I'm speaking at the CBAA Convention in Calgary this year. Innovation Stage, Thursday June 11, 11:15 AM.
The title is "Stop Renting Your Software. Build It with AI." It's a primer on AI-assisted development and what it means for the business aviation IT landscape.
Here's the short version. Business aviation is a small market, so vendors build one generic tool, charge a premium, and price it per seat so your best year costs you the most. You bend your operation to fit the software because the software was never going to bend to you. For thirty years that math was real, and operators were right to be skeptical of spending on tech. The math just changed.
We've spent the last couple of years building custom software for operators with AI. Some of it the industry was told was impossible — including the first Transport Canada-approved AI-written MEL, and an AI-authored MEL for the first hydrogen-powered aircraft in Canada. Both regulated. Both approved.
The talk isn't a pitch. I'll cover what "build it with AI" actually means, the new build-versus-buy calculus, and the honest caveats — including the part where you still need one technical person who can steer it.
If you're at the convention June 9 to 11, come find me. The session is 11:15 Thursday, and I'm on the floor the rest of the week.
Benjamin Thomas
ForIT Team
