2023 Speakers

VP, Products, Waste Robotics

Ziad possesses over 20 years in innovation development in small and large companies. He is passionate about motivating teams to excel in the implementation of technologies that improve human experience.

Executive Director, Ubisoft La Forge

Since he started at Ubisoft in 2004, Yves Jacquier filled many different positions related with the fast growth of the Studio : heading online Services, he then moves to develop the Production Services Studios in 2008 to make them the best of the industry by leading transformative activities such as Performance capture, biometrics or telemetry. In addition, Yves designs the Ubisoft academic R&D strategy with two significant milestones: the creation of a chair in Artificial Intelligence (Deep Learning) in 2011 with Yoshua Bengio and the foundation in 2016 of the first Lab in the gaming industry dedicated to applied academic research: Ubisoft – La Forge, which he’s been leading since then.

Founder and CTO, Ferme d'Hiver

A graduate in Engineering from École Polytechnique, Yves Daoust has devoted his career to solving challenges for industries undergoing drastic changes, such as the telecommunications and information technology industries. Yves founded Winter Farm in 2018 with the ambition to solve worldwide challenges, such as food insecurity and climate change. Since then, he has been leveraging technology to benefit produce growers in order to enhance agricultural work and ensure the sustainable development of our food resources.

President, Soralink

Dr. Yun Yao is a seasoned professional with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from McGill University. With a calm yet determined demeanor, she brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her endeavors.

During her doctoral studies, Yun delved deeply into the design of vibrotactile devices for haptic applications, a field that would later become a cornerstone of her expertise. Her research paved the way for significant advancements in haptic technology, contributing to a deeper understanding of tactile feedback in electronic devices.Notably, her innovative work during this time resulted in the award of a patent, a testament to her pioneering contributions in the field. This patent stands as a tangible recognition of her ingenuity and the impact of her research on the broader landscape of haptic technology.

Following the completion of her Ph.D., Yun transitioned smoothly into industry, joining Clear-Com, an industry-leading professional intercom system provider. There, she assumed a dual role, leading the engineering team while spearheading innovation initiatives. Her visionary approach played a crucial role in the development of a new generation of wireless intercom systems, marking a significant leap forward in communication technology.

In 2021, Yun ventured into entrepreneurship by co-founding Soralink, a company that has rapidly emerged as a leader in the field of predictive maintenance. Soralink designs and builds a cutting-edge, made-in-Canada solution utilizing the power of AI and IoT. This innovative approach is poised to revolutionize how industries approach maintenance, ensuring that potential issues are identified and addressed proactively, minimizing downtime and maximizing productivity.

Yun Yao's journey is a testament to her dedication to technology and collaboration. Her understated yet impactful approach has left a mark in academia, non-profit ventures, and industry. With a focus on making meaningful contributions, she continues to shape the landscape of technology.

Scientific Director, Mila & IVADO, Full Professor, Samsung AI Professor, Université de Montréal, Canada CIFAR AI Chair

Recognized worldwide as one of the leading experts in artificial intelligence, Yoshua Bengio is most known for his pioneering work in deep learning, earning him the 2018 A.M. Turing Award, “the Nobel Prize of Computing,” with Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun.

President and CEO, BesLogic Inc.

Senior consultant, Gender Equality and Disability Inclusion

Wanda Muñoz is an international consultant with more than 20 years of experience on the rights of people with disabilities, response to gender violence, and international cooperation. She has worked with international NGO and United Nations organizations in Latin America, Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia. 

As a former member of the Human Security Network in Latin America and the Caribbean (SEHLAC), she worked and published on the ethical, legal and humanitarian risks of artificial intelligence from the perspective of International Humanitarian Law and participated in the international forums on AI in situations of conflict at the United Nations in Geneva.

Data scientist, Beneva

Mayor of Montréal, Projet Montréal Leader

First elected city councillor in Saint-Marie district in 2013, Valérie Plante was
chosen by Projet Montréal members to lead the party in 2016. Her contagious
passion and energy have helped her rally people around her progressive vision.
Deeply committed to participatory democracy, Valérie Plante has a bold plan for
Montréal centered on increased access to public transit, improved urban
planning and public services, the economy and the environment. Her
commitment is to bridge the gap on these issues for all 19 city boroughs.
She was first elected mayor of Montréal in the November 2017 municipal
election. The people of Montréal gave her a second term in November 2021. As

mayor of Montréal, Valérie Plante is a member of various advisory committees
and governing boards.
● Chair of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM);
● President of the Big Cities Caucus of the Union des Municipalités du
Québec (UMQ);
● Governing board member of Montréal international;
● Governing board member of Fondation Montréal inc.;
● Member of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus of the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities
● Co-president of Metropolis
● ICLEI’s Global Ambassador for Local Biodiversity

President and Chief Executive Officer, MILA

Valérie Pisano has over 10 years of experience in talent, leadership, diversity and organizational dynamics. Appointed CEO of Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute – she joins an emerging group of women leading tech companies. She was previously Chief Talent Officer at Cirque du Soleil and cofounded The Mobïus Bias Project, an initiative focused on accelerating the dialogue on female leadership roles by exploring unconscious bias. She began her career at McKinsey & Company after a Master's Degree in Economics at HEC Montreal and is the proud mother of three girls.

Chief Intellectual Property Officer & General Counsel, Scale AI

Todd is an intellectual property expert who’s dedicated the last 25 years to assisting Canadian companies develop and execute their IP strategies. As Chief IP Officer at Scale AI, he’s been involved in over 100 AI projects, giving him unique
insights into the IP issues facing Canadian AI today.  Todd is a licensed lawyer, registered patent & trademark agent, and holds an engineering degree from the University of
Waterloo.

Researcher in Residence, CEIMIA

Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou, a Cameroonian scientist, holds a PhD in Public Communication from Laval University, Canada. With a theoretical grounding in decolonial studies and STS approaches, he is interested in the uses of responsible artificial intelligence in the service of the common good.
Dr Thomas Mboa is currently Researcher in Residence at the International Centre of Expertise In Montreal on Artificial Intelligence (CEIMIA), where his main mission is to put in place mechanisms to ensure a better inclusion and representation of Africa in the international ecosystem of Artificial Intelligence. To his record, Thomas Mboa has several publications and keynotes.

Head of Business Development, OSEDEA

Thierry Marcoux has over 15 years' experience in business development, brand management and new market development. His personal path has led him to get involved in competitive sports and travel around the world, shaping his open-mindedness, resourcefulness and leadership skills. With a career spanning more than 10 years in the technology sector, he currently works at Osedea as Director of Business Development, with the mission of meeting the needs of the company's customers in software development and innovation. He is also responsible for the commercial development of the Spot robot in Eastern Canada.

Professor, School of Industrial Relations, Université de Montréal

Tania Saba is the founder and holder of the BMO Chair in Diversity and Governance and is a Full Professor at the School of Industrial Relations at the Université de Montréal. Tania is an expert and has published extensively on issues of diversity management, workforce aging, intergenerational value differences, knowledge transfer, future skills, transformation of employment relations and work organization. Tania works on major research projects with public and private organizations on issues of employment equity and the integration of underrepresented groups in the labour market.

Partner, Innovobot Resonance Ventures

Sylvain Carle is Partner and Tech-for-Good Lead at Innovobot Resonance Ventures. He works alongside Managing Partner Zoya Shchupak to generate outsized returns for investors and make a positive impact on society and the environment. Sylvain Carle helps portfolio companies set and achieve ambitious environmental and social objectives, including the United Nations’ sustainable development goal #13, to combat climate change. He leads the Tech for Good committee and continue to expand Innovobot’s growing innovation ecosystem. Sylvain Carle has spent the last 30 years thinking, writing, building, and investing in emerging technologies. Though he didn’t study computer science, Sylvain has been hacking with computers forever, and spent most of his career as a startup entrepreneur at the confluence of media, technology, data, networks and humans.

CEO, DIGITAL

As CEO of Digital, Sue leads a portfolio of digital innovation and capacity-building initiatives destined to deliver over $3.7 billion in revenue for Canadian companies. By accelerating digital transformation in the health, natural resources and skilling sectors, Digital is supporting the development and delivery of world-leading technologies that advance human health, improve environmental health, and create a skilled workforce for the digital world. Prior to leading Digital, Sue held leadership roles in major Canadian organizations including CEO of LifeLabs, Canada’s largest diagnostic lab where she led major growth and technological advancements across Canada’s diagnostic sector. As CEO of Pharmasave, Sue led the delivery of some of the first online access tools for medication information for patients and as Managing Partner of Fasken Vancouver, Sue drove the merger of three leading Canadian law firms into a Canadian national legal leading firm.

Lead, Data Insights, Semios

Leading a team of high caliber data scientists and data analysts, Stuart has a 20+ year passion for extracting actionable insight from complex datasets. He has a unique ability to understand and balance customer needs, business operations, and analytic excellence. Stuart's team is responsible for transforming IoT data into insight from over 20+ sensors and 500M data points per day. Semios is building AI models on top of IoT data and farming decisions that subsequently advise farmers how to reduce sprays, optimize water usage, and improve harvests. Ultimately Semios is striving to help feed a global, growing population. Stuart works closely with agricultural research, data engineering, and product management.

CEO & Founder, Integrate AI

Steve Irvine is the founder & CEO of integrate.ai, a global leading startup helping organizations integrate AI to solve the world’s most important problems, without compromising the world’s most sensitive data. Prior to founding integrate.ai, Steve led global partnerships for Facebook and Instagram, and successfully built and scaled two technology startups. He sits on the board of Aviva Canada and he is an advisor to the Vector institute for AI and mentor in Creative Destruction Lab’s AI stream. Steve is an academic all-Canadian graduate from York University.

President and CEO, Montréal International

Mr. Paquet joined Montréal International in 2015 as Vice-President, Investment Greater Montréal. In 2017, as his role expanded to include attracting and retaining international organizations, he stepped into the newly created position of Vice-President, Foreign Investments and International Organizations. Under his leadership, the value of investments accompanied by MI has more than doubled, from $1 billion to over $3 billion.

