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  • Wednesday 24th
  • 07:30 - 08:30
    REGISTRATION
  • 08:30 - 09:10
    WELCOME AND MEET UP
  • 09:20 - 09:25
    WELCOME InspiredMinds! Maisie Holder, Group Director, InspiredMinds!
    • Maisie Holder, Group Director, InspiredMinds!

  • 09:25 - 09:30
    WELCOME to Canada Anne Nguyen, Chief AI Officer, Quebec Innovation Council
    • Anne Nguyen, Chief AI Officer, Quebec Innovation Council

  • 09:30 - 09:35
    WELCOME and Chairperson’s Opening Remarks Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com
    • Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com

  • 09:35 - 10:00
    HEADLINER: Open Science and AI Foundation Models: Allies in the Pursuit of Knowledge Joelle Pineau, Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar, School of Computer Science, McGill University; Co-Managing Director, Meta AI Research

    This talk will provide new perspectives on the trajectory of AI in 2024, from research to product. We will explore how open science provides a powerful paradigm to ensure new AI foundation models are developed and deployed in a way that is transparent and responsible, while enabling speed and scale of innovation across the ecosystem.

    • Joelle Pineau, Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar, School of Computer Science, McGill University; Co-Managing Director, Meta AI Research

  • 10:00 - 10:25
    HEADLINER: Human at the helm: Leading in AI today, preparing for the AI of tomorrow Marc Mathieu, SVP AI Transformation & Vice Chair, Salesforce Global Advisory Board, Salesforce

    In an era where generative AI technology is becoming an integral part of our professional and personal lives, the question of trust is more pertinent than ever. How can we ensure that the AI we interact with is reliable and secure today, but also as the AI continues to evolve?

    Human in the Loop will not be enough for the AI of the future; we will need to create tools and governance to ensure that the AI can be empowered to automate everything that we delegate to it, while at the same time keeping the human in control.

    Join Marc Mathieu, SVP AI Transformation & Vice-Chair AI Advisory Board at Salesforce, for a discussion around how to foster a safe, secure, and trustworthy AI environment where humans and AI can work in harmony.

    • Marc Mathieu, SVP AI Transformation & Vice Chair, Salesforce Global Advisory Board, Salesforce

  • 10:20 - 10:55
    HEADLINER: Human by design: How AI unleashes the next level of human potential Krish Banerjee, Canada Managing Director, Data, Analytics & Applied Intelligence, Accenture

    We are creating a generation of technology that is more human. We must strive to make technology more intuitive, more intelligent, and seamlessly threaded into every aspect of our lives. Accenture predicts that over the coming 12-24 months there will be a significant uptick in companies who embrace generative AI as a catalyst for reinvention. In the coming years, businesses will have an increasingly powerful array of technologies at their disposal that will open new pathways to unleash greater human potential, productivity, and creativity. Early adopters and leading businesses have kick-started a race toward a new era of value and capability. And their strategies are underpinned by one common thread – the technology is becoming more human.

    • Krish Banerjee, Canada Managing Director, Data, Analytics & Applied Intelligence, Accenture

  • 10:50 - 11:25
    MID-MORNING BREAK
  • WORLD SUMMIT AI PLENARY Chair: Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com
    • 11:20 - 12:00
      PANEL DISCUSSION: Maximizing the AI opportunity: Balancing competitive-advantage and safety with AI innovation Panellists:
      Alyssa Lefaivre Škopac, Head of Global Partnerships and Growth, Responsible AI Institute
      Elena Fersman, VP Head of Global AI Accelerator & Head of Silicon Valley Site, Ericsson
      Chantal Guay, CEO, Standards Council of Canada
      Marc Mathieu, SVP AI Transformation & Vice Chair, Salesforce Global Advisory Board, Salesforce
      Moderator:
      Philip Dawson, Head of AI Policy , Armilla AI

      Dive into a compelling panel discussion featuring industry leaders and experts as they discuss strategies to synchronize AI adoption with effective risk management and safety measures so they can leverage AI innovation with confidence. Through  case studies and actionable insights, explore how forward-thinking companies are seamlessly integrating AI technologies while strategically mitigating risks to stay ahead of the curve. 

      • Panellists:

      • Alyssa Lefaivre Škopac, Head of Global Partnerships and Growth, Responsible AI Institute

      • Elena Fersman, VP Head of Global AI Accelerator & Head of Silicon Valley Site, Ericsson

      • Chantal Guay, CEO, Standards Council of Canada

      • Marc Mathieu, SVP AI Transformation & Vice Chair, Salesforce Global Advisory Board, Salesforce

      • Moderator:

      • Philip Dawson, Head of AI Policy , Armilla AI

    • 12:05 - 12:25
      HEADLINER: Reinforcement learning for therapeutics Doina Precup, Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Associate Professor of Computer Science, McGill University; Research Team Lead, DeepMind

      Discovering new medicines and adapting treatments to patients are crucial problems in healthcare. Reinforcement learning can help in a variety of applications, from treatment dosing to drug discovery. Doina will discuss the tremendous potential of reinforcement learning methods, and highlight new algorithms that arise due to these challenging problems, as well as practical issues that need to be addressed, such as reward design.

      • Doina Precup, Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Associate Professor of Computer Science, McGill University; Research Team Lead, DeepMind

    • 12:25 - 12:45
      HEADLINER: AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable Dr. Roman V. Yampolskiy, Author; Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Louisville

      Many scientists, futurologists and philosophers have predicted that AI will enable humanity to achieve radical technological breakthroughs in the years ahead. In his talk, Dr. Yampolskiy will cover current progress in artificial intelligence and predicted future developments, including artificial general intelligence and superintelligence. The talk will address some obstacles to progress in development of safe AI as well as ethical issues associated with advanced intelligent machines. The problem of control will be covered in the context of safety and security of AI.

      • Dr. Roman V. Yampolskiy, Author; Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Louisville

  • TRACK 1: AI IN ACTION: ENTERPRISE STORIES Chair:
    Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus
    • 11:20 - 11:40
      USE CASE: Gen AI at scale for B2B2C insurance Sushma Niwalkar, Senior Director AI/ML Strategy, Northwestern Mutual

      Generative AI has the potential to transform every aspect of society, including the insurance industry. In this session, we’ll discuss Northwestern Mutual’s comprehensive approach to developing GenAI capabilities – understanding the critical technical and organizational pillars needed for building a foundation that is both flexible and scalable. Join us as we share our journey to deploy GenAI enterprise-wide to improve operating efficiency, boost financial advisor effectiveness and accelerate organizational velocity. We’ll also detail the practical lessons learned along the way, from prioritization to production

      • Sushma Niwalkar, Senior Director AI/ML Strategy, Northwestern Mutual

    • 11:45 - 12:05
      USE CASE: Training the next generation of pilots with AI Adaptive Learning Applications Annik Carson, PhD. Adaptive Learning Product Lead, AI Redefined
      Mike Jones, Director of Engineering Services, Systems Technology, Inc.(STI)

      Electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are an emerging technology in the aviation industry aimed at offering a quiet, low-emissions mode of short-range air transport. The development of this technology is happening at a time of unprecedented workforce shortages across the aviation industry, a phenomenon which is due in part to challenges of cost, time, and access to training resources in order for learners to become fully proficient. Systems Technology, Inc. (STI) and AI Redefined (AIR) have partnered to deliver a data-driven approach to eVTOL training to reduce training time and cost, increase efficiency, and meet regulatory safety standards. Integrating with simulation-based training, AI Redefined’s Cogment Adaptive Learning platform uses AI to identify mistakes, provide feedback, and create novel training content targeted to each individual learner’s needs. The design of this application allows students to train on-demand and at their own pace, shifting training from an hours-based to a competency-based model, and providing a path toward better student outcomes in training programs to meet workforce needs

      • Annik Carson, PhD. Adaptive Learning Product Lead, AI Redefined

      • Mike Jones, Director of Engineering Services, Systems Technology, Inc.(STI)

    • 12:05 - 12:25
      USE CASE: Digitizing the supply chain: the path to AI empowerment Annie Cyr, CEO & Co-Founder, Tengiva

      Valuable AI requires quality data in sufficient quantity. In this talk, Annie Cyr will emphasize the importance of deploying a solid ecosystem to collect the right data for artificial intelligence (AI) development. She will discuss Tengiva’s efforts in mapping out a network of information to improve the accuracy, quality, and efficiency of future supply chain AI models.

