William Bourgeois
About

Finance and machine learning

William works at the intersection of quantitative finance and machine learning: rebuilding large-scale financial models as fast, reliable Python systems and designing AI frameworks for investment analysis.

William Bourgeois with the Montreal skyline in the background

Background

William started in accounting and management, then moved into computer science, graduating with distinction from the University of Victoria. Along the way he completed all three levels of the CFA Program, building a rigorous foundation in portfolio management, financial analysis, and ethics.

Today he splits his time between a Master of Science in Computer Science (Machine Learning stream) at McGill University, quantitative development at Desjardins Securities, and building CoPod, the technology company he co-founded.

The CFA Institute featured his story in a promotional campaign about non-traditional paths into finance. Watch the video on LinkedIn →

Experience

Current roles

  • 2026 - Present

    Co-founder

    CoPod, Canada

    Building an agentic AI platform for pods of specialized agents that can be equipped with deep knowledge of any field, designed around compliance and data residency from day one. More about CoPod →

  • 2025 - Present

    Quantitative Developer

    Desjardins Securities, Montreal
    • Developed and maintain a multi-LLM research system using generative AI, multi-step reasoning, and API-based ensemble querying to produce automated investment reports.
    • Rebuilt a large-scale, originally Excel-based quantitative asset allocation model into a scalable Python and Pandas implementation, reducing runtimes from hours to seconds.
    • Designed and documented data pipelines and flow diagrams for transparency, reproducibility, and long-term scalability.
    • Engineered internal tools in Python and JavaScript to automate reporting and streamline portfolio management workflows.
    • Applied capital budgeting (NPV, IRR) to evaluate business cases for internal tool adoption.
Education

Academic path

  • 2025 - Present

    MSc in Computer Science, Machine Learning stream

    McGill University, Montreal
  • 2021 - 2025

    BSc in Computer Science, Software Systems option

    University of Victoria, BC

    Graduated with distinction, 4.0/4.0 GPA.

  • 2018 - 2021

    Technical Diploma in Accounting and Management

    Cégep de Drummondville, QC
Certifications and honors

Recognition

CFA

CFA Program: Levels I, II, III completed. CFA Institute.

Podium

Podium finish at the Battlesnake AI Tournament, University of Victoria AI Club.

Distinction

Graduated with distinction from the University of Victoria's BSc in Computer Science.