President, Micro Logic

Entrepreneurship has always been firmly rooted in Mr. Garneau’s DNA. At the age of 16, he founded his first company with very limited financial resources. Now president of one of the 300 largest SMEs in Quebec, it goes without saying that his boundless imagination, his vision for greatness and his unique business acumen make him an inspiration for future generations of entrepreneurs.

Executive Director, CEIMIA

Sophie Fallaha is an accomplished business executive with a passion for innovation, sustainability and responsible AI. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the International Centre of Expertise on Artificial Intelligence in Montreal (CEIMIA), a leading international NGO that specializes in the development and implementation of high-impact projects in responsible AI. Sophie has over 15 years of experience in innovation bridging the gap between research and practice in multi-stakeholders environments, having worked with both multinational corporations, governments and non-profit organizations. Her expertise lies in developing and implementing sustainable business strategies that generate social, environmental, and economic value in the field of responsible AI.

Ph.D., CPA auditor, Lawyer, M.Sc., HEC Montreal

Simon Dermarkar is a CPA Auditor, lawyer, and associate professor at HEC Montreal where he leads the Specialized Graduate Diploma in professional accounting. He obtained his master's degree and his Ph.D. in accounting from Laval University. Before starting his doctoral studies, he practiced financial auditing within a large accounting firm. He is a member of the Programs Committee as well as the Disciplinary Committee of the Ordre des CPA du Québec. His research interests focus on the legislative and normative framework for the professional practice of accounting and auditing as well as the governance of organizations that ensure the maintenance and improvement of this framework. He is also interested in the impacts generated by the digital transformation (revolution) on the accounting profession as well as on the evolution relating to accountability mechanisms in terms of sustainable development and, more particularly, the protection of personal information.

Director of Operations, Next AI - Montréal

Passionately curious, Simon has deep international and academic experience. He holds a bachelor of electrical engineering from McGill University, a master's in electronics from the Technical University of Denmark, and a PhD in spacecraft propulsion from EPFL, in Switzerland. He also completed an MBA from HEC Montreal, where he was also president of the MBA student association.  Simon worked as a project manager and process integration engineer at DALSA Semiconductor and was the executive director of EPFL’s Space engineering center. As Director of Operations, Simon is responsible for setting up and running the Next AI – Montreal program. 

VP Digital Innovation, Thales North America, and General Manager, Thales Digital Solutions

In 2017, Mr. Usal founded cortAIx, Thales's global research and technology center specialized in artificial intelligence (AI) in Montreal, and led the implementation of the Digital Factory in North America. He currently heads Thales Digital Solutions, which brings together, in Montreal and Quebec City, some one hundred software engineers and scientists specialized in the design, development and deployment of digital technologies and artificial intelligence within and outside Thales.

Head of AI Education, ChainML

Shingai Manjengwa is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fireside Analytics Inc., a data science education solutions company that develops customized programs that teach digital and AI literacy, data science, data privacy, and computer programming. Clients include corporates, governments, non-profits, higher education institutions, and high schools. Data science courses by Fireside Analytics have over 450,000 registered learners on platforms like IBM’s CognitiveClass.ai and Coursera.

Doctoral Researcher, Stanford University

Co-Founder, Pacefactory

Sean has developed a unique blend of sales, technology, strategy consulting, business and engineering talent. Having worked for the world’s largest manufacturing companies, consulting firms, and technology companies, and for very small early-stage startups, he has a deep understanding of how to leverage advanced technologies to help companies of all sizes remain competitive.
He has a passion for technology, training, learning and continuous improvement methodologies that not only directly impact the corporations he works for, but makes a significant impact on sustainable growth for the overall economy. Sean is a Licenced Professional Engineer (P.Eng), with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, at the University of Western Ontario.

VP, Pre-Construction, Pomerleau

Sean Boyer has worked in the field of construction and more specifically in estimating and construction economics for over 25 years. He holds a bachelor's degree in construction engineering from the École de technologie supérieure du Québec (ÉTS) and a college diploma in civil engineering technology from the Cégep de Joliette.

Climate Lead + AI Researcher, HuggingFace

Sasha Luccioni is a researcher in the field of ethical artificial intelligence at Hugging Face. Over the past decade, her work has paved the way for a better understanding of the societal and environmental impacts of AI technologies. She sits on the board of directors of Women in Machine Learning (WiML) and is a founding member of Climate Change AI, an organization that aims to accelerate research in AI and climate.

Co-Founder & CEO, Videns

With almost 15 years of experience in data science, Sarah has applied her skills in a variety of contexts: marketing, finance, insurance, distribution, technology, and public health. She makes it a priority to share her knowledge and experience and teaches in HEC Montréal's M.Sc. Data Science program. Sarah co-founded Videns in 2018 and serves as its CEO.

Director, Adoption of Innovation & Artificial Intelligence, Conseil de l'innovation du Québec

Creative director (VR/XR and AI) and emerging media sociologist

Sandra Rodriguez, is a creative director (VR/XR and AI) as well as a sociologist of emerging media. For the past 18 years, she has scripted, produced and directed feature-length documentaries, webdocs and VR, XR and AI experiences that have garnered numerous awards, including a Peabody, NUMIX awards and the prestigious Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica. She is also a UX consultant and UX lead for game studios, interactive media and renowned institutions such as Radio-Canada/CBC, ArsElectronica, Sodec, CPH:DOX and the United Nations. She founded and directed the Creative Reality Lab for 4 years, focusing on the future of non-fiction, and today extends her explorations from emerging media to fiction, the intersection of performing arts and dance with AI and large-scale, in situ immersive installations and exhibitions. She is a Sundance Institute Fellow and a MacArthur Foundation Fellow. She is also a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she inaugurated MIT's very first official course on immersive media creation: "Hacking XR".

Account manager in artificial intelligence, Prompt

Sami Cheref is a passionate AI and innovation professional, recognized for his management, product development and leadership skills. He currently holds the position of Artificial Intelligence Account Director at PROMPT, a support and fiduciary financing organization of the Quebec Ministry of the Economy, Innovation and Energy. Sami holds a bachelor's degree from HEC Montréal, with a specialization in entrepreneurship and marketing. Before joining PROMPT, Sami spent four years experimenting with entrepreneurship in the technology and music sectors. It was through his company that he first worked on artificial intelligence projects. He then worked as a product manager at Innoprofits.

CEO, BrainBox AI

Sam Ramadori oversees the execution of BrainBox AI’s growth-oriented business plan, leads the senior management team, and manages investor relations. As a sustainability enthusiast, he brings a passion for driving impactful change, particularly towards fighting the climate crisis.

Co-Founder / CEO, Theory+Practice

Rogayeh Tabrizi is a tech leader helping Fortune 500 companies connect with their customers to create delight and value. Rogayeh studied her Master’s in Experimental Particle Physics and worked on the ATLAS Detector at CERN. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics, focusing on social and economic networks and game theory as a more effective way to engender positive change in the world. Rogayeh saw the need for large enterprises to understand their data to connect with their customers as individuals and do so meaningfully. So she founded Theory+Practice, a data product company enabling enterprises to put their data to work. Theory+Practice’s unique approach pairs behavioural economics with state-of-the-art AI technologies to help you truly understand your customers and build business strategies that drive results.

Co-Host, BetaKit Podcast

Rob Kenedi is a seasoned startup founder, advisor, and hosts shows on innovation and entrepreneurship. He currently advises entrepreneurs on unblocking growth in their startups. Rob has run both funded and bootstrapped technology companies for over 20 years. Most recently, he was on the executive team at TWG, helping grow and lead TWG in its expansion to NYC and to its acquisition by Deloitte, their largest tech acquisition in Canada. He has also led significant enterprise new product development initiatives. Rob has also created and cohosts numerous podcasts, including the BetaKit podcast and Entrepreneurs in Small Rooms Drinking Coffee. Rob is passionate about creating, supporting, and is deeply embedded in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

CEO and President, Access Copyright

Roanie Levy is an outspoken champion of creator rights, in Canada and abroad. An Intellectual Property lawyer by vocation, she currently serves Access Copyright, a collective that distributes millions of dollars annually in licensing royalties to creator and publisher affiliates, as President and CEO. Roanie has also held key positions on major policy files at Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada and has equally earned distinction in service to the private sector as a management consultant. She has been called to the bar in Ontario was formerly a member of the Quebec bar. She is fluently bilingual.

Executive Director, DistriQ

Richard St-Pierre is the Executive Director of one of the first Innovation Zones in Quebec, DistriQ, Quantum Innovation Zone. His purpose is making an optimistic future happen. Always in the front seat of technology transformation, Richard’s ambition for the Zone is to promote Quebec’s quantum innovation internationally, while creating an effervescent environment in Sherbrooke where industry and knowledge come together for innovations to emerge. Prior to embarking on this exciting adventure in quantum innovation, Richard was a seasoned professional and entrepreneur with extensive experience of over 20 years in international relations and financial administration. He was named a Top10 Innovator of 2017 by BizBash magazine in the United States. His educational background includes Harvard Business School, Oxford University’s Said Business School, HEC Montreal, ESC France, and Beijing University of International Business and Economics (China). He was President of C2 Montreal and C2 International. He has also worked for the Ministry of Health and Social Services of Quebec, the Global Data Pledge Foundation in Geneva, Ernst & Young (EY) and Bell Atlantic, in addition to providing strategic advice to several companies including Desjardins, BCE and Air Canada.

CEO, Waste Robotics

Eric brings with him a wealth of expertise and knowledge accumulated over more than 25 years. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership in cutting-edge innovations, business management and technology development across diverse industries. Eric's extensive experience in fields including audio-digital software, renewable energy, and waste management, showcases his versatility and ability to excel in different domains. With a proven track record of deploying advanced technologies drives transformative changes. His contributions push boundaries, enabling organizations to achieve groundbreaking advancements.