      Annie will share insights on how AI might be used to optimize resource usage, increase transparency across the entire textile supply chain, and promote better sustainability practices that lower the environmental impact in this trillion-dollar industry that, traditionally, has had high climate impact.

       

      • Annie Cyr, CEO & Co-Founder, Tengiva

    • 12:25 - 12:45
      USE CASE: Generative AI - LLMs Applications in Mining Industry Pauline Camus, Principal Data Scientist, Rio Tinto
      Tony Deng, Tech Lead, Senior Data Scientist, Rio Expert, Rio Tinto

      The presentation will focus on the significant impact of Generative AI (Gen AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) on the mining industry, showcasing their potential to transform traditional operations. By leveraging LLMs for automating key tasks such as operational documentation and safety protocols, the industry can achieve greater efficiency and reduce the reliance on manual labor throughout the value chain. LLM’s advanced capabilities in processing and analyzing vast document archives are instrumental in enhancing decision-making processes and operational effectiveness. The session will also present concrete examples of Gen AI and LLM applications in mining, illustrating a move towards more precise, efficient, safer, and environmentally friendly practices. This shift towards integrating Gen AI and LLMs marks a pivotal moment in the industry, heralding a future where technological innovation drives progress.

      • Pauline Camus, Principal Data Scientist, Rio Tinto

      • Tony Deng, Tech Lead, Senior Data Scientist, Rio Expert, Rio Tinto

  • TRACK 2: INNOVATION INSIGHTS Chair:
    Dr Raul V. Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University
    • 11:20 - 11:40
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: AI at the edge and in the field Jonathan Binas, CTO, Vivid Machines

      Vivid Machines is a technology startup building cutting-edge computer vision systems. Our real-time inference platform enables new applications in challenging environments, such as agriculture, where data volumes are high and connectivity is limited. This talk will provide a perspective on deploying AI at the edge and exciting new opportunities in this space, as well as an overview of a number of real-world use cases in specialty crops.

      • Jonathan Binas, CTO, Vivid Machines

    • 11:45 - 12:05
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: Transforming communication through AI Joël Gallant, CEO & Co-Founder, CLIC Labs
      William Caron, COO & Founder, CLIC Labs

      We live in a global community, but there is still one challenge; how to effectively talk to the neighbors from a different country. Imagine if we could speak, everyone in their own language, and listen to each other in ours.  

      Many translation solutions today are not synchronous and break the flow of a conversation.  CLIC Labs can offer fast, smooth, and seamless translation, preserving the naturalness and richness of real conversations and eliminating language barriers without altering the meaning of communication. With its ease of use and much lower cost compared to existing market solutions, this offers radical change in the field of simultaneous translation

      • Joël Gallant, CEO & Co-Founder, CLIC Labs

      • William Caron, COO & Founder, CLIC Labs

    • 12:05 - 12:25
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: Unlocking innovation through responsible use of data Rebecca (Bex) Evans, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Responsible AI, OneTrust

      According to Gartner, 47% of CIOs cite privacy as the #1 concern about using AI. In recent years, data privacy efforts have evolved from simple regulatory compliance initiatives to a customer trust imperative dependent on the responsible use of data across its entire lifecycle. To build trust-based personalized experiences, organizations must evolve their privacy programs from early phases to higher levels of maturity. Join OneTrust Senior Product Marketing Manager, Rebecca Evans, for a discussion on data privacy maturity and practical guidance for evolving data privacy governance practices to enable AI-powered innovation

      • Rebecca (Bex) Evans, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Responsible AI, OneTrust

    • 12:25 - 12:45
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: TKS Lightning Talks: The next generation of AI innovators Sasha Przybylski, TKS Activator
      Krishiv Thakuria, TKS Activator
      Amrita Ghag, TKS Activator

      Witness firsthand as these young minds share their insights and innovative solutions, demonstrating how AI is revolutionizing key sectors critical to the advancement of society. From redefining education to unlocking the potential of fusion energy and propelling the transition to sustainable energy sources, these four-minute presentations promise to inspire, enlighten, and spark new ideas.

      • Sasha Przybylski, TKS Activator

      • Krishiv Thakuria, TKS Activator

      • Amrita Ghag, TKS Activator

  • TRACK 3: WORKSHOPS
    • 11:20 - 12:20
      WORKSHOP: AI adoption – making the right decisions for your organization Workshop Hosts:
      Miriam Price, Principal Data Strategist, AtkinsRéalis
      Abigail Beaumont, Head of Data Strategy & Data Management, AtkinsRéalis
      Hunter Song, Director, Business Development, AtkinsRéalis
      Josh Weisbrod, Machine Learning Engineer, AtkinsRéalis
      Lisa Brown, Vice-President Transformation and Digital, Canada, AtkinsRéalis

      AI has the potential to be an enabler for so much good, including how companies live up to their values and their ESG targets. But these values must also shape a company’s approach to AI adoption and development. Participants at this workshop will be given a hands-on experience of evaluating AI use cases against their own company values, using a Data and AI Ethics Framework. AtkinsRéalis will share some examples of what it is doing in this space,  before facilitating a workshop which will see: 

      • Participants explore company values, and how AI can help to supporting those, and industry- agnostic AI use cases
      • Participants guided through a self-assessment of their ethical profile using the AtkinsRéalis Data & AI Ethic Framework
      • The results of the ethical profiling exercise compared with the risks identified in the AI use cases and the impact they have on their purpose and values to create a decision matrix for AI investment
      • Participants reflect as a group on how they can represent ethical priorities in organizational investment decisions

      AtkinsRéalis

      • Workshop Hosts:

      • Miriam Price, Principal Data Strategist, AtkinsRéalis

      • Abigail Beaumont, Head of Data Strategy & Data Management, AtkinsRéalis

      • Hunter Song, Director, Business Development, AtkinsRéalis

      • Josh Weisbrod, Machine Learning Engineer, AtkinsRéalis

      • Lisa Brown, Vice-President Transformation and Digital, Canada, AtkinsRéalis

  • 12:45 - 13:45
    LUNCH

    BOOK SIGNING! 13:00-13:30

    WORLD SUMMIT SALES AREA EXPO FLOOR STAND E11

    Dr. Roman V. Yampolskiy will be signing a limited number of complimentary copies of his new book AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable which explores the various reasons why the field is so challenging. Written by one of the founders of the field of AI safety, this book addresses some of the most fascinating questions facing humanity, including the nature of intelligence, consciousness, values and knowledge.

