From Arctic sovereignty to wildfire response, Canada’s challenges are increasingly being solved by the low earth orbital satellites less than 1000km from the earth’s surface. In this episode, co-hosts John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik dive into the pivotal role that satellite communications have in Canada’s future. Prompted by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s call for enhanced Canadian defense, the conversation explores how innovation in low earth orbit will shape global competitiveness and security....
Jun 17, 2025•34 min•Season 8Ep. 20
What does it take to transform a startup into Canada’s second-largest company in just a decade? Sonia Sennik and John Stackhouse discuss his conversation with Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, live from C2 Montreal. Harley discusses how Shopify embraced anti-fragility, continually reinvented itself beyond e-commerce, and leveraged AI to reshape retail and empower creators globally. He highlights the essential entrepreneurial mindset needed to foster innovation in Canada, urging ambitious...
Jun 03, 2025•31 min•Season 8Ep. 19
AI is moving beyond passive outputs toward autonomous action. In this episode, John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik explore Agentic AI, a new class of AI systems that can reason, plan, and take initiative with limited human oversight. These systems represent a major evolution beyond traditional and generative AI, capable of real-time adaptation and complex decision-making. They’re joined by Adel El Hallak, Senior Director of Product Management at NVIDIA AI Enterprise, and Jacomo Corbo, CEO and Co-Fo...
May 20, 2025•30 min•Season 8Ep. 18
Carbon offsets aren’t enough. To truly tackle climate change, we need a global industry dedicated to pulling carbon out of the air and at massive scale. Join hosts John and Sonia inside the innovation race to scale carbon removal technologies, featuring insights from leading voices in the field. They speak with Dr. David Keith, a pioneering climate scientist and founder of Carbon Engineering, who unpacks the technological, policy, and economic hurdles to direct air capture and other approaches. ...
May 06, 2025•32 min•Season 8Ep. 17
Early detection remains the single most effective strategy for treating cancer, significantly enhancing survival rates and outcomes. Join hosts John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik as they explore how groundbreaking innovation and technology are reshaping cancer detection, treatment, and prevention. Physician and entrepreneur Jesse Salk discusses his pioneering Duplex Sequencing Technology, dramatically improving diagnostic accuracy. Peter Liu, CEO of Oxford Cancer Analytics, explains how advanced m...
Apr 22, 2025•30 min•Season 8Ep. 16
The “Buy Canadian” movement has surged during talks of tariffs, often highlighting consumer goods. How can Canadian tech companies take advantage of this sentiment? Join John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik in a conversation about Canada's emerging era of supporting local businesses and products. This episode explores how recent geopolitical shifts and consumer trends are prompting Canadians to prioritize local products, businesses, and technology solutions. Featuring insights from Dax Dasilva, CEO ...
Apr 08, 2025•22 min•Season 8Ep. 15
With global energy demands surging and climate concerns intensifying, Canada finds itself in a rare position: rich in natural resources, top technical talent, and the innovation needed to become a clean energy superpower. But how do we harness that potential without compromising on sustainability? John and Sonia take listeners inside Houston’s CERAWeek energy conference to unpack the growing momentum behind methane abatement, and Canada’s opportunity to lead the charge. The episode dives deep in...
Mar 25, 2025•26 min•Season 8Ep. 14
With cybercriminals leveraging AI to fuel scams and misinformation, how do we verify what's real? Joined by cybersecurity experts Shuman Ghosemajumder (former Global Head of Product Trust at Google and Co-founder of Reken), and Ken Nickerson (Inventor and Entrepreneur, iBinary, ex-Microsoft, ex-Rogers, ex-Kobo, ex-OMERS, and behind Sealed, a tool designed to verify digital content), John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik confront a startling new reality where AI-generated deepfakes can mimic voices, i...
Mar 11, 2025•32 min•Season 8Ep. 13
How can Canadians unleash their competitive spirit and rediscover the drive to build bigger, faster, and smarter? Serial entrepreneur and tech investor Daniel Debow joins John and Sonia to tackle that question. They explore how decades of slow productivity growth have eroded Canada’s economic position, and why there’s new urgency to rewrite the country’s playbook. Daniel explains how his passion for building ventures, from software startups acquired by Salesforce and Shopify, to the collaborativ...