Chief Information & Technology Officer, Canadian Tire Corporation

Rex is the Chief Information & Technology Officer (CITO), at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) accountable for technology strategy, architecture, development, operations, and cybersecurity across the CTC family of companies (Canadian Tire, Sportchek, Mark’s, PartyCity, CT Financial Services, Atmosphere, Sports Experts, Pro Hockey Life, Hockey Experts, Partsource, CT REIT, Helly Hansen, and Gas+). His mandate is inclusive of technology operations for 1700+ national retail locations, global corporate facilities, digital, analytics, supply chain, merchandising, marketing, finance, human resources, and other corporate functions.

Scientific Director, SKEMA Business School Canada

With a PhD in economics from Princeton University, René Garcia has devoted his research career to the study of financial markets and their relationship with economic activity. His recent research focuses on the role of financial intermediaries and the analysis of extreme risks. At SKEMA, he leads a research program in portfolio management with reinforcement learning. René Garcia has contributed to the creation of innovative and interdisciplinary higher education programs for professionals.

CEO, Medeloop

With a distinguished 15-year career in healthcare, Dr.Caissieis a surgeon, researcher, innovator, and entrepreneur. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Medeloop.ai, and an Adjunct Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, he teaches healthcare entrepreneurship while contributing to the development of the next healthcare prize as part of the XPRIZE Brain Trust Team.

Country Leader and Managing Director - Canada Public Sector, AWS

With 34 years of global technology expertise, Réjean is a trusted advisor to governments, enterprises and SMBs looking to evolve digitally with cloud computing. He is recognized as a thought leader in enterprise management, business development and engineering.

VP, Engineering, Deveron

EVP, Sales and General Manager, QScale

Pierre is a seasoned tech executive with over two decades of experience in data center and IT sales. He co-founded 4Degrees Data Centers in 2012, where he built the sales organization, assembled multidisciplinary teams, and secured deals with leading hyperscalers and cloud providers. Pierre has previously managed sales departments and channels at Oracle, Cisco, and NetApp, working with clients from Fortune 500 companies to government entities.

Product Owner, Analytics and Applications, BRP

Philippe is passionate about data! Drawing on his experience as a business intelligence consultant and data engineer, he joined BRP, a world leader in powersports, to create innovative digital products that harness the power of artificial intelligence. At BRP, he is responsible for the design, development and deployment of analytical solutions that enhance the customer experience and optimize operational performance. Philippe is always looking for new opportunities to learn and collaborate with experts from different fields. He holds a degree in computer engineering from the Université de Sherbrooke.

Vice President, Global Product Engineering, CAE

Co-Founder, Waverly

Philippe is a venture scientist constantly looking for ideas that can improve society. In 2020, he co-founded Waverly where his team and he are building a mobile reader that lets you follow ideas that really matter to you. Waverly relies on natural language and Empathetic AI to let users express their real human goals. Before that, in 2016, Philippe co-founded Element AI, a world leader in enterprise AI. Philippe holds a Ph.D. from the University of Montreal, was a researcher at the University of British Columbia and spent the last 20 years honing his technological and leadership skills, including half a decade at Google.

Head of AI Policy, Armilla.AI

Phil is Head of AI Policy at Armilla AI, a leading AI assurance platform, and policy advisor at Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society at the University of Toronto. He is an experienced leader and strategist in AI policy, governance and standardization initiatives and has advised governments, international organizations, standards bodies, Big Tech and AI scaleups on Responsible AI.

Phil is an active member of global AI expert committees, including the MIT-BCG International Experts Panel on AI, the OECD Network of AI Experts (ONE.AI), the UN Expert Group on the Governance of Data and AI, and the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Human Rights and the 4th Industrial Revolution. In Canada, he co-chairs the Canadian government's AI Standardization collaborative.

Phil is a former Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center, where he published research on AI impact assessments. Phil's research and comments on global AI policy have been referenced in articles published by the Federal Trade Commission, Chatham House, the World Economic Forum, Bloomberg Law, the Logic, CBC, the MIT Sloan Management Review, Lawfare, the Globe & Mail and CNN.

CTO and co-founder, Flybits

Petar Kramaric, CTO and co-founder at Flybits, with over a decade of experience, led the company's global expansion, fostering innovation in mobile technologies and unifying technology and business.

Executive Director, Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma

Pauline Halpern, originally from France, moved in Quebec in 2010 and since acquired 12 years of experience in the audiovisual sector, in two artists associations, an artistes agency, Telefilm Canada and Tele-Quebec. Currently executive director of the Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma, Ms Halpern used to work as a labour relations advisor for the Association des Réalisateurs et Réalisatrices du Québec then for SARTEC.

Ms Halpern graduated from the University of Montreal (Bachelor in Law), from the University of Ottawa (Master of Laws – Law and Technologies), from the University Paris X Nanterre ( Bilingual Master in European Law) and from the University Paris I – Pantheon Sorbonne (Master in Ecommerce law and Numerical Economy).

CEO and Co-Founder, Airudi

Pape Wade has several years of experience in human resources both nationally and internationally. He has led several major projects in continuous change and organizational transformation. He has expanded his track record by delivering with strong leadership and inspiring several large-scale strategic and value-creating mandates. Holder of a master's degree in Management of major industrial and technological risks obtained from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse and the Institute for a Culture of Industrial Safety, Pape also holds a master's degree in sociology of work.

Co-Founder & VP, Decision Science, Moov AI

Olivier is the co-founder and VP of decision science at Moov AI. He is the editor of the international ISO standard that defines the quality of artificial intelligence systems, and he leads a team of 50 AI professionals from around the world. His cutting-edge AI and machine learning knowledge have led him to implement a data culture in various industries and support digital transformation projects in many companies such as Pratt & Whitney, Metro, Sharethrough, Merck, and Premier Tech. He is a mentor for AI for Creative Destruction Labs and coaches several start-ups. As a speaker, his topics of choice are adopting and applying AI and responsible AI. Olivier is the recipient of the prestigious "30 under 30" award (2019) and is the co-author of a patent for an advanced algorithm that evaluates a borrower's creditworthiness.

Director Teseo Press and UNESCO Expert

Octavio Kulesz is a philosopher, digital publisher and director of Teseo, one of Latin
America’s leading electronic publishing houses. As a researcher collaborating
with organizations including UNESCO, OIF, and IFACCA, his work focuses on
issues related to cultural diversity and the creative industries in the digital
age. Some of his articles presciently anticipated the contemporary challenges
associated with the impact of generative AI on the art world by over five
years. In 2020, he was selected by UNESCO, along with 23 other international
experts, to draft the text of the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial
Intelligence, the world’s first standard-setting instrument on this topic.

Vice President, Customer Service Programs, Pratt & Whitney Canada

In her current role, Nivine brings innovative leadership to Service Engineering, Commercial & Technical Support, for all P&WC engines and services to operators worldwide and OEM customers. Nivine is also the Executive Sponsor for the AI Evolution journey at P&W, leading a program orchestrated and sequenced to build capabilities while delivering value and preparing our talent for future skills. In her previous role as Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development, Nivine was responsible for P&WC’s next transformation in product and service strategy, leveraging market knowledge and understanding of trends and factors that impact the market, leading the business-development teams that are focused on redefining the business model and expanding our offerings in non-traditional markets and countries.

Manager, Professional Services Team, Plotly

Nathan is the manager of the Professional Services team. As a Dash developer working with the Dash Enterprise framework, he has built software for a variety of industries including finance, government, healthcare, and energy, and has a deep understanding of the different products and services offered by Plotly. He holds a bachelor’s degree from McGill University with a diverse background in data analytics through research in computational linguistics and digital humanities.

Senior Vice President Date and Intelligence, AlayaCare

Naomi is currently Senior Vice President, of Data and Intelligence at AlayaCare. Her mandate is to drive value and leverage data to support the innovation strategy of AlayaCare. This is done through applied research in machine learning and optimization applications to make home care agencies more efficient and improve clinical outcomes. Naomi also has a wealth of experience as a start-up entrepreneur and a seasoned business executive.

Co-founder & CEO, Draft&Goal

Nabil Tayeb is CEO and co-founder of Draft&Goal, a Montreal-based start-up offering companies a solution for integrating private AI into their organizations. The start-up is currently in the NextAi cohort, where it is working to deploy its solution within international groups. Draft&Goal also offers, free of charge, one of the first AI detectors, which has now been used over a million times. With an MBA from HEC and an MSc from Southampton Institute, he is committed to an ethical and responsible approach to the use of AI.

Reporter, The Logic

Murad Hemmadi is an Ottawa correspondent for The Logic, covering business and innovation policy, as well as companies including Shopify. Before joining The Logic, he covered politics and wrote a daily newsletter for Maclean’s. He started his journalism career as a reporter at Canadian Business, covering the technology sector, entrepreneurship and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Account Executive, Snowflake

President & CEO, Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal

Michel Leblanc is President and CEO of the CCMM, Quebec’s leading private economic development organization. In this position, he is the official spokesperson of the organization and is responsible for planning, managing, coordinating and monitoring all its operations. With extensive experience in the public and private sectors, Michel Leblanc has an in-depth knowledge of metropolitan issues. A trained economist, he has a clear understanding of economic questions and the challenges facing the business community. Michel Leblanc is a recognized expert in economic strategy and development and was an Associate Partner at SECOR. He had previously occupied senior-level positions at Génome Québec, Montréal International, and the Institute for Research on Public Policy. He has also worked as an economist for the Department of Finance Canada.

Technical Lead, FLAIR (First Languages AI Reality)

Michael Running Wolf, Lakota and Cheyenne, was raised in a reservation
village in Montana with intermittent water and electricity; naturally Michael
has a MS in Computer Science, was an engineer for Amazon’s Alexa, taught at
Northeastern University, a PhD student at McGill University, and a tech lead at
Mila. Michael is researching Indigenous language reclamation using AI and has
been awarded an MIT Solve Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and the
Patrick J. McGovern AI for Humanity Prize for his work. 

PDG, Aéro Montréal

Mélanie Lussier has nearly 25 years of experience in the transportation
sector. She spent more than 15 years at Bombardier, where she led many
strategic projects to improve costs, optimize supplier relationship
management and implement Lean practices.