  • WORLD SUMMIT AI PLENARY Chair: Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com
    • 13:45 - 14:05
      HEADLINER: How to use AI for sustainable impact Sreedhar Sistu, Vice President, AI Offers, Schneider Electric

      Join Sreedhar Sistu, VP AI External Offers, Schneider Electric, discussing how to put data and AI to work at scale, in order to solve the biggest challenges of our generation: climate change and decarbonization. Discover how AI can be used to reduce energy consumption and resulting GHG emissions in buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and industries. Learn how, thanks to AI, sustainable development and business profitability can go hand in hand. Finally, hear how AI is helping remove the barriers to deploy energy efficiency solutions at scale, today. After all, sustainability cannot wait.

      • Sreedhar Sistu, Vice President, AI Offers, Schneider Electric

    • 14:05 - 14:25
      HEADLINE TECH TALK: Towards AGI: Predicting scaling behaviors and training Large Foundation Models on Supercomputers Irina Rish, Core Member of Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute; Canada CIFAR AI Chair, Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Autonomous AI; Professor, Université de Montréal

      As AI progresses rapidly with the emergence of foundation models, understanding their scaling behaviors becomes crucial. Empirical neural scaling laws serve as predictive tools to guide the selection of scaling methods that are more likely to stand the test of time, escaping “the bitter lesson”. Predicting AI behaviors, especially emergent phenomena and rapid transitions at scale are essential for ensuring AI Safety and Alignment. In this talk, Irina will discuss her efforts in accurately forecasting AI behaviors using both open-box and closed-box approaches. Furthermore, she’ll showcase large-scale open-source foundation models developed in her lab thanks to supercomputing resources at OLCF, including 7B RedPajama-INCITE (RPI) and CL-FoMo suite of 9.6B large language models (LLMs), the first Hindi model Hi-NOLIN, multimodal vision-language suite Robin, and Lag-LLama – one of the first time-series foundation models. Their continual pre-training paradigm enables training on infinite datasets, while ethical considerations and multimodal alignment remain central in their approach. See the CERC-AAI project page for more details: https://www.irina-lab.ai/projects.

      • Irina Rish, Core Member of Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute; Canada CIFAR AI Chair, Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Autonomous AI; Professor, Université de Montréal

    • 14:25 - 14:45
      HEADLINER: AI and SuperComputing: the hottest new couple in tech Nicolas Dube, Senior Fellow and Chief Architect, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

      With its growth to LLMs and foundational models, AI has now crossed the chasm to become a true supercomputing workload.  However, running at a scale of many thousands of GPUs does not necessarily happen without challenges.  This talk will start by outlining the key issues encountered by most around GPU reliability, software/runtime resiliency and high-speed networking performance. It will then cover some techniques and trade-offs that have been used to run supercomputing workloads up to exascale and close with a proposal on how to train the next generation of AI models sustainably.

      • Nicolas Dube, Senior Fellow and Chief Architect, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

    • 14:45 - 15:10
      HEADLINER: Crisis or Cure: The divisive debate on AI’s role in modern healing Rohan Goswami, Director - Heart Transplant Research and Innovation, Mayo Clinic

      As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to infiltrate the realm of healthcare, the debate surrounding its impact on modern healing intensifies. This presentation delves into the heart of the controversy, exploring the dual narrative of AI as a potential crisis or a transformative cure. Delving into ethical considerations, societal implications, and the evolving landscape of patient care, we scrutinize the divisive perspectives that surround AI’s integration into medicine. Join Rohan for a thought-provoking exploration of whether AI is a disruptive force threatening the sanctity of healthcare or an indispensable ally ushering in a new era of healing possibilities.

      • Rohan Goswami, Director - Heart Transplant Research and Innovation, Mayo Clinic

  • TRACK 1: DEEP DIVE TECH TALKS Chair:
    Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus
    • 13:45 - 14:05
      TECH TALK: Deploy intelligent cyber-physical ecosystems for remote and autonomous healthcare delivery, bridging Earth and space environments Darine Ameyed, Adjunct Professor, Quebec University at Chicoutimi and University of Sherbrooke;  Chief Scientific Officer & Founder, Baüne

      Project presentation on Medical Cyber-Physical System MCPS on space healthcare. The modern world is increasingly relying on the successful combination of digital and physical systems to perform complex automation and continuously connected smart service delivery.  The development of cyber-physical systems (CPS), ensuring their efficiency, reliability, and security is an important raising area of research and development.  Such systems promise solutions in major areas like retail, transport, manufacturing, buildings, and communities, as well as medical and healthcare.  A big leap in the development of CPS has ensured the future of remote healthcare and personalized medicine, which is also one of the priority areas in the Strategy for the Development of Health and Medical Science. The aim of this presentation is to expand the capabilities of cyber-physical systems in remote-like locations in terms of integrating heterogeneous components in various situations that arise in the process of caring for a patient in such a unique care space. The goal is to enable pervasive autonomous and intelligent healthcare services to address shortcoming physical delivery systems in a remote location-like space

      • Darine Ameyed, Adjunct Professor, Quebec University at Chicoutimi and University of Sherbrooke;  Chief Scientific Officer & Founder, Baüne

    • 14:05 - 14:25
      TECH TALK: Sparsify Open-Source LLMs for Accelerated Inference Mark Kurtz, CTO, Neural Magic

      Organizations are starting to feel the friction as they deploy LLMs to production. The intense compute requirements are demanding on inference serving infrastructure, and as a result, are expensive to operate and support. So, how do you deploy your LLMs without breaking the bank? Sparsify to remove redundancy, reduce memory footprint, and increase performance while keeping your LLMs intact. You can also start with a sparsified foundational model to get to production quicker.Join Mark Kurtz as he shares industry-leading model optimization and inference acceleration techniques you can apply to your LLM applications today with open-source and free-to-use software

      • Mark Kurtz, CTO, Neural Magic

    • 14:25 - 14:45
      TECH TALK: LLMOps - Deploying, managing and fine-tuning domain-specific LLMs for generative AI apps Utkarsh Contractor, VP of AI, Aisera

      Join  Utkarsh Contractor, VP of AI at Aisera, as he explores LLMOps, encompassing aspects from building to deployment and management of LLMs, addressing concerns such as model refinement and domain adaptation. Diving deeper, he will address ways of tailoring LLMs for specific use cases leveraging RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) and fine-tuning techniques within a TRAPS framework (Trust, Responsible AI, Privacy, and Security). This aims to enhance accuracy, minimize hallucinations, ensure accountability, and safeguard privacy with robust security measures. By addressing these factors, organizations can harness the full potential of LLMs in applications, ranging from action bots and AI Copilots to AI Search, with proven ROI.

