New MQO A.I. Hub focused on data security, information accuracy, and keeping experts in the loop now open to subscriptions
Halifax, NS – Today, Atlantic Canadian firm MQO Research announced the public launch of its artificial intelligence-powered productivity and research platform.
The MQO A.I. Hub (mqo.ai) is designed to enable professional-services users to incorporate the benefits of the emerging technology into their workflows, while keeping practitioners in the driver’s seat and their data secure.
“It’s my belief that professionals in Canada need to show that we can use AI as a powerful tool in our repertoire to amplify the value of our expertise,” said Brenden Sommerhalder, vice president of MQO Research, who also serves as a member of the AI Task Force for the Canadian Research Insights Council.
Industry-leading data security, human control mechanisms, and performance-optimized AI are the keystones of MQO’s new subscription-based SaaS (software as a service) platform. It offers end-to-end encryption and PIPEDA/HIPAA-compliant zero-retention data agreements with upstream processor partners, meaning personal and health data are protected and remain confidential.
The fully Canadian-hosted hub offers professionals a means of integrating AI’s strengths to streamline their tasks and produce quality work more efficiently, while maintaining industry compliance and confidentiality commitments. The platform offers a variety of capabilities, including no-limits access to the latest GPT chat technologies specially tuned by MQO for accuracy and featuring advanced document comprehension, audio and video file transcription, and team collaboration support—all integrated within the encrypted environment. A powerful text analytics module is also available to accredited market research professionals.
“While AI is rife with opportunity, it also comes with inherent risks to manage, especially for those working with sensitive and proprietary information where data security and accuracy are non-negotiable,” said Sommerhalder. “Our need for managing these risks led us to develop our own unique platform.”
Having the expertise to develop and validate AI tools in-house, Sommerhalder said the MQO team realized there wasn’t a platform on the market that met their requirements, so they decided to leverage their early-access development relationships with AI research and deployment companies like OpenAI to build their own. Their creation incorporates the functionality and security they felt were necessary to use the new technology safely and efficiently while maintaining visibility and control over the output.
“Clients in sectors like healthcare, public service, research, and legal services, and those that own or work with valuable intellectual property, demand the highest levels of data security,” said Sommerhalder. “Our platform was developed to ensure that professionals in industries like these can continue to meet their data security and compliance obligations while taking advantage of the incredible capabilities that AI technologies can deliver.”
MQO Research is a leading full-service market research, polling, and evaluation firm, and is part of the m5 Group of Companies, Atlantic Canada’s largest marketing communications group. m5 offers an expansive suite of services, including marketing and advertising, public affairs, video production and promotional material sales.
The MQO A.I. Hub, which has been in use by members of the m5 Group of Companies and several beta-release consultancy clients across Canada since Spring 2023, is now publicly available to professional consultancies and organizations by subscription. Visit mqo.ai for more information, to sign up for a free trial, or to contact the company for a demo.
About MQO Research
MQO Research is a leading full-service market research, polling, and evaluation firm based in Atlantic Canada, serving clients across North America. With over 35 years of industry experience and an early-access development agency with OpenAI, MQO Research is committed to delivering customized solutions through cutting-edge digital and AI-assisted methods, as well as traditional online, face-to-face, and telephone techniques.
As an accredited member of the Canadian Research Insights Council, MQO Research adheres to the highest industry standards, ensuring rigorous quality control and consistency across all projects. MQO vice president Brenden Sommerhalder is a national leader in applied AI for professional service providers, having presented on the topic at the national conferences of the Canadian Research Insights Council in 2023 and 2024, serving on the Council’s national AI Task Force, and regularly providing advice to organizational leaders about AI implementation in the workplace.