Business and Partnership Advisor, CRIM

Maximilien is a business and partnership advisor at CRIM, a leading research center specializing in computer science and artificial intelligence. He joined the CRIM team in the spring of 2023, motivated by his passion for technology and his interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.He is responsible for identifying and connecting ESG projects with CRIM's intellectual potential, fostering innovation and collaboration between industry, academia and government. He holds a degree in innovation management and creativity from HEC Montréal, and has solid experience in the digital sector. He has successfully coordinated marketing campaigns, negotiated contracts and managed partnerships for various B2B events, such as MTL Connecte and ISEA 2020. He helped promote energy efficiency across Canada while at the Canadian Institute for Energy Training and Econoler. Finally, his versatile profile also led him to co-found the Université de Montréal e-Sports Club, where he promoted the development of e-sports in Quebec.

Data Scientist, Ferme d'Hiver

With a strong background and keen interest in data science, management, and gastronomy, Maximilien Gaudette has embarked on a journey to create solutions that support food security both in Quebec and worldwide. Holding a Bachelor of Business Administration from École des sciences de la gestion and a Master's in Business Intelligence from HEC Montreal, Maximilien is currently developing artificial intelligence solutions to assist farmers in increasing their yields and reducing their environmental footprint.

Scientific Advisor, IVADO Labs and Scale AI Chair Professor, McGill University

Maxime Cohen is the Scale AI Chair Professor of Retail and Operations Management and Director of Research at McGill University. He is the Chief AI Officer of ELNA Medical and at Intégral and the Scientific Director of the non-profit MyOpenCourt.org. He is also a Scientific Advisor in AI and Data Science at IVADO Labs, and he is actively advising corporations, retailers, and startups on topics related to pricing, retail, and data science. Before joining McGill, he was an Assistant Professor of Technology, Operations, and Statistics at NYU Stern and a Research Scientist at Google AI. His research and teaching have received more than 30 awards, including Poets&Quants Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors, RETHINK Retail’s Top Retail Influencers, MSOM Young Scholar Prize, and Best OM Paper in Management Science.

CIO, ALDO Group

Director, AI Ecosystem and Special Projects, CEIMIA

Mathieu is the Director of AI Ecosystem Mobilization and Special Projects for CEIMIA, the Montreal Centre of Expertise of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). His role is to develop and maintain strong relationships between the CEIMIA and local, national and international AI ecosystems. Prior to joining GPAI, he was Head of Community Relations at Element AI where he developed the local impact strategy for the startup. He was also actively involved in issues related to the ethical and inclusive development of AI and managed AI for Good projects related to the art and creative sector. Mathieu studied law and holds a Juris Doctor in transnational law. He has practiced Aboriginal, environmental and constitutional law and spent ten years in politics as an organizer and advisor on issues related to culture, education, environment, democratic institutions and natural resources at all three major levels of government in Canada.

Senior Advisor, Technology Strategy and Transformation

Mathieu Laroche is known for his experience and strategic thinking to help both small and large organizations through the successful launch of impactful digital initiatives. With a rich background of 18 years close to the manufacturing shop floor combined with his software development experience, he is deeply committed in bringing new ways of working that harness cutting-edge technologies like AI, Analytics and Automation to establish and maintain a sustainable digital advantage.

Montréal Bureau Chief, Bloomberg

Director, Business, Communication and Partnerships, CRIM

Youth Fellow, International Youth Think Tank

Host, ALL IN

Martine St-Victor is a communications strategist and the General Manager of Edelman in Montréal; one of the 60 offices across the globe, making it the most important communication firm in the world. In addition, Martine is a monthly columnist at the Montreal Gazette and La Presse and she’s a weekly collaborator on Radio-Canada television and radio. Martine is a Trustee on various Boards: the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal and is Chair of its communications advisory committee, the KANPE Foundation, the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie Foundation, the think tank IRPP (Institute for Research on Public Policy), the Fondation de l’Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal and Plus1. Martine St-Victor is a founding member of the Black Opportunity Fund and Vice-Chair of the Québec section of IWF (International Women’s Forum).

Regional Vice-President of Sales, Quebec and Atlantic, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

The HPE Hybrid IT team is represented by a dynamic group of sales professionals, expert services in managing deployment and migration projects to private cloud and public cloud computing involving storage, compute, application systems, operationalization, and advisory services. Prior to joining HPE, Martin had the opportunity to develop and market the web marketing platform within the Yellow Pages Group. From direct and targeted advertising to the design of digital business solutions, to electronic advertising campaigns, to website design, Martin has developed in-depth expertise in e-commerce during the emergence of technologies in the world of targeted advertising. A graduate of UQAM in business administration – IT concentration, Martin is the father of 4 children, likes to be active and play music in his spare time.

Executive Director, Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDEC)

As Executive Director of the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, Marie-Julie Desrochers fosters the concerted action and mobilization of the Canadian cultural community in the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. She is also Secretary General of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity, which has led her to play an active role, on behalf of civil society, in UNESCO's work on the 2005 Convention, and to participate in working groups linking culture and sustainable development. Previously, she worked at the Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ), notably in regulatory affairs and research. She holds a master's degree in literary studies, a bachelor's degree in French-language literature and a diploma in media art and technology.

Vice President, Data Science, IVADO Labs

Marie-Claude is an artificial intelligence and operations research specialist, mainly focused on retail and supply chain applications. Before joining IVADO Labs, she created and developed Element AI’s AI core group, the principal group responsible for building the AI technology for the company’s products, as well as led JDA Labs’ data science team. She is co-inventor of more than 10 patents and holds a PhD in applied mathematics from École Polytechnique de Montréal.

Research Associate

Marco Laverdière is a lawyer and associate researcher at the Canada Research Chair on Collaborative Culture in Health Law and Policy and at the H-POD of the Université de Montréal. He is a lecturer at the Université de Sherbrooke's graduate programs in Health Law and Policy. He is also the executive director of the Ordre des optométristes du Québec.

EVP, Chief Operating Officer, Food, Metro Inc.

Marc Giroux joined METRO in 2009 as Vice President, Marketing, where he was responsible for marketing and corporate communications. He led METRO’s customer-focused loyalty and data strategy, including the partnership with dunnhumby and eCommerce. After leading merchandising and the Metro banner, he was then appointed Executive Vice President, Québec Division Head and national eCommerce in 2019. He acts as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Food since 2022.

Chief Data Officer, Freshbooks

As Chief Data Officer at FreshBooks, Mara Reiff is transforming the way FreshBooks acts on data and insights. Previously an executive in the telecommunications industry, Mara brings an edge to the team with her background in Business Intelligence and Customer Excellence. One of IBM’s Global Women Leaders in AI, Mara holds an engineering degree with a specialization in Applied Mathematics and Chemical Engineering, as well as an MBA.

Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Signal 1

Head of Developer Relations, Cohere

Economist, social impact of technology.

CEO, IVADO & Professor, Université de Montréal

Luc Vinet was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of IVADO in August 2021. Aisenstadt Professor of Physics at the Université de Montréal, Dr. Vinet is an acclaimed physicist and mathematician with extensive experience in university administration. From 1999 to 2005, he was Vice-Principal (Academic) and Provost of McGill University, before becoming Rector of the Université de Montréal from 2005 to 2010. Dr. Vinet was also the Director of the Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM) of the Université de Montréal, from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2013 to 2021. In addition to being one of the founding directors of the MITACS network of Centres of excellence, he was instrumental in the creation of many other leading research organizations in Québec and the rest of Canada.

Innovator in Chief, Director, Conseil d'Innovation du Québec

Luc Sirois is Quebec’s Chief Innovation Officer, general director of the Quebec Innovation Council of and founding Chairman of the Board of Axelys, Quebec's society valorizing public research.

Chairman & CEO, Coveo

Director of Business Development, OPTEL Group

Louis-Olivier is a go-to expert in supply chain traceability, with a passion for helping companies make their supply chains more sustainable and efficient. Through his experience at the OPTEL Group, he has gained expertise in implementing traceability and transparency strategies. Louis-Olivier is a strong proponent of using advanced technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence to give consumers and brands unprecedented visibility into their purchases' impact.

Research Chair Professor of Artificial Intelligence for Supply chain management, UQAR

Loubna Benabbou is Research Chair Professor of artificial intelligence for supply chain management at the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR). Her research focuses on the development and application of machine learning and operations research approaches to data-driven decision-making. She is interested in the application of these approaches to supply chain management, digitalization of industrial processes and climate change risk mitigation. Loubna Benabbou has participated in several research projects with industry and is a member of scientific/technical committees of international journals and conferences. Her research in these fields has been published in international scientific journals and conference proceedings. She is an industrial engineer from the École Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs, and holds an M.B.A and a PhD in Machine Learning and Decision Sciences from Université Laval.

Professor, Duke University Science & Society

Lee Tiedrich is a widely recognized leader in artificial intelligence, data, and emerging technology. She is a member of both the OECD and Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) AI expert groups and co-chairs both the GPAI AI and Climate committee and the GPAI Intellectual Property Committee. With a degree in electrical engineering and over 30 years of legal experience, Lee has a long career helping organizations navigate uncertainty to achieve their objectives.  She was a partner at the global law firm Covington & Burling LLP, where she led the firm’s global and multi-disciplinary AI Initiative and counselled organizations on a broad range of data and technology matters, including digital transformation, AI and data governance, policy, intellectual property, regulatory, transactions and other corporate matters.  She holds three appointments at Duke University, including Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Law and Responsible Technology, Executive in Residence, and Responsible Technology Scholar in AI Health.

Vice-President, Platform & Technology, Inovia

Kory joined Inovia in March 2022 as an Investor and the VP of Platform Tech. He collaborates with portfolio companies’ executive leadership teams to drive product and engineering innovation, conducts product and tech due diligence, works with Partners on technical investment theses, and invests out of Inovia’s Venture Fund. Before joining Inovia, Kory was the Chief of Staff of Engineering for Google Canada. He was a key member of the leadership team responsible for driving strategy, overseeing operations and leading community engagement across its engineering sites. Prior to that, he led Developer Relations for Google in Canada and the Eastern USA. Kory also created startup investing and acceleration programs at Communitech and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Chief Executive Officer, Canada's Ocean Supercluster

Kendra was previously a partner in Deloitte’s Atlantic Risk Advisory practice and the Chief Audit Executive of Deloitte Global. Kendra joined Deloitte in 1993 and built a wealth of national and international experience having previously worked in Deloitte offices in Ottawa, Montreal, Sydney, Australia, Moscow, Russia and Hong Kong. Kendra was the lead partner for a number of Deloitte’s Atlantic Canada clients as well as a member of Deloitte' National Innovation Council.
She now acts as the CEO for Canada's Ocean Supercluster.