      • Utkarsh Contractor, VP of AI, Aisera

    • 14:45 - 15:05
      TECH TALK: Search Relevance: The key to effective Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) Mathieu Fortier, Director of ML/NLP, Coveo

      In the rapidly evolving field of Generative AI, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) systems have emerged as a powerful tool for generating high-quality, contextually relevant responses. However, enterprises testing these capabilities have uncovered the need for effective search to ground answers in accuracy. ​

      Join this session to understand how enhancing search relevance can improve the performance of RAG. Uncover:

      -Key underlying capabilities that are prerequisites for effective GenAI

      -The importance of a complete system including connectivity, relevance, AI and analytics

      -Lessons learned from GenAI production deployments at scale

      • Mathieu Fortier, Director of ML/NLP, Coveo

  • TRACK 2: INNOVATION INSIGHTS Chair:
    Dr Raul V. Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University
    • 13:45 - 14:05
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: Necrobotics 360: Innovating tomorrow's healthcare landscape Dr Raul V. Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University

      Explore how Necrobotics 360 is reshaping the future of healthcare with its visionary integration of cutting-edge AI technologies. This transformative initiative combines AI, machine learning, data analytics, and advanced robotics to elevate healthcare delivery standards. Emphasising collaboration, data interoperability, and ethical principles, Necrobotics 360 envisions a future where AI-driven solutions streamline clinical processes, enhance diagnostics, revolutionise patient care practices, and contribute to the development of a more efficient, compassionate, and technologically advanced healthcare ecosystem.

      • Dr Raul V. Rodriguez, Vice President, Woxsen University

    • 14:05 - 14:25
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: Real-time RAG in LLM applications Ankit Virmani, Data and ML leader, Google

      This talk will go over a real-life example/demo of how to keep the vector DB up to date using streaming pipelines, and the importance of RAGs and how they can be used to eliminate hallucinations, which can have a huge catastrophic impact on the outputs of LLMs. If you are a data and machine learning engineer who wants to work through a deep dive session on how to fine tune LLMs using open source libraries, then this is for you!

      • Ankit Virmani, Data and ML leader, Google

    • 14:25 - 14:45
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: The future of peace: Using AI to predict war Max Murphy, Data Scientist, Overwatch Data

      In recent years, war has cascaded around the world. But could AI transform peace building in the 21st century? This talk will explore the latest developments in AI which might help us to predict violent conflict in advance by identifying subtle trends and connections in decades’ worth of data – from climate factors to patterns of violence.

      • Max Murphy, Data Scientist, Overwatch Data

    • 14:45 - 15:20
      PANEL DISCUSSION: Ask the Investors: How to take your start-up to the next stage: What are investors looking for? Geoffrey Cheng, Investment Manager, Comcast SportsTech
      Taha Mubashir, Principal, Inovia Capital (VC)
      Sonny Tahiliani, Exec. Director & Tech. Lead, RTX Ventures (Venture Capital)
      Jojo Ye, Associate - Technology Investment, Sixty Degree Capital
      Moderator:
      Isaac Souweine, Partner, Pender Ventures
      • What are the latest investment trends in AI?
      • What are the best ways to raise your investments under the current climate?
      • What do VC’s and investors look at when making investment decisions?
      • Geoffrey Cheng, Investment Manager, Comcast SportsTech

      • Taha Mubashir, Principal, Inovia Capital (VC)

      • Sonny Tahiliani, Exec. Director & Tech. Lead, RTX Ventures (Venture Capital)

      • Jojo Ye, Associate - Technology Investment, Sixty Degree Capital

      • Moderator:

      • Isaac Souweine, Partner, Pender Ventures

  • TRACK 3: WORKSHOPS
    • 13:45 - 14:45
      WORKSHOP: Can it Be Done? 1 Hour to Ship a Robust and Explainable Real World AI Product Patrick St-Amant, Co-Founder & CTO, Zetane Systems
      Jon Magoon, Chief Product Officer, Zetane Systems

      Calling all AI Developers!

      Join this session to build a real world multi-modal product in only one hour alongside our CTO Patrick St-Amant, CPO Jonathan Magoon and our Industrial AI team. Build confidence with visual modeling and harness the power of cutting-edge AI models using ZetaForge. In this session you will walk alongside our team throughout the process helping demystify pipelines and experience a more efficient way of developing robust AI-powered tools. Together we will swiftly develop, test and deploy a product in under 60 min.

      • Patrick St-Amant, Co-Founder & CTO, Zetane Systems

      • Jon Magoon, Chief Product Officer, Zetane Systems

  • 15:10 - 15:55
    REFRESHMENTS
  • WORLD SUMMIT AI PLENARY
    • 15:55 - 16:20
      HEADLINER: Thrive in the modern market: Mastering Generative AI for enterprise prosperity I-Sah Hsieh, Principal Program Manager, Data Ethics Practice, SAS

      You’ve heard the hype, but are you ready to put GenAI into action? While it offers potential productivity improvements and unlocks new use cases, enterprise leaders must ensure GenAI builds on existing IP and technical and business frameworks. Explore how leaders are accelerating GenAI adoption rigorously and responsibly. From reshaping decision-making processes to unlocking new realms of curiosity, learn from recent case studies and best practices across industries. Now is the time to harness the power of GenAI for a competitive advantage, leading your organization toward success

      • I-Sah Hsieh, Principal Program Manager, Data Ethics Practice, SAS

    • 16:20 - 16:40
      HEADLINER: Anticipating (better) AI futures Joanna Lepore, Global Foresight & Capabilities Exploration Director, McDonald’s Corp
      • Joanna Lepore, Global Foresight & Capabilities Exploration Director, McDonald’s Corp

    • 16:40 - 17:15
      PANEL DISCUSSION: Discussing best practice to promote responsible and trustworthy Gen AI and LLMs Panellists:
      Dr Yannick Lallement, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Scotiabank
      Dr Colleen Lyons, Ethicist, Large Government Agency
      Aaron Franks, Research Lead, Data Sovereignty Research Collaborative, First Nations Information Governance Centre
      Pamela Snively, Chief Data & Trust Officer, TELUS Communications
      Moderator:
      Philip Dawson, Head of AI Policy , Armilla AI

      Does openness and collaboration accelerate innovation?

      What risks do these models pose?

      Does the immense scale of these technologies imply greater obligations for responsible development?

      Should governments regulate these models and if so how?

      Open source vs closed models?

      Effective Codes of Conduct

      • Panellists:

      • Dr Yannick Lallement, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Scotiabank

      • Dr Colleen Lyons, Ethicist, Large Government Agency

      • Aaron Franks, Research Lead, Data Sovereignty Research Collaborative, First Nations Information Governance Centre

      • Pamela Snively, Chief Data & Trust Officer, TELUS Communications

      • Moderator:

      • Philip Dawson, Head of AI Policy , Armilla AI

    • 17:15 - 17:40
      HEADLINER: AI for an Age of Planetary Transition(s) Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer, Planet

      From climate change and the loss of nature to pandemic prevention and global food insecurity, we live in an age of interlinked planetary crisis. These perils require new kinds of insights, actions and governance to address them — and AI will play a foundational role in their development. In this walking tour of the emerging field of “Planetary AI,” Andrew Zolli, Planet’s Chief Impact Officer, will showcase foundational concepts and real-world-examples of how the combination of AI and streams of planetary data are helping humanity live more gently, resiliently, and intelligently upon the Earth

      • Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer, Planet

  • TRACK 3: WORKSHOPS
    • 15:55 - 16:55
      WORKSHOP: Concerned about regulatory compliance? Examine how upcoming certification requirements, such as AIMS, affect conformity assessment bodies, AI developers and users? Workshop Hosts:
      Jacquelyn MacCoon, Senior Project Manager, Standards Council of Canada (SCC)
      Justin Osmond, Senior Policy Analyst, Regulatory Affairs, Standards Council of Canada (SCC)

      Fear no more! In this workshop, SCC will help participants understand the potential impact of a newly published international standard for AI management systems, ISO/IEC 42001, also known as “AIMS”. Regulation of AI is on the horizon in many countries and international standards will play an important role in regulatory compliance. AIMS certification can help organizations prove their dedication to responsible development and use of AI. The standard specifies the requirements, and provides guidance for establishing, implementing, and continually improving a quality management system within an organization using or developing AI. Since it provides a trusted and internationally aligned framework to ensure the responsible use of this technology, it is likely to play an important role in the regulation of AI. Come to the workshop to learn more about the standard and how to select a qualified certification body.

