With a degree in electrical engineering and a McGill MBA., Eric is an entrepreneur with 3 decades of management experience who thrives on innovation. In 1989 he founded The ZENON Group., a leading Canadian computer systems integration firm. Under his leadership, the company experienced sustained profitable growth, placing it four years in a row on the Profit100 list of Canada's 100 companies with the highest 5-year growth rate. In 1997, Mr. Bourbeau was awarded the Grand Prix of L'Entrepreneur Ernst and Young in Quebec.
Having sold his two first businesses to the QuebecTel Group in 1999, he joined TELUS where he held several positions in technology, marketing, communications, public and government relations, sales and management for 15 years, including vice-president of business development.
In 2014 he left TELUS to acquire a telecommunications company and a company specializing in electrical work for the transportation industry. After a year and a half at the helm of both companies, he sold them to start X-TELIA, just when the IoT market was starting to emerge, drawing on his experience in technology and telecoms. Eric combines a rare mix of strong technical background, excellent communication skills in French and English, and marketing and management experience.
He is recognized by the industry as one of Canada's leading experts on the Internet of Things (IoT).
Eric is a people person who believes corporate culture is a powerful, sustainable competitive advantage. He has been speaking at conferences and events ever since he started his career. Over
the past two decades, Eric has chaired or sat on the boards of a variety of scientific, cultural or charity not-for-profit boards. He currently represents Quebec on the board of AIoT Canada, the Canadian technology cluster dedicated to IoT for AI. He has a strong interest in business development, partnerships and mergers and acquisitions.
When Eric is not working on his business, you can often find him fly fishing for Atlantic salmon orclimbing a mountain on back-country skis.