NEW !!! The Practical Certificate in the Geopolitics of Artificial Intelligence
NPSIA-PT&D is pleased to announce the pilot offering of our Practical Certificate in the Geopolitics of Artificial Intelligence workshop featuring Dr. Balkan Devlen this Winter 2027!
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now part of geopolitical competition. At its core, this competition focuses on control over the energy resources, technical capacity and human and machine capabilities required to effectively deploy AI to meet national economic and security needs while avoiding severe risks from advanced AI. This challenge is encompassed in the concept of the ‘AI power stack’ that describes the layered components of an AI system: computer hard-ware, chips, cloud infrastructure, energy, data regimes, model ecosystems, and the rules that govern their use. Each component creates it own challenges that include access chokepoints, dependencies, and security risks. They all impact foreign policy, economic strategy, national security, and institutional resilience. In this workshop we will explore how the AI power stack is the means through which AI capabilities turn into geopolitical advantage and policy leverage.
Dates: Thursday, February 4 and Friday, February 5, 2027
Registration: registration is now open. Before proceeding please review our cancellation and withdrawal policies here.
To pay by Credit Card (VISA or Master Card) or Debit, please register here.
To register and have an invoice issued for payment by cheque, Electronic / International Funds Transfer, cash or through an approved institutional arrangement please click “request an invoice” at the bottom of the online registration form here.
Training Location: online
Times: 9 AM to 4 PM ET daily
Fee: $ 800.00 + HST.
($ 750,00 + HST for NPSIA and NPSIA-PT&D Alumni)
About this workshop:
This program provides a practical introduction to Canada’s place in the Geopolitics of AI. This includes giving participants a clear framework and a set of tools to understand the AI power stack, how it is ordered and its most critical parts. Upon conclusion participants will be better able to brief leaders, evaluate risks, and build AI policy options that remain robust under uncertainty.
Learning Objectives:
● Explain the components of the AI power stack and how each layer is related to the whole.
● Explain how AI capabilities translate into geopolitical leverage and vulnerability.
● Map the AI power stack for a country, sector, or organization and identify critical dependencies to ensure AI sovereignty where it matters.
● Compare major state strategies (U.S., China, EU/UK, Canada, key Indo–Pacific players) and assess implications for allies and markets.
● Evaluate national-security implications, including cyber risk, military adoption, loss of control, and crisis instability.
● Apply newly gained knowledge toward the development of practical policy options for their areas of work.
Who should attend:
This workshop is ideal for policymakers and staff, across all spectrums of government, business and non-government, who need to understand and communicate AI issues to decision-makers. It is relevant to those working in foreign policy, defence, intelligence, public safety, digital government, industry/innovation, and finance, as well as those working in the energy, telecom, critical infrastructure, and technology sectors. No technical background is required.
Featured facilitator:
Dr. Balkan Devlen is a strategic advisor, geopolitical forecaster, and professor of international relations with over two decades of experience at the nexus of policy, business, and research across three continents. His writing, speaking, and teaching focus on geopolitics and international security with an emphasis on NATO and Transatlantic security, the Russia-China axis, forecasting/foresight, and the geopolitics of AI. In Winter 2026 and Summer 2026 semesters he taught “AI and Geopolitics” at NPSIA.
He is a Senior Fellow for Strategic Foresight at the Montreal Institute for Global Security (MIGS), a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI), and an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University. He is the Co-Founder and Principal at the Pendulum Geopolitical Advisory, a boutique strategic advisory practice based in Ottawa, ON.