      • Workshop Hosts:

      • Jacquelyn MacCoon, Senior Project Manager, Standards Council of Canada (SCC)

      • Justin Osmond, Senior Policy Analyst, Regulatory Affairs, Standards Council of Canada (SCC)

  • 17:40 -
    CLOSE OF SUMMIT DAY ONE
  • Thursday 25th
  • 08:00 - 08:30
    REGISTRATION
  • 08:30 - 09:30
    WELCOME
  • 09:25 - 09:30
    WELCOME InspiredMinds! Maisie Holder, Group Director, InspiredMinds!
    • Maisie Holder, Group Director, InspiredMinds!

  • 09:30 - 09:35
    WELCOME and chairperson’s opening remarks Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com
    • Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com

  • 09:35 - 09:55
    HEADLINER: Why a different approach is needed to monetize the value of generative AI capabilities Darren Martin, Chief Digital Officer, AtkinsRéalis

    As service providers continue to invest in AI to develop new service lines and transform existing capabilities, a step change is needed across these organizations to monetize the value delivered instantly to clients, particularly in the advisory sector. Traditional contracts, time-based pricing, and the race-to-the-bottom approach won’t work when selling automated services — the focus must be on value and outcomes. Clients simply won’t pay by the hour for AI-driven automation that can be done in seconds.

    So why are so many organizations racing to create AI capability when there’s as much risk in “low and slow” adoption as there is in moving too fast and getting it wrong? 

    Drawing on extensive experience in technology leadership roles and a strong track record of driving digital transformation in the infrastructure sector, Darren will explain why a different approach is needed to monetize the value of generative AI capabilities. Drawing on concrete examples from Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) Consultancies, from sales and marketing to commercials and billing, Darren will reflect on lessons learned, success, failure and enduring misconceptions about AI’s place in this sector.

    • Darren Martin, Chief Digital Officer, AtkinsRéalis

  • 09:55 - 10:20
    HEADLINER: Generative AI integration and Financial Services: a balancing act Foteini Agrafioti, Head, Borealis AI & Chief Science Officer, Royal Bank of Canada

    Generative AI is a transformative technology that has a profound impact on various industries and our society as a whole. Although there is a lot of excitement and potential surrounding the use of GenAI, it is necessary to conduct technical and social research to understand and manage any associated risks. In particular, how can Generative AI be used in customer service for financial institutions? Foteini Agrafioti, Chief Science Officer of RBC and Head of Borealis AI, delves into the potential of this technology and shares approaches for responsible use and mitigating potential risks.

    • Foteini Agrafioti, Head, Borealis AI & Chief Science Officer, Royal Bank of Canada

  • 10:25 - 10:55
    PANEL DISCUSSION: What drives successful AI adoption? Panellists:
    Riccardo Cosentino, Senior Vice-President, AtkinsRéalis
    Yog Domlur Seetharama, Director of Data Science, Walmart Global Tech
    Ajinkya Malasane, Senior Director, AI Product Strategy, TELUS International
    Eklove Mohan, Sr. Director, CTO Office, Synechron
    Sushma Niwalkar, Senior Director AI/ML Strategy, Northwestern Mutual
    Moderator:
    Alka Roy, Product & Technology Leader, Founder, RI Labs & The Responsible Innovation Project, Guest Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley.
    • What problem do you need to solve?
    • Is AI/tech the best solution and, if so, when should you use it, and for what purpose?
    • What’s hype and what’s not?
    • Panellists:

    • Riccardo Cosentino, Senior Vice-President, AtkinsRéalis

    • Yog Domlur Seetharama, Director of Data Science, Walmart Global Tech

    • Ajinkya Malasane, Senior Director, AI Product Strategy, TELUS International

    • Eklove Mohan, Sr. Director, CTO Office, Synechron

    • Sushma Niwalkar, Senior Director AI/ML Strategy, Northwestern Mutual

    • Moderator:

    • Alka Roy, Product & Technology Leader, Founder, RI Labs & The Responsible Innovation Project, Guest Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley.

  • 10:55 - 11:20
    Carrefour: how AI and Gen AI are boosting the retail giant’s operational efficiency and customer experience Sebastien Rozanes, Global Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Carrefour

    At the end of 2021, Carrefour made a major strategic shift by embarking on its transformation into a Digital Retail Company. This means that digital is no longer just an e-commerce sales channel, but a genuine agent for transforming all the company’s functions from negotiation to the in-store experience. Equipped with the largest data lake in European retail, Carrefour has developed a strategy that places data and artificial intelligence at the heart of its business model, with the aim of making employees more efficient and improving the customer experience. Come and discover very concrete use cases in which data, A.I. and, more recently, generative A.I. are revolutionizing this retail giant, with Sébastien Rozanes, Global Chief Data & Analytics Officer of Carrefour

    • Sebastien Rozanes, Global Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Carrefour

  • 11:20 - 11:45
    REFRESHMENTS
  • WORLD SUMMIT AI PLENARY Chair: Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com
    • 11:45 - 12:05
      HEADLINER: Revolutionizing innovation at the speed of thought Larry Heck, Professor of ECE and Interactive Computing, Executive Director, AI Hub and Machine Learning Center, Georgia Tech

      Amidst the ongoing discourse surrounding the potential threats posed by AI and the apprehensions about AI superseding human roles, an alternative perspective emerges for the future of AI. Rather than displacing humans, this vision sees AI as a collaborator that augments and elevates humanity. In this narrative, AI works in tandem with humans, extending our capabilities far beyond current limits and bestowing upon us unprecedented superpowers of creativity and productivity. Instead of viewing AI as a mere automaton, it transforms into our ‘ironman’ suit, a powerful ally in our pursuits. The ultimate goal is to harness AI’s potential to facilitate innovation at the speed of thought. Imagine having an idea and seamlessly collaborating with your AI Virtual Assistant (AVA) to bring that idea to fruition. While recent strides in generative AI represent a significant leap in this direction, there is still a considerable journey ahead.

      In this talk, Larry will explore the advancements made toward this visionary future with a primary focus on overcoming the communication barriers between humans and machines. To highlight the potential, he will talk about a specific application of this vision: scientific research at the speed of thought.  The presentation will conclude by outlining the remaining research challenges that must be tackled to fully embrace this collaborative and transformative relationship between humans and AI.

      • Larry Heck, Professor of ECE and Interactive Computing, Executive Director, AI Hub and Machine Learning Center, Georgia Tech

    • 12:05 - 12:25
      HEADLINER: AI: The catalyst for business reinvention Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President, AI at Work, Microsoft
      Marna Ricker, EY Global Vice Chair – Tax, EY

      AI has the potential to transform nearly every facet of our lives, and nowhere is this more true than at work. We’ll explore how AI will become interwoven into every aspect of the firm, from boosting personal productivity and creativity to fully automating business processes. Jared will be joined by Marna Ricker, Global Vice Chair, EY to discuss and offer tangible examples to help business leaders leverage AI to solve their unique business problems, reduce costs and drive net-new value creation.

      • Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President, AI at Work, Microsoft

      • Marna Ricker, EY Global Vice Chair – Tax, EY

    • 12:25 - 13:00
      PANEL DISCUSSION: How do LLMs and AI impact the cybersecurity landscape Panellists:
      Darine Ameyed, Adjunct Professor, Quebec University at Chicoutimi and University of Sherbrooke;  Chief Scientific Officer & Founder, Baüne
      Kevork Belgen, Director - Security Architecture and Research, Scotiabank
      Suman Phogat, Director, Detection Engineering & Automation, Bank of Montreal
      Martin-Guy Richard, CISO - Chief Information Security Officer, Ville de Montréal
      Moderator:
      Dr. Fehmi Jaafar, Director of the Research Chair on CyberDefence and Protection of Personal Information (CybPro), and Associate Professor, Quebec University at Chicoutimi
      • How to improve cyber resilience across your workforce
      • Understanding the risks and how to most responsibly handle them as rapid adoption of AI-driven productivity tools leads to a higher threat risk
      • Leveraging these tools to benefit from earlier detection and a shorter breach lifecycle
      • Incorporate guidelines for the responsible use of AI tools in the workplace
      • Panellists:

      • Darine Ameyed, Adjunct Professor, Quebec University at Chicoutimi and University of Sherbrooke;  Chief Scientific Officer & Founder, Baüne

      • Kevork Belgen, Director - Security Architecture and Research, Scotiabank

      • Suman Phogat, Director, Detection Engineering & Automation, Bank of Montreal

      • Martin-Guy Richard, CISO - Chief Information Security Officer, Ville de Montréal

      • Moderator:

      • Dr. Fehmi Jaafar, Director of the Research Chair on CyberDefence and Protection of Personal Information (CybPro), and Associate Professor, Quebec University at Chicoutimi

  • TRACK 1: RESPONSIBLE AI AND GOVERNANCE Chair:
    Katalin Feher, EU Horizon NGI Visiting Professor, Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute, Associate Professor, Ludovika UPS
    • 11:45 - 12:05
      HEADLINER: From the Future of Responsible AI to AI Media Katalin Feher, EU Horizon NGI Visiting Professor, Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute, Associate Professor, Ludovika UPS

      Considering the still somewhat unstructured field of responsible AI, this presentation aims to showcase cutting-edge strategic foresight in governance, utilizing advanced methods such as horizon scanning and backcasting. For specific industrial insights, we will explore how beliefs and uncertainties in media governance can lead to both critical thinking and potentially dangerous optimism.

      • Katalin Feher, EU Horizon NGI Visiting Professor, Concordia University’s Applied AI Institute, Associate Professor, Ludovika UPS

    • 12:05 - 12:25
      HEADLINER: Responsible AI Governance: Accelerated Technological Transformation, “Bet-the-Company” Litigation and Crystallized AI Legislation Combine to Raise the Stakes Charles Morgan, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

      Although the core principles of responsible AI governance are well-known, a “perfect storm” of recent developments has demonstrated not only how complex it can be to implement such principles, but also the extraordinary risks of “getting it wrong”. Charles Morgan, former President of the International Technology Law Association and general editor of Responsible AI: A Global Policy Framework, will explore the factors that have combined to make this a seminal moment  for urgent action as regards the responsible development and deployment of artificial intelligence and will provide practical guidance on the implications of emerging AI legislative regimes (such as the EU AI Act and Canada’s AI and Data Act) for the implementation of AI governance initiatives that balance the promotion of innovation and the mitigation of risk.

      • Charles Morgan, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

    • 12:25 - 12:45
      HEADLINER: AI ethical leadership is obsolete: VUCA 2.0 gives rise to humility Dr Colleen Lyons, Ethicist, Large Government Agency

      Our Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous (VUCA) world has made “ethical leadership” obsolete. Think of Boeing, which has endured epic ethical leadership failures despite having a large, well-resourced ethics organization.  Artificial Intelligence has turbo-charged VUCA, raising the stakes for leaders to mitigate  catastrophic risk while optimizing extraordinary competitive advantage and societal good. Generative AI has deemed traditional “ethical leadership” obsolete.  This unique presentation, in which theory and practice converge, reveals an innovative leadership model for trustworthy AI deployment through implementation science and bespoke values-driven leadership, wrapped in humility.

      • Dr Colleen Lyons, Ethicist, Large Government Agency

    • 12:45 - 13:05
      HEADLINER: We are the LIMFAC: AI has a people problem David Barnes, PhD, Founder & CEO, DAVID BARNES, LLC

      Our choices, actions, & engagements are both the limitations & the facilitators. Responsible building & usage of AI are inherently human endeavors. Embracing AI in enterprises requires a balanced & comprehensive strategy, integrating technology with human oversight, ethical considerations, & robust processes. By adopting a whole-of-enterprise approach & focusing on the synergy of people, processes, & technology, businesses can harness AI’s transformative power while minimizing associated risks.

      • David Barnes, PhD, Founder & CEO, DAVID BARNES, LLC

  • TRACK 2: INNOVATION INSIGHTS Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus
    • 11:45 - 12:05
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: Building mindfully: Managing scale and responsibility in AI tool development Mario Rodriguez, SVP of Product, GitHub

      As AI and LLMs continue to gain prominence in automating various aspects of programming, it becomes imperative for us, as responsible innovators, to not only be able to scale our generative AI tools, but also make sure that they are created and used with a significant focus on doing what’s right. This session aims to explore the critical intersection of AI, scale, and ethics, offering valuable insights into the methods and strategies that we, at GitHub, are actively implementing to ensure the responsible and scalable development of GitHub Copilot.

      • Mario Rodriguez, SVP of Product, GitHub

    • 12:05 - 12:45
      PANEL DISCUSSION: AI that serves the world Panellists:
      Colin Clark, Director of Design and Technology, Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society
      Golnoosh Farnadi, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McGill University; Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, University of Montréal; Canada CIFAR AI Chair
      David Ifeoluwa Adelani, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McGill University; Canada CIFAR AI Chair
      Catherine Régis, Professor of Law, University of Montréal; Canada CIFAR AI Chair
      Moderator:
      Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, CIFAR

      Can we build AI tools that serve global communities that have historically been either ignored

      or harmed by technologies? What will it take to maximize the opportunities for increased social

      & economic benefits for all global citizens?

