Olivier Blais
Co-Chair of the Advisory Council on AI
Co-founder and VP of Artificial Intelligence at Moov AI
Olivier is the co-founder and VP of Artificial Intelligence at Moov AI, recognized as a leader in deploying artificial intelligence solutions in Quebec.
Having played a role as an editor of the international ISO standard defining the quality of artificial intelligence systems and leading a team of 50 AI professionals from different countries, he was appointed as the Chair of the Canadian Mirror Committee for Artificial Intelligence (AI) at ISO/IEC from June 2023 to December 2025. This committee aims to promote global cooperation and drive progress in the field of AI, ensuring that Canadian expertise has a significant impact on a global scale. In early 2026, he decided to focus on his role as Project Leader for ISO/IEC AI system quality evaluations international standards.
His cutting-edge knowledge in AI and machine learning has led him to lead the implementation of a data culture in various industries and support digital transformation projects in numerous companies.
Olivier is an inspiring leader, placing innovation and security at the core of his concerns. Firmly believing that AI can empower humans, he is always on the lookout for new solutions to help businesses achieve their objectives.
Diane Gutiw
Co-Chair of the Advisory Council on AI
Vice-President, CGI - AI Research Center Lead
Dr. Diane Gutiw is the Vice President leading CGI's Global AI Research Centre, which provides thought leadership on AI best practices for CGI and our clients globally. In this role Diane has led the design and implementation of standards to ensure Responsible AI policies and practices across CGI's 93,000 members globally. Diane is also engaged in advising policy makers and business leaders in Canada and the United Kingdom, and the EU AI Commission on emerging AI Legislation and Codes of Conduct for AI developers and implementers. Diane's experience in applying research ethics rigor to business and clinical focused AI and Analytic solutions have helped accelerate these initiatives. Diane holds a PhD in Information Technology Management where she conducted doctoral research on medical AI/expert system solution modeling and adoption and has also served as a lecturer at Simon Fraser University as well as having been engaged in designing and co-delivering material on Data Science in Medicine for the UBC Medical School DASH program. Diane has over 35 years of experience in the design, development and delivery of highly integrated big data, analytics and AI solutions, including leading public health surveillance solutions in Canada to drive evidence-based decision making. Diane is an experienced presenter and author of whitepapers and academic research on responsible use of AI and continues to extend her knowledge in applied AI and emerging technologies for positive business and societal impacts.
Yoshua Bengio
Chair of the Responsible and Safe AI Working Group
Scientific Director, Mila
Full Professor, Université de Montréal
Yoshua Bengio is Full Professor of Computer Science at Université de Montreal, as well as the Founder and Scientific Director of Mila and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair. Considered one of the world's leaders in Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning, he is the recipient of the 2018 A.M. Turing Award, considered like the "Nobel prize of computing". He is also the most cited computer scientist worldwide.
Professor Bengio is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of London and Canada, an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Knight of the Legion of Honor of France, a member of the UN's Scientific Advisory Board for Independent Advice on Breakthroughs in Science and Technology and chairs the International AI Safety Report.
Mèlika Carroll
Head of global government affairs and public policy at Cohere
Mèlika is the head of global government affairs and public policy for Cohere, an enterprise AI company. Prior to joining Cohere, she built and led Sonder's corporate affairs functions as a member of the senior leadership team that took the company public on Nasdaq. Mèlika also serves on the board of directors of Reliability First.
Earlier in her career, Mèlika established a track record in leading the public policy strategy for several Fortune 500 technology companies including Intel, Micron, HP and Salesforce. In addition to her experience in the private sector, Mèlika has worked for national elected officials in Canada and the U.S.; has guest lectured at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University and The Washington Campus; and co-founded the Global Women's Innovation Network.
Glenda Crisp
President and CEO, Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence
Glenda Crisp is the President and CEO of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Glenda is a seasoned data and technology leader with over 35 years of experience. She has hands-on experience with the development and execution of enterprise data and analytics strategies, leading technology and enterprise architecture functions, and driving remediation of data breaches and ransomware attacks.
She has worked primarily in the financial services industry, both directly for large financial institutions and as a consultant. She is an independent board member for OCAD University and The Globe and Mail, and has prior experience on not-for-profit boards and advisory groups. Most recently, Glenda was the Head of Data and Analytics for Thomson Reuters, responsible for defining and driving the enterprise data and analytics strategy focused on delivering high-impact commercial outcomes.
Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Glenda was the Executive Enterprise Data and Architecture at National Australia Bank, responsible for shifting the technology portfolio to a multi-cloud architecture, building cloud-native data hub and advanced analytics/AI platforms and operationalizing a Privacy and Data Ethics function.