Associate to the President and CEO, CHUM

Associate to the President and CEO, Kathy Malas leads the Pole of Innovation, Artificial Intelligence and Projets in Health at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), Kathy Malas is a leader who drives organizational transformation through innovation as a source of value and tangible benefits for patients, teams and organizations.

Health System Partner, Artificial Intelligence, Roche

Justin Mallet is a Health System Partner at Roche Pharma Canada.
Justin holds a PhD in cellular and molecular biology and an MBA in pharmaceutical management from Laval University. He began his career working in economic development for the life sciences industry in Quebec where he participated in the onset of several foundational initiatives for this sector such as Montreal InVivo’s early clinical research initiative (Catalis), the FRQS’s Oncopole and Québec International’s life science cluster initiative, Québec VITAE.

CEO, Scale AI

Mr. Billot is CEO of Scale AI, Canada’s artificial intelligence innovation cluster dedicated to building the next-generation supply chain and boosting industry performance by leveraging Ai technologies. He is also an adjunct professor of HEC Montreal and the Montreal lead for two transformational programs aiming to launch and grow startups in Artificial Intelligence leveraging Montreal tech and business ecosystem, NextAI and the Creative DestructionLab (CDL).

Professor, Industrial Relations, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)

Julie (M.-É.) Garneau is a professor in the industrial relations department at the Université du Québec en Outaouais, and a researcher at the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la mondialisation et le travail (CRIMT) and the Observatoire international sur les impacts sociétaux de l'IA et du numérique (OBVIA). Drawing on her nearly 20 years' experience in the Canadian public service in various consulting and management positions, Julie joined academia to better understand how union and management representatives are proceeding to solve the challenges posed by "industry 4.0" and "algorithmic management", i.e., the transformation of work in the digital age and artificial intelligence. Her doctoral thesis at Université Laval is a detailed case study of a less-documented form of problem-solving called "institutional experimentation", investigated in an aerospace manufacturing company in Denmark.

Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Hitlab

Julia Kastner is a finance graduate from McGill University with a background in developing AI-driven tools for the music industry. Her role as Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Hitlab merges her unique capabilities of creating marketing and selling strategies with AI-driven B2B and B2C initiatives. Julia’s prior experience includes working as a financial analyst at a New York hedge fund, where her deep analytical skills were crucial for portfolio managers/traders in making real-time investment decisions. She also worked as the Sr. Director, FP&A for Italian fashion house Halcyon Brands, acting as the interface between European and North American entities.

Vice President, Corporate Development, TruLeaf

Juanita Moore joined TruLeaf as the head of Commercial in 2018 and recently took on the role of VP Corporate Development to build the specialty plant business. She is also responsible for leading TruLeaf’s data strategy. Juanita graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Mathematics and holds an MBA from Harvard University.

VP Corporate Development, Canvass AI

Josef Zankowicz is a visionary and technology enthusiast, and vice president at Canvass AI, a leading AI platform for industrial operations. He has over 27 years of experience in technology consulting, product development, marketing, and business development. He has raised $23 million for Canvass AI, where he is responsible for various roles in business development. Josef was previously co-founder and COO at NXM Labs, a blockchain and quantum computing IoT security provider, where he co-held three patents and raised over $10 million. He is also an advisor, mentor, and angel investor for various start-ups and scaleups. Josef holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Math from Western University and studied Architecture at the University of Toronto.

Chief Analytics Officer, Adastra

John is accountable for the growth and advancement of analytics at Adastra where he leads a team of Data Scientists and automation experts with the right mix of talent to provide reliable and scalable solutions to our clients across all verticals. John is responsible for leading and building out AI-based applications and frameworks, relying on his past academic and industry experience to provide practical but theoretically sound solutions and insights.

Faculty Lecturer and Academic Programs Coordinator, Supply Chain, Logistics, Operations and Integrated Aviation Management, McGill University, School of Continuing Studies

One of Canada’s foremost subject matter experts in transportation and systems, John Gradek has provided commentary to both print and electronic media on issues ranging from commercial aviation to supply chain management to aircraft manufacture. John has participated in numerous seminars and international conferences to discuss the state of the aviation and aerospace industry, providing insight into the strategic as well as tactical efforts undertaken to deal with changing times and achieve success. John is a strong believer in continuous learning, having been involved in both aviation management as well as supply chain management at McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies. He is currently a faculty lecturer and academic program coordinator for the Supply Networks programs, a new series of graduate-level courses aimed at providing learners with the needed skills and competencies to excel as next-generation supply professionals.

Partner, Fasken

Jocelyn Auger is a partner in the Business Law Group in our Montreal office. His field of experience extends to marketing, intellectual property protection, financing, privacy, data protection and cybersecurity.

Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer, IT World Canada

Jim Love, FCMC, serves as the CIO and Chief Content Officer at IT World Canada (ITWC), marking an impressive five-decade career across diverse roles in technology, marketing, consulting, broadcasting and more. In his current role at ITWC, Jim oversees both technology and content strategies, reflecting his unique combination of technical acumen and creative prowess.  Already known for his expertise in technology, cybersecurity and digital marketing, Jim is also emerging as an expert in the application of Generative AI. As a broadcaster, Jim goes to air five days a week with daily news, as well as a weekend interview show called Hashtag Trending, one of North America’s leading technology podcasts. He also hosts Leadership in the Digital Enterprise, featuring in-depth interviews with industry leaders.

General Manager, Association des professionnels de l'édition musicale

Jérôme Payette is the Executive Director of APEM, the association representing Québec and francophone music publishers in Canada. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, a member of the Board of Directors of MetaMusic, and is an active member of the Canadian music policy coalition. His career path has taken him to UNESCO, l’Orchestre symphonique de Laval and consulting in the cultural sector. Jérôme holds a Master’s degree in management and a Graduate Diploma in arts management form HEC Montréal and Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from Université de Montréal.

President, Commission des partenaires du marché du travail

Jean Lortie holds a bachelor's and master's degree in history from Université de Montréal. He also obtained a graduate diploma in human resources management from McGill University in 2011. He was first elected treasurer of the hotel workers' union at Hôtel Place Dupuis at the age of 21. He then served as Treasurer of the Fédération du commerce de la CSN for twelve years, before being elected President. From 2011 to 2021, he was General Secretary of Quebec's second-largest union federation, the CSN.

President & CEO, Sharethrough

Jean-Francois Côté is President & CEO, and board member of Sharethrough. With over 25 years’ experience in business, and 15 years of experience building tech companies, Jean-Francois Côté is an experienced leader and a born innovator.

Vice President, Quantitative Strategies and Data Science, CDPQ

With over 16 years of professional experience in digital technologies and quantitative investing, Mr. Bérubé held various leadership roles at Hexavest and Desjardins Global Asset Management before joining CDPQ in January 2022. As Vice President, Quantitative Strategies and Data Science, he is responsible for the development and management of systematic and quantitative investment strategies. He is also responsible for pre- and post-investment analytics on CDPQ's liquid and illiquid portfolio holdings. Finally, he is responsible for accelerating and expanding the integration of data science into the organization's investment processes.

Vice-President, Product, IVADO Labs

Jack Klejka focuses on helping executives shape their AI strategy and transform their business at scale by creating and deploying unique AI-based solutions that generate competitive advantages. He is actively participating in guiding organizations in their efforts to join the Canadian AI ecosystem and establish successful AI execution capabilities and talent creation. Prior to that, he led corporate strategy and transformation efforts for Fortune 500 companies at PwC Strategy& and Monitor Deloitte. He also managed the investment strategy planning of $60 billion of private equity AUM at Quebec's pension fund CDPQ.

Advisor Public Services Research and Advocacy Department, SFPQ

I hold the position of Research and Socioeconomic Planning Advisor for the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ), an organization representing nearly 44,000 people, 33,000 of whom work in the Quebec public service. The remaining 11,000 members work in some 30 parapublic accreditations.

CMO, Scale AI

President and CEO, BDC

Recognized as a mobilizing leader with a keen sense of strategy,Isabelle Hudonhas systematically brought an ambitious and resolutelyaction-orientedvision to all of the organizations she has led. She was appointed President and CEO of BDC inAugust 2021,after serving as Ambassador of Canada to France and Monaco for four years and holding the positions of President and CEO (Quebec) and Senior Vice President (Canada) of Sun Life Financial.

Regional Director, ACTRA

Ian is the Regional Director and Artificial Intelligence lead at the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). Having spent his formative years as a corporate lawyer in Toronto and Dublin, he eventually transitioned into the music industry in New York whilst navigating the tumult of the post-Napster and streaming eras, ultimately forging entrepreneurial relationships with Sony and UMG. A strident advocate of the arts, his adjunct work with the International Federation of Actors (FIA) and the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) is focused on marshalling a unified voice for creative industries in the AI space.

Executive Vice-President, Vooban

Hugues Foltz has been supporting companies in the development and execution of their digital transformation for more than 20 years. In 2018, he became co-owner and executive vice-president of Vooban, a firm recognized for its expertise in artificial intelligence and the development of custom software solutions.

CTO, Technology Director, Mely.AI

Hoang Ngo is a tech veteran whose journey has taken him from Agile Coach to the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). With a solid background in software development, project management, and agile methodologies, Hoang has become a driving force behind Mely.ai's technological innovation. His career spans two decades, featuring the management of more than 100 full-scale software development projects in diverse sectors, including collective health insurance, ticketing, marketing, video games, and graphic card development.