      • Panellists:

      • Colin Clark, Director of Design and Technology, Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society

      • Golnoosh Farnadi, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McGill University; Adjunct Professor of Computer Science, University of Montréal; Canada CIFAR AI Chair

      • David Ifeoluwa Adelani, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McGill University; Canada CIFAR AI Chair

      • Catherine Régis, Professor of Law, University of Montréal; Canada CIFAR AI Chair

      • Moderator:

      • Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, CIFAR

    • 12:45 - 13:05
      INNOVATION INSIGHT Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus
      • Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus

  • TRACK 3: WORKSHOPS
    • 11:45 - 12:45
      WORKSHOP - 60 MINS: The EU Artificial Intelligence Act and Standards: Your pathway to the European Market Workshop Hosts:
      Simone Vazzoler, AI Technical Specialist, British Standards Institution
      Sarah Mathew, American Regulatory Lead, BSI’s AI Conformity Assessment Body, British Standards Institution
      Andrea Sanino, Senior AI Product Manager, British Standards Institution

      This session aims to prepare attendees for what it takes to place AI systems in the European Market. BSI will introduce how the EU will utilize legislation and harmonized standards to align expectations across Member States and Notified Bodies in granting access. A specific focus will be on the most recent ISO standards that can be integrated into one’s technical documentation and quality management system(s)

      • Workshop Hosts:

      • Simone Vazzoler, AI Technical Specialist, British Standards Institution

      • Sarah Mathew, American Regulatory Lead, BSI’s AI Conformity Assessment Body, British Standards Institution

      • Andrea Sanino, Senior AI Product Manager, British Standards Institution

  • 13:00 - 14:00
    LUNCH, NETWORKING AND MEET UP
  • WORLD SUMMIT AI PLENARY Chair: Fiona McEvoy, Technology & AI Ethics Writer/Researcher & Founder, YouTheData.com
    • 14:00 - 14:20
      HEADLINER: Responsible Generative AI and societal impact Merve Hickok, President & Research Director, Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP)

      Generative AI models are evolving as we speak, with significant impact on society. We are building the road and the road signs as we drive. Responsible Generative AI means ensuring justified trust for AI technologies. But what does that look like?

      • Merve Hickok, President & Research Director, Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP)

    • 14:20 - 14:40
      HEADLINER: Unleashing the Power of Data & AI to Drive Business Value and Innovation Fatih Nayebi, Vice President, Data and AI, ALDO Group

      Join Fatih Nayebi, VP of Data & AI at the ALDO Group and Faculty Lecturer at the McGill University, as he makes data and AI clear and actionable for businesses aiming for growth and innovation. In his talk, Fatih will simplify data and AI usage, avoiding complexities, to focus on key business priorities. Using real-world examples, he’ll show how to set benchmarks and track progress, aligning technology with business goals. 

      Fatih will also explore essential tools and knowledge for integrating data and AI into operations, making it accessible to both experts and beginners. He advocates for product, agile and flexible approaches to managing data and AI initiatives, leading to success. Highlighting his presentation is a model linking data quality improvements to better business results through continuous learning and improvement. 

      This session is a concise guide for businesses ready to harness data and AI for innovation, competitive advantage, and sustained success.

       

       

      • Fatih Nayebi, Vice President, Data and AI, ALDO Group

    • 14:40 - 15:00
      HEADLINER: Data and AI: With great power comes great responsibility Lambert Hogenhout, Chief Data, Analytics and Emerging Technologies, United Nations

      Being an AI expert or a data scientist these days is like having superpowers: you have a disproportionately large impact on the world. It also means we have a responsibility in terms of how we wield that power. Do we need a Hippocratic Oath for data science? How do we as individuals and businesses behave responsibly?

      • Lambert Hogenhout, Chief Data, Analytics and Emerging Technologies, United Nations

    • 15:00 - 15:20
      HEADLINER: AI in business: Revolutionizing efficiency – a choice between leading the future or lagging behind Davood Shamsi, Executive Director of AI, JPMorgan Chase

      Davood Shamsi will explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping business landscapes. Drawing on his roles at JPMorgan Chase and prior experience at tech giants, alongside his academic expertise in AI from Stanford University, he will highlight the pivotal choice businesses face: adopt AI to lead the market or neglect it and fall behind. This concise discussion promises to impart crucial insights on leveraging AI for operational excellence and competitive advantage.

      • Davood Shamsi, Executive Director of AI, JPMorgan Chase

    • 15:20 - 15:40
      HEADLINER: Discussing the implausibility that AI will approach human intelligence by the end of 2025 Prof Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology and Neural Science, New York University
      • Prof Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology and Neural Science, New York University

  • TRACK 1: DEEP DIVE TECH TALKS – In Partnership with Mila Chair:
    Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus
    • 14:00 - 14:20
      TECH TALK: Reinforcement Learning for Real-World Problems Glen Berseth, Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal; Core Academic Member, Mila - Quebec AI Institute; Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Co-Director, Robotics and Embodied AI Lab (REAL)

      Learning methods such as deep reinforcement learning have shown success in solving simulated planning and control problems but struggle to produce diverse, intelligent behaviour on systems that interact in the real world (robots). This talk aims to discuss these limitations, provide methods to overcome them and enable agents capable of training autonomously to become learning and adapting systems that require little supervision while performing diverse tasks. This talk will outline recent work on Dr. Berseth’s plan to create a unifying generalist agent for real world problems, by combining large models, large data and agents that learn from interaction in the real world to ensure a progressively useful agent.

      • Glen Berseth, Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal; Core Academic Member, Mila - Quebec AI Institute; Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Co-Director, Robotics and Embodied AI Lab (REAL)

    • 14:20 - 14:40
      TECH TALK: Generative models as queryable world models Adriana Romero Soriano, Adjunct Professor, McGill University; Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Research Scientist, Meta

      Over the last decade, the de facto standard for training high performing representation learning models has heavily relied on large scale static datasets crawled from the Internet. However, recent advances in visual content creation are challenging this status quo by pushing researchers to leverage high performing image generative models as world models that work in tandem with representation learning models by providing them with data. In this talk, Adriana will address two research questions: (1) Are state-of-the-art image generative models optimized to work as world models?; and (2) What is the most effective way to guide the generative model to produce samples that are useful for the downstream task?

      • Adriana Romero Soriano, Adjunct Professor, McGill University; Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Research Scientist, Meta

    • 14:40 - 15:00
      TECH TALK: A brain-inspired measure for assessing the quality of pretrained representations Blake Richards, Core Faculty Member, Mila; Associate Professor, School of Computer Science and Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University

      Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) with large unlabelled datasets enables pretraining of useful representations for multiple downstream tasks. However, assessing the quality of such representations efficiently poses nontrivial challenges. Existing approaches use probes to evaluate performance on a given task. This is expensive both computationally, since it requires retraining for each downstream task, and statistically, since it requires task-specific labels for multiple tasks. This poses a natural question, how do we efficiently determine the “goodness” of representations pretrained with SSL across a wide range of potential downstream tasks? In particular, a task-agnostic statistical measure of representation quality, that predicts generalization without explicit downstream task evaluation, would be highly desirable. In this work, we take inspiration from recent neuroscience findings to develop a metric for representation “goodness”. Specifically, we observe that the decay coefficient for the eigenspectrum of the empirical feature covariance (α) serves as a measure of representation quality, with networks whose α value is closer to that of the brain showing better downstream generalization.

      • Blake Richards, Core Faculty Member, Mila; Associate Professor, School of Computer Science and Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University

    • 15:00 - 15:20
      TECH TALK: In-context learning: how large models learn to learn on the fly Guillaume Lajoie, Core Academic Member, Mila; Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics (DMS), Université de Montréal

      In-context learning (ICL) refers to the ability of Transformers, the model architecture used in LLMs, to perform novel tasks based on a few examples or instructions. Like humans, with enough experience and information, large language models can process novel commands on the fly without updating their parameters. ICL is the key mechanism that supports an array of new ways we interact with AI, such as prompt engineering and chain-of-thought approaches. Yet, this property is not designed but instead emerges from a training procedure that largely focuses on next-word prediction. In this talk, Guillaume will explore the fascinating mechanism of ICL, outline how we try to improve it, and present key ways in which it may resemble (and differ) from the way we learn.

