Building Canada’s cyber defence starts with trust

By John Menezes, President and CEO, Bell Cyber

When we announced Bell Cyber’s collaboration with Cohere at the 2nd Bell Cybersecurity Summit in Toronto on September 23, 2026, it marked an important step in a journey that is deeply personal to me: building the capabilities Canadian organizations need to face the future with confidence.

Together, we’ve built a cybersecurity AI model that combines Cohere’s enterprise AI technology with Bell Cyber’s frontline experience, running entirely in Canada on Bell AI Fabric. And by embedding this capability into our Autonomous Security Operations Centre (ASOC), we can speed up daily investigations to help Canadian businesses, public institutions and the communities they serve stay ahead of threats without exposing their data.

Why this matters now

AI is changing the pace of cybersecurity. For defenders, the challenge is to turn growing volumes of security information into informed action quickly enough to make a difference.  Behind every alert is a question: What happened? Does it matter? What is at risk? What should we do next?

Answering those questions requires context, judgment and experience. Analysts must connect evidence across identities, endpoints, networks and cloud environments, often under considerable pressure. Time spent assembling that picture is time that could be spent validating a threat and directing the response. This is where specialized AI can make a practical difference.

Our model is designed to analyze complex security information, surface relevant context and support consistent investigative workflows. The aim is straightforward: help our analysts reach better-informed decisions faster, while keeping them in control of consequential actions.

For the organizations we support, the value must always be measured in the quality of the protection we deliver.

Bringing intelligence closer to the work

One lesson from my years in cybersecurity is that technology delivers its greatest value when it reflects the realities of the people using it.  A security investigation depends on understanding the evidence, the environment and the operational significance of what has been found. Well-phrased guesswork won't protect a business. Analysts need precise, dependable facts.

By grounding Cohere’s enterprise AI technology in Bell Cyber’s cybersecurity data and operational knowledge, we are building intelligence around the work our analysts actually do. This creates an opportunity to make investigations more relevant and consistent and helps experienced professionals focus their attention where it matters most.

It also carries a responsibility. We must continue to evaluate the model’s performance, understand its limitations and ensure that human accountability remains central as our capabilities evolve.

What this means for Canada

Security investigations involve sensitive information about an organization’s systems, vulnerabilities and operations. Where that information is processed, and who controls the supporting environment are meaningful considerations.

Our model runs on Bell AI Fabric with AI processing and sensitive security information remaining within a Canadian-hosted environment. The value this offers is threefold:  

• • • It gives Bell Cyber greater control over the model, data and operations supporting the service.
    • It provides Canadian businesses and public sector organizations a foundation for adopting advanced cyber defence with greater confidence in how their security information is handled.
    • It demonstrates what becomes possible when we integrate our AI expertise, cybersecurity experience and infrastructure right here in Canada. We can build specialized capabilities locally and apply them to challenges that directly affect our economy and public services.

A milestone in a longer journey

When I first founded Stratejm in 2015, I believed organizations deserved access to strong cybersecurity capabilities without having to build every element themselves. That belief continues to guide me today at Bell Cyber.  In fact, joining Bell created the opportunity to pursue that mission at greater scale. Our Autonomous Security Operations Centre has advanced the way we bring AI and automation into security operations. This collaboration with Cohere adds specialized intelligence and Canadian-hosted processing to that journey.

I am proud of the teams who have brought us to this point. Moving from an idea to a production capability takes technical depth, operational discipline and a willingness to work through difficult problems together.

This milestone also raises our ambitions. We will keep improving how intelligence supports our analysts and how those improvements translate into value for customers. As organizations embrace AI, they need confidence that their information, operations and services can be protected. Helping build that confidence is our responsibility and our opportunity.

Our mission is trust. This is another important step in earning it.

If you're looking for practical ways to strengthen your security operations, see how Bell Cyber protects Canadian organizations or reach out to our team directly at sales@bellcyber.ca.