CDO Magazine Toronto Summit 2024 Explores Data and AI Innovation at Scale

The second annual CDO Magazine Toronto Summit on October 23 brought together the most influential data experts and thought leaders from across Canada and beyond to exchange insights and celebrate innovative companies leveraging the transformative power of data. Event participants engaged with experts during panel discussions, explored cutting-edge solutions from leading solution providers, and connected with fellow executives.

CDO Magazine thanks the host Co-Chairs of the CDO Magazine Toronto Summit for their leadership: David Atkinson, Sun Life, VP, Data and Transformation Strategy; Rex Davis, RBC Chief Data Officer; Della Shea, CIBC Head Operational Risk Data and AI; Andrew Foster, M&T Bank Chief Data Officer; Alena Godin, Best Buy Canada Chief Data & Analytics Officer; and Alex Tait, BMO US Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Enterprise Data & Analytics.

Slideshow - Click to enlarge

With over 60 speakers, 15 breakout sessions and three powerful keynote presentations, the Summit provided data executives comprehensive learning in an intimate, relationship-building environment. Participants walked away equipped with actionable strategies and best practices to elevate their data, analytics, and AI initiatives, refine their organizational approaches, empower their teams, and drive real business outcomes.

The Summit featured these tracks:

• Advanced Analytics/AI at Scale

• Agile Security and Deployable Data Pillars for AI Transformation

• Emerging Trends & Technologies in Data Analytics

• Leveraging Data Mesh & Data Fabric

• Responsible AI

• The Evolving CDO/CDAO/CAIO Roles

• Unlocking Business Value Through AI

Slideshow - Click to enlarge

Keynote speaker Alena Godin, Best Buy Canada Chief Data & Analytics Officer, details a wealth of takeaways from the Summit: 

1. It’s essential to ensure your data strategies are tied to business success directly, and to measure the effectiveness and predictability of that delivery to increase accountability. Data strategy cannot be built in a silo, and it is best when you involve your team members, your partners and your stakeholders. With the fast-changing business needs and emerging data capabilities, creating those feedback mechanisms to ensure we are making those necessary adjustments will help in achieving true delivery and adoption success for your data products. Bring people along in this journey and be ready to iterate along the way.

2. There’s a lot of hype and excitement out there, not limited to newly emerging AI capabilities. As data leaders, we need to ensure our teams are empowered to experiment while still retaining focus on the key data work. Effective communication, including fierce expectations management of what is realistically possible, is important to demystifying and ensuring we don’t degrade the data delivery reputation through overpromise and under delivering.

3. Get creative and fun to drive collaboration and curiosity across your organizations. I found inserting even the smallest little mechanisms to start, like a unified collaboration platform, or a team ‘NerdOut’ series can spark amazing collaboration and development moments, providing a sense of one team coming together to learn about and grow their skills towards the same purposeful outcomes.

4. Build genuine trust with your business – not only trust in the data but also trust in the service delivery mechanisms. They will become your best advocates for supporting data initiatives in the future knowing that you are there to support their success in achieving their objectives.

5. Make your messaging simpler and relatable to your business partners. Part of this is built by getting close to their business operations/processes and building an understanding and appreciation of what challenges they encounter day to day. Go to the warehouse, work the floor, follow a process end to end, and ultimately find out how the data bits and bytes are created and the real opportunities for you to help your business partners solve for.

6. Transparency and visibility of all data work will garner trust with your partners in technology and business teams, and will also help increase the desire to collaborate across teams.

7. “It takes a village” as a saying is also true in data and analytics organizations. We have wonderful support partners that bring their own expertise to the table, for instance, change management, communications team, project managers, and agile specialists, to name a few. We are data professionals, and they can help us learn how to more effectively introduce, communicate and execute on our data strategy with our teams.

8. Care factor creates value. Lean in with your stakeholders and deeply care about their success criteria. Additionally, create a team environment where winning together as ‘one team’ is a guiding principle that instills focus on delivery, skills development, and collaboration.