Co-Founder and Executive Chairwoman, IVADO Labs

Hélène Desmarais has 25 years of expertise in the field of technology and academia. For decades she has led major Canadian institutions, as well as several public and private companies, as a Chairman and CEO. She has been overseeing IVADO Labs’ rapid growth and emergence as a world class leader in the use of AI to drive companies’ innovation and performance improvement. She is deeply committed to the principle of continuous learning and the importance of a culture of excellence when growing successful teams. Hélène is passionate about supporting startups. She is Chair of Next AI and CDL AI in Montreal leading Canadian programs that help build disruptive startup companies that challenge large industries.

CEO and cofounder, Zetane Systems

Guillaume Hervé is the CEO and co-founder of Zetane Systems, a deep-tech scale up in the field of artificial intelligence focused on delivering explainable, trusted and robust deployed AI solutions and tools deployed in complex industrial applications. Mr. Hervé is also Chairman of the Board of CTS Santé, one of Canada’s most active accelerators for health technologies in Canada. He is an active mentor and coach with tech start-ups at leading Canadian accelerators such as Founder Fuel, TechStars, District 3, CTS Santé, and the Business Families Foundation. He is also the author of the highly praised book on corporate innovation, “Winning at Intrapreneurship – 12 Labours to Overcome Corporate Culture and Achieve Startup Success.”

Assistant Professor, Canada CIFAR AI Chair, McGill University

Golnoosh Farnadi is an assistant professor at McGill University. She develops novel machine learning and AI models to tackle fairness and ethics in AI. Her recent work has mainly focused on addressing bias and algorithmic discrimination in decision making models.

Head of North America Data Science and Canada Data And Analytics, Unilever

Gary is a Business Intelligence and Advanced Analytics leader with more than 20 years of experience in the data and analytics space. Through strategic and thought leadership he has helped create a strong vision for a transformation through analytics agenda for Unilever in North America, developing a multi-year roadmap to further advance the use of AI in business decision making. Gary strongly supports research and innovation and investing in developing Artificial Intelligence talent, firmly believing in the evolving role of technology in the workplace and its importance in digital transformation.

President and COO, LeddarTech, Chancellor and Chairman of the Board, Université de Montréal, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, Groupe 3737

Entrepreneur, technologist, lecturer and philanthropist, with more than 25 years of experience in the electronics and automotive sector, Frantz Saintellemy is an internationally recognized expert in cutting-edge technologies, the source of several patents, innovations and young plants. He sits on various boards of directors, including those of Sharethrough, APMA, the Association québécoise des technologies and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. In particular, he is an advisor to the Minister of Economy and Innovation for the development of the Quebec research and innovation strategy by being a member of the Quebec Innovation Council.

CEO, CRIM

CEO and Co-Founder, Axya

Félix Bélisle Dockrill is the CEO and Co-Founder of Axya, a modular source-to-pay solution focused on manufacturing companies that manage complex and fast-paced procurement operations. Félix has a background in anthropology and mechanical engineering. This combination of fields of studies puts him in a very good position being able to create links between the human being aspect, and the much more cartesian aspect of analyzing and manufacturing mechanical systems. Having worked for Bombardier and then Airbus in the quality department, Félix was at the forefront of the multiple challenges related to supply chain management. His experience led him to challenge the status-quo and think differently to find how the various processes could be improved and operated on a daily basis.

Senior Director, Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, Beneva

Étienne is passionate about innovative uses of data to better support customers and optimize operations. He has been leading and mobilizing high-performance data science teams for over 15 years, helping financial institutions achieve their digital transformation. Through his experience, he has learned to surround himself with and mobilize talent for success.
Since 2021, he has been orchestrating the implementation of an artificial intelligence and advanced analytics practice at Beneva, a mutual insurance company resulting from the merger of La Capitale and SSQ.

Senior Director, Business Development, Tenstorrent

Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research, Université de Montréal

Emma Frejinger is a Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at Université de Montréal. She holds a Canada Research Chair, and an industrial chair funded by the Canadian National Railway Company (CN Chair in Optimization of Railway Operations). She has a Ph.D. in mathematics from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. Her research interests lie at the intersection between machine learning and operations research with applications to transportation and logistics problems. Her research is mostly focused on developing new methodologies combining prediction and optimization algorithms to tackle large-scale real-world problems. She is a member of CIRRELT, an associate member of Mila, and she works part-time as a scientific advisor for IVADO Labs.

CEO, Whale Seeker

Emily Charry Tissier is a biologist with more than 20 years of experience studying coastal and arctic ecosystems. She is the co-founder and CEO of Whale Seeker, a Techstars Montréal AI company and an Ocean Solutions’ Accelerator company, that automates whale detection from imagery using AI. Whale Seeker's approach helps clients including governments, private industry, and NGOs scale whale detection using ethical AI solutions. As the first Certified B Corp company using AI in service of wildlife, Whale Seeker is committed to ethical development and deployment of AI. Emily's passion for protecting our planet's wildlife has led her to become a thought leader in the intersection of AI and conservation, recognized as one of the top 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics.

Senior Director, Aftermarket Products and Services, Bombardier

Growing up in Montreal, where Bombardier’s presence stretches back to 1942, Elza Brunelle-Yeung had her sights set on the airframer as a prospective employer long before she ever entered the workforce. After completing her studies in 2009—she holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from McGill University and a master’s in aeronautics engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology—she landed a role in the company’s business strategy division. Returning to her engineering roots, Brunelle-Yeung launched Bombardier’s Aftermarket Products and Services department and has led it for the past five years, overseeing everything from aircraft modifications and upgrades to Bombardier’s connected aircraft program, Smart Link Plus.

Senior Advisor - Business Development, LexRock AI

Executive Director, Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, CIFAR

Elissa Strome is the Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at CIFAR. She works with leaders at Canada’s three national AI Institutes in Edmonton (Amii), Montreal (Mila), and Toronto (Vector Institute) and across the country to advance Canada’s leadership in AI research, training and innovation. She is a champion of equity, diversity and inclusion in science, and an ambassador for Canada’s position in AI research, innovation, and policy internationally.

ASSOCIATE | TRADEMARK AGENT, Fasken

Eliane Ellbogen is an intellectual property lawyer with a focus on information technology. She advises and represents clients in complex, high-profile patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret matters. She is frequently called upon to litigate IP cases. She also handles the IP component of transactions involving IT companies.

Executive director of the Global AI Risk Initiative, Centre for International Governance Innovation, CIGI

Duncan Cass-Beggs is executive director of the Global AI Risk Initiative at CIGI, focusing on developing innovative governance solutions to address current and future global issues relating to artificial intelligence (AI). Duncan has more than 25 years of experience working on domestic and international public policy issues, most recently as head of strategic foresight at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Executive Vice-President and Chief Information and Technology Officer, CN

Dominique Malenfant was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Information and Technology Officer in September 2020. Based in Montreal, Dominique is responsible to deliver CN’s technology strategy, with a focus on automation technology and the digitalization of CN’s network and operations. Dominique has spent nearly 30 years in global leadership roles in the transportation and rail industries. In his most recent role, Dominique was Senior Vice-President, Engineering and Chief Technology Officer at Wabtec Corporation. Prior to his position at Wabtec Corporation, Dominique held the position of Vice-President of Global Technology at GE Transportation. During his tenure at Wabtec Corporation and GE Transportation, Dominique was focused on the next generation of Precision Scheduled Railroading and Positive Train Control technologies and spearheaded a major digital industrial evolution in rail.

Continuous Improvement Manager, Simplex

Director of continuous improvement at Location d'outils Simplex since 2015, by his varied expertise, he mainly plays 3 main roles within the AI project which are: Project Manager, Business Process Specialist and Operations Data Analytics Coordinator. Highly analytical in his approach and supported by six sigma training, he has built an expertise in analyzing data related to business processes and digital tools to optimize and control operational activities.

Assistant Managing Editor, Forbes

Diane Brady is an award-winning business journalist and author who has interviewed newsmakers worldwide and often speaks about the global business landscape. As Assistant Managing Editor at Forbes, she oversees leadership coverage and C-suite networks while building out new events and franchises. She previously led teams and reported on critical business trends for Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, and Maclean's. Prior to joining Forbes, she worked for McKinsey and had her own company that focused on creating new ways to engage audiences through multi-platform content.  Her book "Fraternity" was named one of Amazon's best books of 2012, and she also cowrote the acclaimed "Connecting the Dots" with former Cisco CEO John Chambers. 

VP, AI Engineering, Vector Institute

Deval is passionate about the role of digital technologies in accelerating energy transition and energy equity, as well as about building machine learning teams and products for societal good. He was the co-founder of the Future Energy Lions network at Shell. Deval also serves as a Director on the technical steering committee of Moja Global, a not-for-profit, collaborative project that brings together a community of experts to develop open-source software under Linux Foundation used for country-level greenhouse gas accounting from AFOLU sector. Deval is on the task force for Digitalization in Energy at the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE).

Country Manager, Intel Canada

Denis Gaudreault is the Country Manager for Intel Canada. He is responsible for defining, implementing, and driving a unified cross-organization to enhance the company’s prominence in the Canadian market. As Intel’s in-country senior executive in Canada, he interfaces with government officials, key customers executives, major ecosystem partners and represents the company on several industry organizations and events. Since joining Intel in 2000, Denis has held a variety of positions with broad domestic and international experience, including Global Lead for the Government Vertical, Director for Intel US Federal team, Director for France Enterprise & Public Sector team and Director of Americas (LATAM) Territory Team just to name a few.

Core Member and Canada CIFAR AI Chair, Mila

Executive Vice President, Manufacturing, IT and Operational Excellence System, Bombardier

David Murray is responsible for all aerostructures, assembly and completion activities, as well as Bombardier’s transformation through its Operational Excellence system and IT roadmap. David’s mandate is to accelerate initiatives, further strengthen Bombardier’s organizational and operational capabilities into the future, as well as allow next-generation digital technologies to further enhance Bombardier’s core processes. His focus is on supporting Challenger and Global aircraft manufacturing, while increasing the productivity and effectiveness of Bombardier’s business processes and IT tools to maximize organizational performance. These key elements will enable Bombardier to achieve its business priorities in alignment with the company’s strategic plan.

