Businesses are embracing generative AI to boost customer service, provide tailored client experiences, and build stronger relationships via data insights. The benefits of leveraging AI for customer-facing operations range from increased revenues, cost savings, consistency, quality control and ultimately increased profits. But those outcomes hinge upon an organization’s ability to build and deploy AI programs with a high level of customer trust and satisfaction. What roadmap are early adopters using to avoid the pitfalls and tap into AI’s upside?
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Panel Discussion | Improving the Workflow - Benefits of generative AI in client engagement and business operations
We keep the world moving forward. Calian® helps people communicate, innovate, learn and lead safe and healthy lives. Every day, our employees live our values of customer commitment, integrity, innovation, respect and teamwork to engineer reliable solutions that solve complex challenges. That’s Confidence. Engineered. A stable and growing 40-year company, we are headquartered in Ottawa with offices and projects spanning North American, European and international markets. Visit calian.com to learn about innovative healthcare, communications, learning and cybersecurity solutions.
As Chief Executive Officer of Calian, Kevin Ford focuses on enabling the management team to execute the company’s four-pillar growth framework of customer retention, diversification, innovation and continuous improvement. This unrelenting focus has taken the company to the next level, with revenues exceeding the half-billion-dollar mark in 2021. It’s one milestone on the journey to becoming a billion-dollar, proudly Canadian company. Named CEO of the Year by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and Ottawa Business Journal in 2017 and EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019, Kevin attributes his success to teamwork, integrity and commitment. These values, combined with Kevin’s enthusiasm for Calian technology and talent and his passion for diversity and inclusion, help him to future-proof the business. Kevin is fully invested in the growth of the company, playing a key role in the 18 successful acquisitions Calian has made since 2012. “Through a combination of strategic acquisitions, innovative solutions and diversification, we continue to increase our customer base in Canada and expand into new international markets.” Kevin was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in April 2015. Prior to becoming the CEO of Calian, Kevin served as the Calian Business and Technology Services Division President for more than four years. Kevin worked in professional services for more than 30 years, including 11 years at IBM as a Partner in Global Business Services. He also contributes to numerous charitable organizations, sits on the board of the Ottawa Hospital Foundation and a member of CADSI’s Board of Directors since 2016 and served as Chair of the Board from October 2019 to 2023. Kevin has coached hockey and most recently led the charge to save a legacy live music venue in Ottawa.
Michael Tremblay joined Calian in 2023 as President of IT & Cyber Solutions, the largest Business Unit within the Calian Group. Prior to Joining Calian, he was the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Board Member of Invest Ottawa & Bayview Yards from 2017 following a decade with Microsoft as Vice President of Public Sector. Mike has 40 years of sales, marketing, operations, and general management experience, with considerable experience serving public sector clients. Mike has also held senior executive positions with SAP, Fujitsu Consulting, JDS Uniphase, EDS Systemhouse and Digital Equipment Corporation. In 2023, Mike was appointed a World Economic Forum Distinguished Fellow as part of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution related to Invest Ottawa’s leadership work in urban transformation with AREA X.O – Canada’s mobility Futureplex of innovation and collaboration. He has an MBA from Concordia University in Montreal and is a graduate of Computer Technology from Algonquin College. Michael completed the Directors Education Program and is ICD.D certified with the Institute of Corporate Directors where he has served as a member of the Ottawa Chapter Executive. Mike has served as a director with the Institute on Governance (2017-2020) and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal business (2005-2007). From 2004-2017, Michael served as a member of Algonquin College’s Board of Governors and served as Chair of the College’s Foundation Board. In 2023, Michael joined The Ottawa Hospital Board of Governors where he now serves as Vice Chair.
Jesslyn Dymond, Director, AI Governance & Data Ethics, leads TELUS' world-class approach to responsible data-driven innovation, including the Responsible AI portfolio and the award-winning, ISO-certified Privacy by Design Data for Good program. A leader in data enablement and advocate for creative solutions, her privacy and data governance expertise build customer trust with emerging technology, like AI. Jesslyn completed a Master of Information from the University of Toronto’s iSchool, is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada (CIPP/C) and Data Ethics Professional from the Open Data Institute.
Sean Silcoff writes about technology and life sciences for the Globe and Mail. He is the winner of three National Newspaper Awards and is the co-author of Losing the Signal: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry, which was released in May 2015. Losing the Signal won Canada’s National Business Book Award and was shortlisted for the international Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year. It was also adapted into the 2023 film "BlackBerry." Sean joined the Globe and Mail in January 2012; he previously worked as a columnist and Montreal correspondent for the National Post and as a staff writer at Canadian Business Magazine. He began his reporting career covering courts and crime in Cornwall, Ont.
