Balancing Prosperity and Risk: Canada’s Transition to an AI Economy
Roundtable Luncheon with Shelby Austin, Inmar Givoni and Elissa Strome
Sponsored by:
Canada has the talent pool, research programs and ecosystem of savvy start-ups to become a global leader in artificial intelligence. However, in growing Canada’s AI competencies, policy-makers need to develop safeguards to protect privacy and ensure workers are not left behind in the wake of increasing automation. The C.D. Howe Institute would like to invite you to join us on September 6 to hear our panel of experts discuss the implications of Canada’s transition to AI economy as well as recommendations designed to make artificial intelligence work for every Canadian.
Shelby Austin, Managing Partner of Omnia AI and Growth Investments, Deloitte
Inmar Givoni, Senior Autonomy Engineering Manager, Uber Advanced Technologies Group
Elissa Strome, Executive Director, Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
Shelby Austin, Managing Partner of Omnia AI and Growth Investments, Deloitte
Shelby Austin is the National leader of Omnia AI, Deloitte Canada’s AI practice. A team that includes AI strategists, machine learning engineers and data scientists and risk specialists. She also chairs the Global Innovation Council for Deloitte’s Financial Advisory practice. Shelby joined Deloitte through the acquisition of a business she founded after having been a Partner at a large Bay Street law firm.
Shelby has a proven track record of helping businesses drive significant growth through the use of technology and data-driven decision-making.
Shelby is also the recipient of several awards, including, the Risings Stars award given by Lexpert Magazine, and the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award given by The Women’s Executive Network (WXN). Shelby’s previous company was also named one of Canada’s Hot 50 companies by Profit Magazine.
Inmar Givoni, Senior Autonomy Engineering Manager, Uber Advanced Technologies Group
Inmar Givoni is a Senior Engineering Manager at Uber ATG Toronto, where she leads a team whose mission is to bring from research into production cutting-edge deep-learning models for self-driving vehicles. She received her PhD (Computer Science) in 2011 from the University of Toronto, specializing in machine learning. She worked at Microsoft Research, Altera (now Intel), Kobo, and Kindred at roles ranging from research scientist to VP, Big Data. She is an inventor of several patents and has authored numerous top-tier academic publications in the areas of machine learning, computer vision, and computational biology. She is a regular speaker at AI events, and is particularly interested in outreach activities for young women, encouraging them to choose technical career paths. She has received the Arbor Award from UofT and recognized as Canada’s 50 inspiring women in STEM. She has been featured in media venues such as Marie Claire, Toronto Life,and The Globe and Mail.
Elissa Strome, Executive Director, Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
Elissa was appointed Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy in January 2018 and AVP Research in March 2019. Elissa completed her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia in 2006. Following a post-doc at Lund University, in Sweden, she decided to pursue a career in research strategy, policy and leadership. From 2008 – 2015 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. At CIFAR, she is working with the three AI Institutes in Edmonton (Amii), Montreal (Mila), and Toronto (Vector Institute) and researchers across the country to advance Canada’s leadership in AI research and Innovation. She is a member of the Federal Government’s AI Advisory Council.
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