Head of Data & Analytics, CAE

David is a data and analytics leader with over 20 years of experience in developing and deploying enterprise business solutions. He has an EMBA and a B.Sc. in Computer Science. As Head of Data and Analytics at CAE, David is responsible for developing and executing the organization's data and analytics strategy, overseeing data governance and management, identifying opportunities for data-driven innovation, building, and leading a high-performing data and analytics team, collaborating with business stakeholders, and ensuring regulatory compliance. He enables CAE to fully leverage data and analytics to drive business growth and drive CAE’s vision to be the worldwide partner of choice in civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare by revolutionizing our customers’ training and critical operations with digitally immersive solutions to elevate safety, efficiency, and readiness.

Host - ALL IN

Dave Kelly is an award-winning host, writer, and interviewer who creates intelligent and deeply human moments for events and keynote conversations around the world. From his beginnings as a TV Host, Dave has spent decades leading conversations with business and political leaders across North America and beyond, from Stanford School of Business in California to Amman, Jordan and everywhere in between. Ellen Degeneres selected Dave as the moderator and interviewer for her multi-city tour across Canada, he hosted a conversation with President Barack Obama in Calgary and sat down for a conversation with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Montreal. Dave’s conference work now includes full emcee services, with consultation on program flow, in depth panel discussions, hosting of awards shows, and maintaining pace and flow of the event. He is now seen regularly at single and multi-day conferences across North America in various industries including annual gatherings of the Canadian Credit Union Association, Celero, Global Business Forum, Scale AI, Lowes, Bayer and Modivcare. Dave is the co-founder of Kelly Brothers Productions, a video and entertainment company.

Senior Vice President, Products & Platforms, Mastercard Canada

Darrell MacMullin is Senior Vice President of Products & Platforms at Mastercard in Canada. He leads the product teams, strategy, and roadmap execution for all product and platform business lines, including Consumer Cards, B2B, Digital, New Payment Platforms, Cyber Intelligence, Crypto and Open Banking. Darrell brings more than 20 years of financial technology leadership and business management experience to his role. In 2019, he received the Canadian Fintech and AI award for Leadership. 

Vice President, Data Science, Intact Assurance

Dany Simard is a highly accomplished actuary, with a track record of success in the insurance industry. He completed his Actuarial Science Bachelor's degree in 2009 at Laval University. After completing his undergraduate studies, he obtained his Fellowship of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) in 2011, followed by his Fellowship in the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) in 2013.  Throughout his career, Dany has worked in a variety of roles within the insurance industry, including corporate actuarial, personal lines pricing, and claims analytics. In 2019, he was promoted to the role of Vice President Data Science in Intact’s Data Lab, where he currently leads a team focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve operational efficiency and customer experience across all lines of business.  In his current role, Dany has played a critical part in developing innovative solutions that have helped his company stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving insurance landscape. He has a deep understanding of how data and technology can be leveraged to drive business value, and he has a proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to achieve shared goals.   Outside of work, Dany is a devoted family man who loves spending time with his three kids, run and hike.

Senior Strategic Advisor, Novarium

Daniel Olivier cumulates over 20 years of experience in maritime logistics and ports, including over 10 years in management positions. He obtained a Ph.d. from the University of Hong Kong in 2006. He has published on the topics of container ports, logistics, and Asian transnational firms in a number of academic journals and books. He later obtained a certificate in supply chain management from Georgia Tech in 2011 and has been an active member of CILTNA since 2013.

Director, Growth and Market Development, Canam

Daniel Barbeau, M.Eng. holds a master's degree in industrial engineering from Polytechnique Montréal. Before joining Canam Group in 2015, he worked as a contractor in the construction industry. In his current position as Manager, Market Growth and Development, Daniel uses and explores new technologies in construction to drive innovation and value creation. Previously, he held various positions related to engineering and innovation at Canam Group, areas he is passionate about.

Co-Founder, AIGC Chain

Cyrus is a co-founder of AIGC Chain, (the first foundation model of AI generated content on a blockchain, with a responsible AI focus), the ex-Co-founder of Stability AI and a co-founder of Duckweed Bio, a Florida Agtech/Climate Tech venture. He is a Contributor to VALDI.ai, a web3 P2P ML cloud computing platform. Cyrus was a Partner at FoundersX Ventures, a cross-stage Silicon Valley VC, and the co-founder of the AI Initiative of The Future Society, where he led global governance of AI projects such as the Global Data Access Framework. He served as Advisor to the UAE Minister of Artificial Intelligence where he convened for 2 years the Global Governance of AI Roundtable at the World Government Summit. He is active at the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) where he co--leads the Safety and Assurance of Generative AI (SAFE) project, as well as being an invited expert on the AI for climate action & biodiversity and agro Committees. Educated at Sciences Po Paris, MA (Hons) Paris II University, M.P.A. Harvard Kennedy School.

Data Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, Citizen AI LAb, Northeastern University

Dr. Claudia is a senior researcher affiliated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Northeastern University, where she focuses on designing human-centered AI tools that integrate generative AI to empower workers. Additionally, she holds the position of Data and Implementation Officer at Meta's Oversight Board, where her responsibilities include evaluating the impact of Oversight Board policy recommendations on Meta's broader content ecosystem. Her research spans various domains, including Artificial Intelligence, Crowdsourcing, the Future of Work, and the study of disinformation on social media platforms. She frequently collaborates with local and federal governments in Latin America and is a member of the research group at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focused on countering influence operations. Her research has garnered media attention and has been featured in publications such as Wired, the Associated Press, Newsweek, Buzzfeed, El País, and Slate.

Director, Information Technology, AEM

With over 30 years of professional experience in various roles in information technology, Christian Labonville joined AEM as the Director of IT in May 2022. His role is to oversee all IT projects in a context of change and modernization of tools. Having received his education from Polytechnique and the University of Montreal, Mr. Labonville has previously held leadership roles in large companies such as Genivar, WSP, and Lemay. He has demonstrated great skills in team management, strategic planning, and change management. In parallel, he teaches computer science at EMICA of the Centre de services scolaires de Montréal to share his expertise with the next generation of workers.

Producer, CBC/Radio-Canada

Chloe Sondervorst is a producer at CBC/Radio-Canada. Having initially worked in the Information department, she has since undertaken the creation and direction of multiple radio programs dedicated to exploring cultural and societal issues. Driven by a deep interest in digital culture, she hosts an original social media series that delves into the realm of artificial intelligence. With a master's degree in philosophy, her work consistently revolves around addressing ethical and social impact questions across various platforms.

Interactive team lead, Moment Factory

As Director of Innovation at Moment Factory, Céline Mornet is responsible for developing strategic innovation partnerships, and for internal and cross-functional innovation strategy between the various business units and competence centers. After 10 years with the company, she has earned a reputation as an essential resource for overseeing the research and technology production management of the most innovative projects. Her role is to help creative and technical teams express their ideas and implement appropriate solutions. Céline advocates an innovative approach for each project she works on, as each one is unique and requires a specific application.

Full Professor, Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law University Research Chair on Accountable Artificial Intelligence in a Global Context, Université d'Ottawa

Dr. Céline Castets-Renard is the University Research Chair on Accountable Artificial Intelligence in a Global Context, a Faculty member at the University of Ottawa Centre for Law, Technology and Society, and a Full Professor in the Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section.
Dr. Castets-Renard's research focuses on digital law and regulation in various areas of private law, ranging from the impact of technology on contracts and civil liability to intellectual property, personal data protection, e-commerce, ethical issues related to the regulation of autonomous cars and cyber security. Her work led her to be appointed to the French Government Research Chair "Law, Accountability and Social Trust in AI" within ANITI (Artificial and Natural Intelligence Toulouse Institute, ANR-3IA).

Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Montreal

Catherine Régis is a full professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Collaborative Culture in Health Law and Policy, co-director of the Health Hub – politics, organizations and law (H-POD), Associate Academic Member at Mila (Quebec Institute for Artificial Intelligence) and Co-Chair of the ​​Working Group on Responsible AI for the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI). She is also a researcher at the Public Law Research Center of UofM (CRDP), at the Research Center of the University of Montreal Academic Health Center (CRCHUM), at the International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology (OBVIA) as well as Special Advisor and Associate Vice-Rector for Strategic Planning and Responsible Digital Innovation.

Lawyer and Trademark Agent, Montreal Partner, ROBIC

Caroline Jonnaert is an attorney, trademark
agent, and partner at ROBIC, a firm specialized in intellectual property law.
Caroline focuses her practice on technology law, copyright law, and advertising
and marketing law. Her expertise in intellectual property law has been
recognized numerous times by the "Best Lawyers in Canada" ranking.
Caroline holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Montreal. Her thesis,
which earned her a distinction of excellence as well as a spot on the Dean's Honor
List, focuses on copyright and artificial intelligence.

Chief Commercialization Officer & Vice President, Industry Innovation, Vector Institute

Cameron Schuler is the Chief Commercialization Officer & Vice President, Industry Innovation at the Vector Institute. He is the former Executive Director of Amii, where, for 8 years, he led one of the top-ranked Machine Learning and AI groups in the world. Cameron’s multifaceted career has covered finance, business & product development, consumer products, IT and general management from start-ups to mature companies.

CEO, AMII

Cam Linke is a longtime leader in Edmonton’s technology and startup community. Over the past 10 years, he has worked as a CEO, investor, community builder, product manager, software entrepreneur, academic, and developer. Past roles include Co-founder of Startup Edmonton, Founder of Flightpath Ventures, CEO of Touch Metric, Product Manager at Nexopia.com, and Founder of DemoCamp Edmonton. Linke is a sought-after speaker and mentor and has been recognized as Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40.