April Fong is a senior editor with The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business. She was previously Executive Editor of The Logic, where she helped oversee the publication's editorial strategy, led its daily newsletter to multiple SABEW Best in Business awards and was a frequent moderator in live events.
A former senior digital producer at BNN Bloomberg, April has also worked at the Financial Post and China Economic Review in Shanghai. She taught Business Reporting at her alma mater, Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication from 2021 to 2024.
Dr. Fatih Nayebi is Vice President of Data & AI at the ALDO Group, where he leads the global strategy for data-driven initiatives and AI innovations aimed at enhancing customer experiences and business operations. In parallel, he serves as a Faculty Lecturer in Information Systems at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management, focusing on the practical applications of emerging technologies and AI in enterprise environments. With a background in software engineering and a Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Fatih has a track record of bridging industry and academia to drive organizational transformation, operational efficiency, and strategic decision-making.
Lori is an analytics, technology and marketing executive with 30 years experience driving profitable business growth through the strategic use of data and analytics. Having worked around the globe, she’s helped Fortune 500 companies across financial services, telecom, technology, government, health care, retail and manufacturing advance their business through the strategic use of data and insights.
Starting in the marketing service provider sector at top tier agencies like Ogilvy1, Rapp Collins and KnowledgeBase Marketing, she developed and executed marketing and analytics initiatives for B-to-C and B-to-B markets, for clients like IBM, Dell, Bell, and Bombardier.
She later held progressively senior positions within top tier Canadian banks. At CIBC, she oversaw credit card acquisition, retention, revenue/risk/ price optimization and partnerships. She became CIBC’s Vice President of Client Insights and Database Marketing responsible for enterprise analytics, research, strategy and direct marketing where she drove bank strategy leveraging insights to proactively identify business trends and opportunities. At TD Bank, she helped reimagine the customer journey and customer contact optimization from a data-driven approach as Vice President of Analytics and Market Research.
At SAS - the leading analytics software firm worldwide - Lori was the Executive Lead of Customer Intelligence across the Americas where she led a business strategy, sales and software consulting practice. She advised firms on the strategic use of customer intelligence, and integrated approaches to customer management. She established analytics technology, processes and structures empowering firms to compete and transform into customer-centric enterprises.
Today, as Chief Data and Analytics Officer for the North American Retail and Business Bank and Head of Enterprise CRM, Lori oversees data and analytics including: customer, product, channel and salesforce analytics, revenue/risk/price trade-off management, customer contact optimization, sales and service optimization, database cloud migration, business intelligence reporting, advanced sciences AI and Machine learning, and enterprise CRM.
Lori is a frequent industry speaker, published writer, and analytics thought leader. She is Chair of the Queens Analytics Business School board, and been recognized by Forbes and MIT as an influential thought leader and Woman in STEM, and by the Globe and Mail for the Best Executive Award. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, she is the creator of ElleExcel Women’s Circle, a forum designed to help women excel in all aspects of life with thousands of members around the globe.
Angus Lockhart is a senior policy analyst at the Dais. Angus has done extensive research into the adoption of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence in the workplace, the impact these technologies will have on workers, and the role that government can play in maximizing the benefit for firms while minimizing associated risks. His research has helped inform policy development at all levels of government in Canada and has been widely cited by media across the nation.
Shahir Mishriki is Vice President and Head of Digital Portfolio and Governance at Sanofi, responsible for driving global digital performance through AI and data-driven products. He strategically manages digital investments with a clear, value-based approach, directly connecting technology initiatives to measurable business outcomes. Known for simplifying complex digital strategies and defining actionable paths to value, Shahir holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary.
Xiaojun Su is the Associate Director and Machine Learning Lead at Unilever’s Global AI Labs Horizon 3. Horizon 3 is Unilever first AI lab that spearheads the development of cutting-edge AI innovations to drive transformation in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. At the forefront of Unilever’s AI strategy, Su leads a team of machine learning and AI experts to develop disruptive technologies that enhance efficiency, intelligence, and growth across the business. Her work focuses on empowering Unilever’s business units and partners to excel in the evolving digital supply chain landscape, shaping the future of AI-driven consumer experiences.
Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong is an award-winning marketing professor at Seneca Polytechnic. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, teaching Master’s courses on Industry 5.0 and AI Concepts & Applications for Business Leaders.
A leader in digital learning, Ken co-founded Presentria to enhance inclusive education through AI, location-based services, and advanced computing. He received the 2020 Minister of Colleges and Universities' Award of Excellence from the Ontario Government.
Ken authored Omni-Channel Retailing: A Strategy for Retailers to Thrive in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond and researches luxury brands and customer experience management. A frequent speaker on retail topics in Toronto, he has appeared in The Globe and Mail events, OMNI2 News, A1 Chinese Radio, and Fairchild Radio. His work is published in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, The Service Industries Journal, Marketing Bulletin, IVEY Case Studies, and more.
