance and ESG and regulatory reporting.

The partnership will launch with existing clients in Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest, regions where brs already maintains a growing portfolio. The companies have outlined plans for expansion across North America, with particular focus on energy, government, and other high-trust regulated industries that require explainable AI solutions.

Data² and brs’s agreement comes at a critical time when enterprises across regulated industries are seeking ways to harness AI capabilities without compromising on transparency, compliance, or trust. Traditional AI solutions often operate as “black boxes,” making it difficult for organizations to understand how conclusions are reached.

By combining brs’s deep understanding of data governance and regulatory requirements with Data²’s breakthrough explainable AI technology, the partnership addresses a key market need for AI solutions that can provide both sophisticated analytics and complete transparency.

The collaboration also reflects broader industry trends toward explainable AI and responsible AI deployment, particularly in sectors where decision-making processes must be fully documented and understood by human operators.