      • Guillaume Lajoie, Core Academic Member, Mila; Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics (DMS), Université de Montréal

    • 15:20 - 15:40
      TECH TALK: Building transformative software with Generative AI: Potential and pitfalls Marc G. Bellemare, Core industry Member, Mila; Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Reliant AI

      Generative AI, and large language models (LLMs) in particular, have demonstrated an impressive ability at understanding a user’s intent and translating it into a useful response, be it a trip itinerary or the summary of a new scientific paper. In business-critical contexts, however, the trust still needs to be built: LLMs digress, change their minds, and make up answers. In this presentation Marc will discuss some of the challenges he’s encountered at Reliant AI building LLM-based software for high-stakes use cases, as well as simple solutions that go a long way at helping users make the most of this technology.

      • Marc G. Bellemare, Core industry Member, Mila; Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Reliant AI

  • TRACK 2: INNOVATION INSIGHTS Chair:
    Gabrielle Hurtubise-Radet, Women in AI & Robotics Community Member; Principal Program Manager, Startups, Mila
    • 14:00 - 14:20
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: Kids Help Phone - AI trailblazers changing the youth mental health ecosystem Mariana Catz, Senior Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer, Kids Help Phone

      Kids Help Phone is an innovation, data-driven technology charity that has a laser sharp focus on youth and mental health.  In 2018, KHP launched the Youth Mental Health Innovation Imperative, where artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) was introduced in our new texting platform to support triaging and our human-to-human crisis response. As of 2024, KHP has interacted with young people more than 18.8 million times, in multiple languages through various platforms and access points.  The power of innovation, data and technology at KHP saves lives every single day.  In 2023, KHP and the Vector Institute formed a powerful partnership to unlock the horsepower of the KHP data, the largest youth mental health data-set in the country to improve and amplify e-mental health solutions. This presentation will share KHP’s journey in innovation and AI and lay out the possibilities for the future.

      • Mariana Catz, Senior Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer, Kids Help Phone

    • 14:20 - 14:30
      INNOVATION INSIGHT: The AI disruption: Navigating new frontiers in music creation Michel Zgarka, President & CEO, Hitlab Inc

      The music industry is witnessing an unprecedented surge in creativity, with over 60 million music creators worldwide, from seasoned professionals to emerging TikTok talents. This explosion of talent is fueled by affordable, accessible technology, including generative AI and sophisticated yet inexpensive hardware. With over 120,000 tracks released daily on streaming platforms, the role of AI in music creation has become a focal point of discussion. This session delves into the transformative impact of AI on the entertainment industries, examining the perspectives of creators and professionals on this evolution.

      • Michel Zgarka, President & CEO, Hitlab Inc

    • 14:30 - 15:30
      STARTUPS SHOWCASE Judges:
      Geoffrey Cheng, Investment Manager, Comcast SportsTech
      Gabrielle Hurtubise-Radet, Women in AI & Robotics Community Member; Principal Program Manager, Startups, Mila
      Taha Mubashir, Principal, Inovia Capital (VC)
      Jojo Ye, Associate - Technology Investment, Sixty Degree Capital
      Startups:
      Dan Adamson, Co-Founder, AutoAlign AI
      Philip Alm, CEO, VISS.AI
      Alison Cossette, Founder, Patrun
      Rodrigo Scotti, Founder & CEO, Nama

      FOUR AI startups short-listed for our showcase get 10 minutes to pitch their business idea to four judges. 

      After each pitch, judges get 5 minutes to ask questions about the venture.

       

      Dan Adamsom, Co-Founder, AutoAlign AI

      Philip Alm, CEO, VISS.AI

      Alison Cossette, Founder, Patrun

      Rodrigo Scotti, Founder & CEO, Nama

      • Judges:

      • Geoffrey Cheng, Investment Manager, Comcast SportsTech

      • Gabrielle Hurtubise-Radet, Women in AI & Robotics Community Member; Principal Program Manager, Startups, Mila

      • Taha Mubashir, Principal, Inovia Capital (VC)

      • Jojo Ye, Associate - Technology Investment, Sixty Degree Capital

      • Startups:

      • Dan Adamson, Co-Founder, AutoAlign AI

      • Philip Alm, CEO, VISS.AI

      • Alison Cossette, Founder, Patrun

      • Rodrigo Scotti, Founder & CEO, Nama

  • TRACK 3: WORKSHOPS
    • 14:00 - 15:00
      WORKSHOP - 60 MINS: What do sea turtles, wildfires and nursing homes have in common? Ethical AI Workshop Hosts:
      Steve Mellgren, Sr Solutions Architect, Data Ethics Practice, SAS
      I-Sah Hsieh, Principal Program Manager, Data Ethics Practice, SAS

      Developing a Trustworthy AI framework helps promote human well-being, respect privacy, proactively mitigate adverse impacts, and offer transparency about the decision-making processes and inherent risks. SAS’ approach ensures these set of principles are second nature to its employees, especially those tasked with developing new AI solutions. In this session, we’ll share some of these AI-driven projects – from saving sea turtles in the Galapagos to fighting wildfires in Canada – and discuss not only their global impact for good but also the opportunity they present to ensure responsible innovation is at the core of all of SAS’ AI development work.

      • Workshop Hosts:

      • Steve Mellgren, Sr Solutions Architect, Data Ethics Practice, SAS

      • I-Sah Hsieh, Principal Program Manager, Data Ethics Practice, SAS

    • 15:10 - 15:40
      WORKSHOP - 30 MINS

      15:10

  • 15:40 - 16:00
    REFRESHMENTS, NETWORKING AND MEET UP
  • 16:00 - 16:30
    PANEL DISCUSSION: How should we prepare for the era of an augmented workforce? Panellists:
    Mar Carpanelli, Head of AI & Skills Research, LinkedIn
    Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus
    Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President, AI at Work, Microsoft
    Natalie Mayerhofer, Associate to the Chief Learning Officer (CHUM), Co-Founder, CHUM School of AI in Healthcare
    Moderator:
    Alka Roy, Product & Technology Leader, Founder, RI Labs & The Responsible Innovation Project, Guest Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley.

    Will AI support humans to do the work they already perform, but simply with greater speed and efficiency?

    Will authentic human creativity be drowned by a wave of algorithmically-generated content?

    • Panellists:

    • Mar Carpanelli, Head of AI & Skills Research, LinkedIn

    • Dr Kevin J.Jones, IU Columbus Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; Director, Center for Teaching and Learning; Associate Professor of Management, Division of Business, Indiana University - Columbus

    • Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President, AI at Work, Microsoft

    • Natalie Mayerhofer, Associate to the Chief Learning Officer (CHUM), Co-Founder, CHUM School of AI in Healthcare

    • Moderator:

    • Alka Roy, Product & Technology Leader, Founder, RI Labs & The Responsible Innovation Project, Guest Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley.

  • 16:30 - 17:50
    HEADLINER: AI safety and democratic governance of powerful AI systems Yoshua Bengio, Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Full Professor, Samsung AI; Professor, Université de Montréal; Scientific Director, Mila & IVADO
    • Yoshua Bengio, Canada CIFAR AI Chair; Full Professor, Samsung AI; Professor, Université de Montréal; Scientific Director, Mila & IVADO

  • 17:50 -
    CLOSE OF WORLD SUMMIT AI

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