Feb 25, 2025•31 min•Season 8Ep. 12
With a growing global population and climate challenges reshaping food production, Canada has a golden opportunity to lead the ag-tech revolution. But are we ready? In this episode of Disruptors x CDL, John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik take a deep dive into the future of farming with industry experts Evan Fraser (Director, Arrell Food Institute) and Alison Sunstrum (CEO, CNSRV-X Inc.), exploring the innovations that could transform agriculture as we know it. They discuss how AI, robotics, and pre...
Feb 11, 2025•29 min•Season 8Ep. 11
What happens in Davos doesn’t stay in Davos, it shapes the future of business, technology, and global markets. In this episode of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, John Stackhouse joins co-host Sonia Sennik from Davos to break down the biggest conversations at the World Economic Forum. From Donald Trump's controversial speech and its implications for Canada to the surging confidence in AI, energy, and innovation, this episode unpacks the global trends shaping the economy. John shares insight...
Jan 30, 2025•30 min•Season 8Ep. 10
What does it take to power the intelligence economy of the future? In this episode of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, hosts John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik dive into the surging energy demands of AI and data centers, exploring how Canada can seize this pivotal moment to lead the way in sustainable innovation. Alberta’s Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Glubish, shares how the province is positioning itself as a global hub for data infrastructure through initiatives like the Wond...
Jan 14, 2025•30 min•Season 8Ep. 9
In this year-end episode of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, hosts John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik take a look back at 2024’s groundbreaking tech stories and gaze ahead to what 2025 might bring. Joined by Sean Silcoff, technology reporter for The Globe and Mail for 12 years, they explore the rise of AI, the space economy, Canada’s evolving tech ecosystem, and the influence of political shifts on innovation. Sean sheds light on the evolving tech ecosystem, from Canadian companies like Wealt...
Dec 24, 2024•28 min•Season 8Ep. 8
In this episode of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era , John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik dive into the rapidly advancing world of electric vehicles (EVs) and the ecosystem needed to support their success. Kristian Aquilina, President and Managing Director of GM Canada, shares insights on the BrightDrop electric delivery vans produced at GM’s CAMI plant—the country’s first full-scale EV manufacturing facility—and how local supply chains and infrastructure can accelerate Canada’s EV adoption. Pa...
Dec 10, 2024•30 min•Season 8Ep. 7
Part two of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era continues with a focus on how space technology is transitioning from exploration to commercial viability. John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik are joined by aerospace leaders Christine Tovee, former CTO of Airbus Group North America, and Mina Mitry, CEO of Kepler Communications. The episode examines the pioneering role of Canadian companies in transforming space technologies into practical industries, such as satellite communications and Earth observa...
Nov 21, 2024•28 min•Season 8Ep. 6
In part one of this two-part series on Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik discuss the unfolding potential of the space economy. Joined by Chris Hadfield, former Commander of the International Space Station and acclaimed astronaut, they delve into the evolving landscape of space access, driven by technological breakthroughs and cost reductions exemplified by the significant drop in cost of delivering assets to low Earth orbit. The conversation highlights how th...
Nov 19, 2024•29 min•Season 8Ep. 5
In this episode of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, hosts John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik explore the dynamic role of generative AI in education and its far-reaching implications. As AI technology continues to evolve, it’s transforming classrooms and curriculum, influencing how students learn, and prompting schools to rethink traditional teaching methods. The hosts are joined by two distinguished guests: Janice Stein, founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, and John Baker, ...
Nov 05, 2024•29 min•Season 8Ep. 4
In this episode of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, hosts John Stackhouse and Sonia Sennik dive into the rapidly evolving world of life sciences, exploring how Canada can leverage its strengths to lead in global drug discovery and healthcare innovation. The pandemic accelerated scientific breakthroughs, such as AI-assisted vaccine development, but what will it take for Canada to continue leading into the 2030s? With special guests Anne Woods (Managing Director, Life Sciences, RBCx), Sue Pai...