In 2022 and 2023, she was named a top 100 Global Chief Data Officer (CDO) (Corinium's Business of Data Global Leaders in Data and Analytics Top 100) and in prior years, recognized as one of the top 100 Chief Information Officers (CIO) in North America by CIO Magazine.
Nicole Janssen
Co-Founder & Co-CEO of AltaML
Nicole Janssen is an established entrepreneur and recognized leader in artificial intelligence. As the Co-Founder & Co-CEO of AltaML, a premier developer of AI-powered solutions, she plays a crucial role in steering the company's success. Nicole's extensive experience spans various sectors, including public sector, agriculture, financial services, health, and energy, with her deep industry insights instrumental in AltaML's growth. Dedicated to promoting global education on responsible AI, Nicole has earned recognition from the RAI Institute. In 2023, her exceptional contributions were celebrated with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Woman in AI of the Year and recognition as one of North America's Top 25 Women of Influence. In February, 2025 she was also recognized with the King Charles III Coronation Medal. Before co-founding AltaML, Nicole also established Janalta Interactive Inc. and Stratus Holdings Inc. She currently serves as a Director at Edmonton Unlimited and the Canadian Council of Innovators.
Rex Lee
Chief Information & Technology Officer at the Canadian Tire Corporation
Rex is the Chief Information & Technology Officer at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC), responsible for all aspects of technology encompassing retail locations, digital properties, corporate operations, and global facilities. He has been instrumental in driving major advances in digital transformation, cloud operations, cybersecurity, data and artificial intelligence with recognitions including Orbie CIO of The Year (2023), and CIO of the Year from CIO Association of Canada (2022).
Rex serves on the boards of The Canadian Cancer Society and Make-A-Wish Canada. He holds an MBA from DeGroote School of Business, a BA from Western University and ICD.D from Rotman School of Business. With 25+ years of technology leadership across retail, financial, telecom, and high-tech, Rex has proven his ability to comprehend the ever-evolving state of technology with pragmatic applications to unlock value. He has been referenced in several publications, is a sought-after key-note speaker and active in the Canadian technology community.
Cam Linke
Chief Executive Officer, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii)
Cam Linke is the CEO of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) and a longtime leader in Edmonton's technology and startup community. Over the past 10 years, he has driven growth in Alberta's tech sector as a CEO, investor, community builder, product manager, software entrepreneur, academic, and developer. Linke is a sought-after speaker and mentor and has been recognized as Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40. Past roles include Co-founder of Startup Edmonton, Founder of Flightpath Ventures, CEO of Touch Metric, and Product Manager at Nexopia.com. Linke is also an artificial intelligence researcher, having completed his M.Sc. in computing science under Dr. Richard S. Sutton and Dr. Adam White. His research focuses on AI adapting behaviours to improve their own self-learning.
Valérie Pisano
President and CEO of Mila
Valérie Pisano is the president and CEO of Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute. Founded by Professor Yoshua Bengio, Mila is recognized as a world leader in scientific advances that inspire the growth of AI for the benefit of all.
With nearly 20 years of experience in leadership, strategy and transformation, she was Chief Talent Officer at Cirque du Soleil and co-founded the Mobius Project on Bias, an initiative focused on diversity and women's leadership.
She began her career at McKinsey & Company after earning a master's degree in economics from HEC Montréal. She sits on the boards of directors of Montréal International and Chartwell.
Elissa Strome
Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, CIFAR
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. Elissa is a member of the federal government's AI Advisory Council, a member of the OECD's Network of Experts on AI and Expert Group on AI in Health, a member of the Health Canada Expert Advisory Committee for AI in Health, and sits on the Advisory Board of York University's Centre for AI & Society. Her strong leadership and support of women and gender-diverse people in STEM has been recognized by a Special Jury Recognition at the Women in AI Awards North America (2023) and the Womxn in Data Science Lifetime Achievement Award (2022).
Elissa completed her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia. Following a post-doc at Lund University, in Sweden, she decided to pursue a career in research strategy, policy, and leadership. From 2008 – 2017 she held senior leadership positions at University of Toronto's Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, advancing major institutional strategic research priorities, including establishing and leading the SOSCIP research consortium.
Natiea Vinson
CEO, First Nations Technology Council
Natiea is a member of Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc and is currently the CEO of the First Nations Technology Council. Natiea has more than fifteen years of experience working as an entrepreneur and across academia, social enterprise organizations and the public and private sectors. In all her roles, Natiea has advocated for institutional innovation, reconciliation, and Indigenous renewal. She has held several senior positions at Indigenous-led organizations, including as the Director of Programs at the Canadian Council of Indigenous Business and as the Founder of Makook, an Indigenous content discovery service.