Slideshow - Click to enlarge

Sharing her take on the event, keynote speaker Della Shea, CIBC Head, Operational Risk, Data & AI, says: “The CDO Magazine 2024 Summit in Toronto was fantastic. The speakers were top-notch, and the discussions were really engaging. It was great to see such a mix of experienced professionals and new faces in the industry. Having been part of this community from the early days, when we were just a group of folks aspiring to create a connected global network of data leaders, it really felt like coming home. What I love most about CDO Magazine events is the sense of community. Everyone is so warm and welcoming, making it easy to connect and share ideas.”

Andrew Foster, M&T Chief Data Officer, thanks CDO Magazine “for putting such a strong event together with representation from data thought leaders and leading corporations!”

Reflecting on his panel discussion “Enablement of a Data-Driven Culture in the Enterprise,” Jean-Francois Ross, Canadian National Railways Executive Director, CN Data Services, says, "We at CN decided to centralize data talents and functions to better decentralize data work across the enterprise, ensuring every level is empowered to make informed decisions. The true power of data lies in its ability to be contextualized around decisions, which precede all actions.” Ross adds. “We extend our gratitude to CDO Magazine for facilitating connections with exceptional data leaders and further strengthening our strategic vision."

Slideshow - Click to enlarge

Highlighting a key insight from her panel on “Where Worlds Collide: The Intersection of Cyber & Data,” Nazia Shahrin, Fidelity Investments Canada VP, Architecture, Data Governance & Data Protection, says, “Balancing data collection with data protection requires financial institutions to adopt privacy-by-design principles, implement strong data governance, and continuously monitor compliance with regulations.”

Panel speaker Jessica Jolly, Global Biopharma Data Strategy & AI Executive, conveyed her thoughts on LinkedIn about the Summit: “The panel discussions were genuinely engaging, with deeply thoughtful questions from cross-industry data leaders. Leading a panel alongside esteemed peers to explore unlocking the power of technologies—AI and GenAI—to maximize business value across diverse domains was truly energizing. The conversation continued well beyond the session, a true testament to the level of engagement and deep curiosity among peers.”

Nipun Sharma, Senior Consultant for Data Risk & Governance at CIBC, agrees posting his perspective on LinkedIn: “The insights shared were invaluable, underscoring the critical role of ethical practices in AI development and the necessity of robust frameworks for data governance and management. It was truly inspiring to engage with industry leaders dedicated to upholding data integrity and driving positive outcomes.”

Slideshow - Click to enlarge

“The CDO Magazine Toronto Summit was a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation in the data field,” says Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder and Publisher. “Bringing together leaders from diverse industries across North America, this summit showcases how data-driven insights can transform businesses and fuel growth. Our goal is to empower organizations to harness the full potential of data, and this event demonstrated the remarkable strides our community is making in AI, analytics, and responsible data practices.”

Summing up the event, keynote speaker and sponsor Michael Butts, Burtch Works Chief Executive Officer, says: “The CDO Magazine Toronto Summit was a success! It was wonderful to collaborate with fellow leaders from across Canada and the U.S. on important topics impacting the evolution of the Chief Data Officer. As we discussed during my keynote, the role of the CDO is becoming more strategic in nature and now responsible for enhancing the core enterprise to leverage data and AI effectively and efficiently to deliver enterprise value. These are exciting and transformational times, and it’s great to be part of this community of esteemed leaders and innovators.”

Slideshow - Click to enlarge

Alena Godin, Della Shea, Andrew Foster, Nazia Shahrin, and Jessica Jolly are members of CDO Magazine Global Editorial Board.

