# September 2026 newsletter Canonical URL: https://gabrieldalton.com/writing/newsletter/september-2026 Date sent: 2026-10-04T20:01:20.866Z Author: Gabriel Dalton Original Substack URL: https://gabrieldalton.substack.com/p/gabriel-daltons-september-newsletter-f89 [All newsletter issues](https://gabrieldalton.com/writing/newsletter) 04 Oct 2026 3-Min Read Gave a Keynote at the Consulate General of Ireland, Wrapped Up a Year at Plastic Bank, Joined AI Governance and Safety Canada (AIGS) and Started at BCIT Hi everyone, September was a month of preparing for one big morning and closing a chapter. Most of my evenings went into a keynote for the Consulate General of Ireland, which I gave on the first of October, the same day my time at Plastic Bank came to an end. Here’s what I’ve been up to, what I learned, and where I’m headed next. ## What I’ve Been Up To 📈 1. **Gave a keynote at the Irish Consulate.** I spoke at the Consulate General of Ireland’s October Business Breakfast in Vancouver about digital sustainability in the age of AI. The talk was on October 1, but most of September went into preparing it. ![Irish Consulate poster announces Gabriel’s “Digital Sustainability in the Age of AI” breakfast talk beside a portrait of him at the lectern.](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/newsletter/september-2026/58c12c4509abf08c.webp) ![Gabriel addresses the Irish Consulate breakfast audience beside a slide about his TEDx talk on digital sustainability.](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/newsletter/september-2026/81164340599c63de.webp) 2. **Wrapped up more than a year at [Plastic Bank](https://plasticbank.com/).** My internship ended on October 1. Along the way, I: - Owned the AI agent tools the team builds with - Repaired the internal AI assistant staff use every day - Worked on security, privacy and accessibility across the websites - Built the Live Plastic Tracker, the Plastic Bank page AI tools cite most I learned a huge amount, and I’m grateful to the whole Plastic Bank team, especially Toby. Before I left, we got together to say goodbye. ![Gabriel and Plastic Bank colleagues gather around a table for farewell drinks.](https://gabrieldalton.com/img/newsletter/september-2026/3ede5ff09f868d6e.webp) 3. **Kept improving client websites after launch.** I don’t hand a site over and walk away. I keep measuring and updating the sites I build, and this month the Young Guns Studio site became 84% lighter and 62% faster to load, with its accessibility score up from 89 to a perfect 100. 4. **Started redesigning web-ready.org,** the home of my website business. 5. **Started at BCIT.** I also sat in on a couple of SFU classes in computing and AI. I’m looking at my options. 6. **Working alongside AI Governance and Safety Canada.** My first piece of work is three design concepts for their new website. ## Achievements & Highlights 🚀 - Gave the keynote at the Consulate General of Ireland’s October Business Breakfast. - Finished more than a year at Plastic Bank: owned the team’s AI agent tools, repaired their internal AI assistant, and built the Live Plastic Tracker. - Made the Young Guns Studio website 84% lighter and 62% faster, with a perfect accessibility score of 100. - Started at BCIT. - Started working alongside AI Governance and Safety Canada. ## Top Lesson From This Month 💡 This month’s lesson is to make use of your consulate. If you hold another citizenship, or have family roots somewhere, that country’s consulate is closer than you think. Most of them run events for their community. The Consulate General of Ireland in Vancouver holds business breakfasts, which I go to often. Other consulates host cultural nights, holiday celebrations and networking events. They are easy to overlook, and they are full of people who are glad to meet you. Every breakfast I have been to has led to a new conversation, a collaboration or a project. Look up your consulate, see what is on, and go. It really is a home away from home. ## Top Quotes From This Month 💬 > “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” > > — **Richard Feynman** > “Walk on air against your better judgement.” > > — **Seamus Heaney** ## Shoutouts 👏 - Máire Ní Chriostail and Orla Brady at the Consulate General of Ireland: for inviting me to speak, and for an early tech run that made sure nothing went wrong. - The whole Plastic Bank team, and especially Toby: for a year of trust, everything you taught me, and a proper goodbye. - Pete Young and the Young Guns team: for letting me measure everything and share the results. - Wyatt Tessari L’Allié: for welcoming me into AI Governance and Safety Canada. ## What’s Next? 🚀 - My first full term at BCIT, and a decision about SFU. - Onboarding with AI Governance and Safety Canada this week. - Finishing the web-ready.org redesign. - Oasis of Change keeps planting. Details, as always, at impact.oasisofchange.com. Know someone who’d enjoy following a young entrepreneur’s journey? Please forward this email and invite them to subscribe. Every new reader helps. Onwards and upwards, Gabriel Dalton P.S. Want more behind-the-scenes? For more in-depth discussions, check out my LinkedIn or Medium profiles. [Read this issue on Substack](https://gabrieldalton.substack.com/p/gabriel-daltons-september-newsletter-f89) [Subscribe on Substack](https://gabrieldalton.substack.com/subscribe)