Managing Director, Enterprise Data & Artificial Intelligence, Air Canada

Bruce Stamm is the Managing Director, Enterprise Data and Artificial Intelligence at Air Canada where he leads a team of Data, Analytics and AI professionals building and maintaining enterprise-wide analytics, machine learning and optimization solutions across the Airline. Before joining Air Canada, Bruce led digital and data organizations across a variety of high-technology companies in the Aerospace, Video Gam and Telecom sectors. Based in Montreal, Bruce holds bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

President, True North Marine

Brian has been involved in the marine industry for nearly 30 years, specializing in routing and performance analysis for ocean going vessels. In 2013, Brian was one of the founding partners of True North Marine based in Montreal and presently serves as President of the company. In recent years the company has been at the forefront of developing AI based software solutions to optimize vessel performance in order to reach emissions targets for the industry while simultaneously ensuring commercial needs are met. Brian is a former member of the Royal Canadian Navy and holds a BA from McGill University.

SVP, Digital & Data Engineering, EllisDon

Brandon is passionate about driving the future of construction technology. Rooted in digital innovation and data, he leverages his experience to transform construction technology and PropTech. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a hunger for performance enhancement, Brandon executes strategic initiatives to maximize profitability. The mass adoption and acceleration of artificial intelligence in the technology sector had started to overlap heavily within the construction technology industry. And Brandon and his team are leaders in seizing this to build out more robust products and services to support the construction industry.

Professor of Economics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), SKEMA Business School Canada

Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné is currently Professor of Economics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Skema Business School. He holds a master's degree in economics from Université Laval and a doctorate in operations research from Yale University. He taught successively at INSEAD, École polytechnique de Montréal and HEC Montréal, before joining Skema in August 2019. His main areas of research and expertise are in incentive theory, technological risk management, environmental economics and innovation management. He has published numerous scientific articles on these subjects, and has acted as a consultant to various public and private organizations, including the OECD and the World Bank. In 2004, he was elected Fellow of the European Economic Association by his peers. In 2006, he was awarded (with co-author Pauline Barrieu) the "Finance and Sustainability European Research Award" for the article "On Precautionary Policies" published in the journal Management Science.

Director, INVEST-AI Program, IVADO LABS

Benoit has over 25 years of experience in the information technology sector, including as an entrepreneur and CEO of AI companies. Prior to leading the INVEST-AI fund, Benoit gained expertise in the development and financing of technology companies as an advisor to the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), among others. Benoit holds a doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University in the field of artificial intelligence applied to engineering.

Director Consulting Expert - Data Science, CGI

Behnoosh is a Data Scientist and AI leader at CGI. She currently serves as a Director Consulting Expert covering many industries. Her mission is to transform business needs into AI and data science solutions and supports CGI clients in the adoption and responsible use of AI.

Director, Commonwealth of Learning

Senior Counsel, McCarthy Tétreault

Barry is one of Canada's foremost authorities in intellectual property, information technology, Internet and digital copyright issues including issues associated with artificial intelligence. Barry Sookman has argued precedent-setting cases at all levels of courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada where he has appeared 10 times.
Barry is the author of numerous books, including the leading 8 volume treatise Computer, Internet and Electronic Commerce Law, and Canadian and Copyright: Cases and Commentary on the Canadian and International Law.
Barry has extensive experience in governance issues associated with digital technologies including AI. Barry is on the AI Ethics Advisory Board for the Digital Supercluster and is on the Connected Minds Advisory Board (which has a major focus on AI). He is also on the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) advisory board. Prior to the that he was on the CIGI Advisory Board.
Barry is consistently identified as one of Canada’s top intellectual property and information technology lawyers and thought leaders. He is a leading Canadian blogger on copyright, Internet and information technology issues including artificial intelligence at his blog barrysookman.com. He is also on trade association committees dealing with reform including Chamber of Commerce Innovation and digital committees, and TECHNATION.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

Through roles in the public sector at the municipal and federal levels, Ashley developed expertise in responsible AI, standards, policy, open government, and data governance - key elements she believes are necessary to provide safe, responsible technology that is equitable and safe for all. As the Director of Data and Digital for the Government of Canada, Ashley previously led the development of the world’s first national government policy for responsible AI.

Building from this work, Ashley now serves as the Executive Director of the Responsible AI Institute, a multi-stakeholder non-profit dedicated to mitigating harm from the use of AI systems. Ashley also acts as a member of OECD’s AI Policy Observatory Network of Experts, as the chair the World Economic Forum Global AI Action Alliance’s Responsible AI Certification Program, as an Executive Board Member of the International Centre of Expertise in Montréal on Artificial Intelligence (CEIMIA), and as a member of the IFIP/IP3 Global Industry Council (GIC) within the UN. She also lends her time as an expert advisory committee member for the Global Index on Responsible AI.

Executive Editor, The Logic

April Fong is Executive Editor of The Logic, Canada's business and tech newsroom. She was previously Senior Digital Producer at BNN Bloomberg, where she oversaw the editorial content of its digital platforms. Prior to that, she was a digital producer at the Financial Post and an editor at China Economic Review. April is passionate about business journalism and currently teaches Business Reporting at her alma mater, Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication.

CEO, Deloitte Canada

Anthony Viel became the Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Canada in June, 2019. His vision for the firm reflects a commitment to pursue bold and focused growth choices to make a better Canada and Chile for our clients and our communities. Central to these choices is increasing Deloitte Canada’s ability to continually apply disruptive thinking to ourselves and our clients, and by elevating the firm’s partners and people to reach their full potential. Anthony joined Deloitte in 2000 in Australia. Since then he has made a significant impact on the firm, holding a number of leadership roles in Forensics and Financial Advisory in Australia. Most recently, he was the Managing Partner of Financial Advisory, led our Analytics offering in Canada and headed up our Greenhouse program located across a network of seven innovative spaces called Greenhouses. In these roles, Anthony fostered the development of key talent at Deloitte with many people he mentored taking on broader leadership positions within the firm.

Chief Health Data Officer, CHUM

Ms. Nguyen is a dynamic leader leveraging extensive experience managing complex projects with a solid understanding of the impact of data and analytics on business strategy and operations. She holds a strong belief that all good technology starts with a human purpose.

Vice-President, Consulting Expert, CGI

Andy is a data, analytics and digital expert who works with leading clients throughout North America to convert digital and analytics capabilities into actionable insights that drive competitive advantage. He has a long and successful track record of building, leading and executing global, enterprise-scale transformational programs. Andrew’s success stems from a passion for building high-performing teams and aligning business goals and capabilities.

CEO & Founder, Gray Oncology Solutions

Andre is a PhD in Medical Physics, specializing in deep learning for outcome prediction in oncology. He co-founded Gray Oncology Solutions, an enterprise driven by a vision of a healthcare system where no resources are wasted. Its team of experts is united around one mission: to put technology at the service of a sustainable and equitable health system, by becoming the operating system for healthcare. They are on a journey to delivering strategic and operational excellence in cancer care for each patient, one centre at a time.

Founder, AI Commons and Managing partner, K5 Ventures

Amir Banifatemi is an accomplished technology executive and strategist with over 25 years of experience creating and managing companies and projects that generated thriving ecosystems of AI and emerging technology ventures. He recently spearheaded large global competitions focused on catalyzing innovations in AI and robotics, as Chief Innovation Officer at XPRIZE.

Associate Professor, École de technologie supérieure (ETS)

Ali Motamedi is an Associate Professor at École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS). He received his Ph.D. from an interdisciplinary engineering program at Concordia University. From 2014 to 2016, he conducted research in a world-renowned laboratory at Osaka University, Japan. His research investigates the application of sensor networks, ambient and artificial intelligence, and visual analytics for the design, construction and management of built facilities. His interests also reside in the cyber-physical interactions provided by “digital twins” of facilities through an integration of digital models and the Internet of Things (IoT). Ali is the holder of several national and international scholarships, fellowships and awards including JSPS, FQRNT, NSERC, and the Merit Award. His research results have been published in several journals and presented in various conferences and won multiple best-paper awards. He also has many years of consulting/design experience in the area of facilities management and information technology and has participated in several large-scale IT projects.

Co-Founder & CTO, Dialogue

Mr. Smirnov has been Chief Technology Officer of Dialogue since 2016. Before joining Dialogue, Mr. Smirnov was Chief Technology Officer of Nexalogy Evironics Inc. from 2015 to 2016, Senior Solutions Architect, Director of Design and Director of Research at Radialpoint Safecare Inc. from 2011 to 2015 and Senior Architect at Hopper Inc. from 2010 to 2011. Mr. Smirnov earned a Bachelor of Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Montréal.

Vice-President - Strategic Development and Innovation, 7Doigts de la main

Alexandre Teodoresco is Vice-President of Strategic Development and Innovation at Les 7Doigts de la main. Les 7Doigts are leaders in live performance in Canada, and have been touring the planet with their original creations for 22 years. Alexandre has his sights firmly set on the future of live performance. His mandate is to guide Les 7Doigts into new markets, and to design and implement strategies to explore new horizons for the company. His comfort zone and the projects he leads lie at the intersection of human creativity, live performance and technology. One of these structuring projects, LAB7, is already enabling 7Doigts to embark on the adventure of AR, VR, XR and, of course, artificial intelligence. An ardent promoter of Quebec's techno-creative strengths, Alexandre contributes to the advancement of AI for the cultural industries as Chairman of Entertain - AI.

Executive & Leader, Enterprise Advisory Services, SIA Innovations

For over 20 years now, Alexandre have been helping organizations to embrace new technology, modernize their operations as well as to develop employee & customer engagement. Lately, with the arrival of new technology enablers such as Cloud, Mobile, Social, Analytic & the Internet of Things, Alexandre helps organization leveraging the opportunity of converting them to a digital one. However, digital is not the final destination, but the foundation that will prepare your organization to embrace the cognitive era!

CEO & Co-Founder, LexRock AI

For over 25 years, Alain Lavoie has been a leader in the information technology ecosystem. He is an expert in the world of digital transformation, information management and automatic natural language processing. He is mainly known for defending the interests of SMEs in information technology while promoting the ICT field. Mr. Lavoie co-founded Irosoft, whose expertise is based on language understanding, automatic natural language processing (NLP/ALT) and modern ML and AI techniques, and LexRock AI, an AI platform for the analysis, extraction and comparison of information from unstructured documents for various sectors including finance, insurance, legal and cybersecurity. He is involved with FORUM IA Québec, IVADO, MILA, PINQ, UdeM, FCCQ and Groupe 3737.