Executives speaking at the CDO Magazine Summit Toronto included:

Hisham Abu-Abed, RBC VP, Data Science & Data Strategy; Jide Adeoye, GoEasy Director, Business Intelligence; Ferris Adi, York University Director, Cyber Security; Natalia Bakhtina, Former BFL Canada Director, Cybersecurity and IT Risk Management;Chantal Bernier, Dentons Counsel;Murat Beshtoev, Bayer, CirclEdge Solutions Head, Analytics & Innovation; Kalyan Chakravarthy, Electrical Safety Authority Chief Information Officer;Dinesh Chandrasekaran, Canadian National Railways Data Management Leader; Stephanie Corvese, Grant Thornton Canada Sr. Manager, Digital Forensics & Incident Response; Carter Cousineau, Thomson Reuters VP, Responsible AI & Data, Interim Head, Data & Analytics (CDAO);Lina Dabit, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regular Members Inspector, Officer in Charge RCMP Cybercrime Toronto; Sasha Fay, OLG Director, Digital & Advanced Analytics; Andrew Foster, M&T Chief Data Officer; Alena Godin, Best Buy Canada Chief Data & Analytics Officer; Ujjwal Goel, Loblaw Sr. Director, Data, ML & Solution Engineering; Chris Goodale, Sun Life VP, Data & Analytics; Rahul Gupta, Air Canada Data Architecture Leader; Anna Hannem, ScotiaBank VP, Data & AI Risk; Adnan Hoque, TD Bank AVP, Product Group Owner - Enterprise Data & Analytics Cloud Platform; Saurabh Ingale, Canadian National Railways Group Manager, Data Governance & Quality; Taha Jaffer, Former Scotiabank Director, Macro, Market & Economic Intelligence; Jessica Jolly, Global Biopharma Data Strategy & AI Executive; Pranav Kapoor, Sun Life AVP, Audit Analytics; Monica Kedzierski, Herbalife VP, Global Data, Analytics & AI; Omar Kettab, Pelican International VP, IT & Business Transformation; Sylvia Klasovec Kingsmill, Trusteva Founder; Robert Knoblauch, Former Scotiabank CISO; Patrycja Kujawa, AutoCanada VP, Information Management & Technology; Yuri Levin, Smith School of Business, Queen's University Professor; Michael Morris, Global Furniture Group Director, Data & Analytics; Priya Mouli, Sheridan College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning Head, Information Security & Compliance; Celio Oliveria, Canada Border Agency Cloud Analytics & Platform Operations;Duronke Owoleso, The Security Bench Chief Research Officer; Carole Piovesan, INQ Law Managing Partner; Surinder Singh Rait; Ericsson Head, IT Security Assurance; Leo Rajapakse, Grupo Bimbo Global Head, Platform Infrastructure & Advanced Technology; Sabrina Ratheekan, Walmart Canada Director, Enterprise Technology; Jean-Francois Ross, Canadian National Railways Executive Director, CN Data Services; Nazia Shahrin, Fidelity Investments Canada VP, Architecture, Data Governance & Data Protection;Nipun Sharma, CIBC Sr. Consultant, Data Risk & Governance; Della Shea, CIBC Head, Operational Risk, Data & AI; Farid Sheikhi, RBC Data Consultant;John Shilton, Publicis Media Canada SVP, Martech & Data Intelligence; Tezbir Singh, BMO Managing Director; Pamela Snively, TELUS Chief Data & Trust Officer; Swetha Subramanian, Loblaw VP, Data Strategy & Measurement Science; Simon Sulyma, Manulife AVP, Information Risk; Alex Tait, BMO Financial Group US Chief Data & Analytics Officer; Owen Tak, BMW Financial Services Manager, Business Intelligence & Data Management; Palash Thakur, Interac Corp VP, Head, Data Analytics & Fraud;Amerdeep Bhagat,Tiger Analytics VP, Data Engineering; Michael Butts, Burtch Works CEO; Doug Harrison, Dataiku RVP, Canada; Jeff Giles, Sandhill Consulting Principal Architect; Ryan Glasunow, Informatica Sr. Director, Data Governance & Privacy; Kimberly Nevala, SAS Canada Strategic Advisor; Scott Patterson, Burtch Works Account Executive; Paul Walker, Pantomath Director, Sales; and Steve Wanamaker, CDO Magazine Founder & Publisher.