iPhone juggernaut Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been making headlines of late following news that the behemoth acquired a Waterloo-based artificial intelligence (AI) company named Darwin AI. The intriguing startup is in the business of making AI software to automate the visual inspection of products during the manufacturing process. Indeed, Apple could certainly benefit from such a technology as it aims to improve the quality of every product it creates.
Undoubtedly, the move shined a bright light on Canada’s tech scene, which seems to be full of incredible innovations that are under the radar of most investors out there. Indeed, when it comes to tech, more specifically generative AI tech, it’s the U.S. market that gets most of the love. There are plenty of hot startups and mega-cap heavyweights that are innovating in AI.
That said, Canada’s AI and tech scene doesn’t get as much respect. Undoubtedly, Darwin isn’t the only AI acquisition that Apple has made in recent years. In fact, it’s made a lot of AI deals, many of which flew over the heads of everyday retail investors, many of whom think Apple is miles behind in the AI market.
DarwinAI isn’t the only Canadian AI firm that’s intriguing right now!
Of course, only time will tell when Apple is ready to roll out its AI innovations to the world. For now, I think it’s a mistake to think the firm has zero skin in the AI game.
With Darwin AI as one of the latest deals, I think it’s time that investors give shares of AAPL the respect they deserve. Additionally, investors may wish to check out the TSX tech scene for lesser-known AI innovators that could play a key role in this so-called fourth industrial revolution. Like Apple, Canada’s tech scene has more than enough AI talent that it doesn’t get its due credit for.
So, without further ado, let’s check out one of the more intriguing AI-leveraging companies that I think is worth keeping watch on as the AI boom continues to take hold.
Docebo: An LMS firm with some pretty impressive AI features
Docebo (TSX:DCBO) is a learning management system (LMS) company that’s really started to build up momentum since shares bottomed in the middle of 2022. The stock is up around 35% or so over the past year on the back of the broader tech rebound. The company has already made good use of AI features across its platform. As the tech gets better, so too will Docebo’s moat, in my opinion. From AI-driven personalization to content discovery, the sky is the limit for the AI-harnessing LMS innovator.
The company has also been wheeling and dealing of late, with the recent acquisition of Edugo.AI, a firm that bolsters Docebo’s generative AI capabilities. Moving ahead, I’d expect more such deals to help Docebo gain more traction with Canadian growth investors hungry to bet on the AI trend.
At around $69 and change per share, DCBO stock goes for just shy of 60 times forward price-to-earnings. It’s not cheap, but then again, it may prove cheap if it positions itself for this next phase of the AI boom.