Oct 22, 2024•29 min•Season 8Ep. 3
In this episode of Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, hosts John Stackhouse, Senior VP of RBC, and Sonia Sennik, CEO of Creative Destruction Lab, dive into one of the most transformative technologies of our time: Artificial Intelligence. With the potential to revolutionize industries from healthcare to energy, AI is reshaping the global economy — and Canada is both a leader in research and a laggard in adoption. This week, Geoffrey Hinton, Professor at the University of Toronto, was awarded t...
Oct 10, 2024•29 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Welcome to the first episode of Disruptors x CDL - The Innovation Era , where host John Stackhouse teams up with Sonia Sennik, CEO of Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), to explore how cutting-edge technologies are transforming Canadian industries. Over the next eight episodes, they'll dive deep into the disruptive power of innovations like generative AI, quantum computing, and 5G, examining their potential to reshape sectors from entertainment to transportation. In this premiere, John and Sonia dis...
Sep 24, 2024•24 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era is a limited podcast series exploring the innovators and technologies reshaping Canada’s economy. Hosted by John Stackhouse, Senior Vice-President at RBC, and Sonia Sennik, CEO of Creative Destruction Lab, this series dives into solutions for navigating unprecedented global change.
Sep 17, 2024•1 min
New technology has rarely led to fewer jobs, though it often impacts the way we work — eliminating old ways of doing things to create new opportunities. To mitigate workforce disruption from the rise of AI and automation, we must invest in our people to enhance the value of expertise and enable valuable work. But how do we ensure that AI is constructive and not destructive? On this episode, we’re joined by David Autor, a renowned labour force economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog...
Sep 03, 2024•31 min•Season 7Ep. 25
The green hydrogen race is on, and billions are at stake. Countries big and small view hydrogen as an opportunity to convert wind, solar, gas and nuclear into molecules that they can sustainably ship around the world. The hydrogen promise extends beyond reducing our carbon footprint and developing cleaner sources of energy; it’s also about reimagining a new industrial model for our economy, opening avenues for economic growth and job creation. Canada is a country filled with vast renewable resou...
Aug 20, 2024•29 min•Season 7Ep. 24
The global race to apply AI to robotics in a way that can make society better is on — offering unprecedented efficiency, precision and enhancing productivity to relieve humans from mundane tasks. Though there are concerns regarding ethical dilemmas and potential job displacement — fueling fears about the societal impact of these advancements. Striking a balance between the benefits and addressing these apprehensions will be key to unlocking a harmonious integration into our daily lives. On this ...
Aug 06, 2024•31 min•Season 7Ep. 23
Carbon markets are at the forefront of climate action and the mobilization of carbon credits and offsets are critical — where each carbon credit holds the promise of a greener future for the Great White North. Join us as we unravel the intricate dance of mobilizing these markets — exploring the interplay of trust, transparency, and tradability — while navigating the delicate balance between economic growth and ecological stewardship. On this episode, we are discussing the hype and reality of car...
Jul 23, 2024•30 min•Season 7Ep. 22
This is our 7th season of Disruptors and we’re kicking it off with a bang! There is a tech wave surging and it was truly the summer of AI. People are both excited and worried about what it’ll mean for their communities, jobs, the economy, and the planet. And while these tech advances have immense potential, we need to think deeply about how they’ll be applied. When it comes to AI research, we are a podium nation but when it comes to application, how can Canada step up to the plate? To help us ma...
Jul 09, 2024•28 min•Season 7Ep. 21
This was the year artificial intelligence got its wings — especially generative AI — and the tech is soaring to new heights. Whether you’re excited or concerned, it’s clear that AI is one of the most disruptive forces in history. AI is transforming the world at record pace — but is Canada prepared? On the season finale, we visit the Creative Destruction Lab’s AI Super Session to talk with leading minds on the frontlines of Canada’s AI journey. We also sit down with Cari Covent, Head of AI at Can...
Jun 25, 2024•26 min•Season 7Ep. 20
AI and emerging technology are critical in reducing emissions and helping us better understand the ocean’s impact on climate. Canada is a leader in ocean research, and we continue to punch above our weight in the delivery of ocean innovation. But can innovative tech turn the tide in the climate crisis? On this episode, John Stackhouse visits Atlantic Canada — named one of the top oceantech ecosystems in the world — to check out the Cove Demo Day, Canada’s largest showcase of marine technology. H...
Jun 11, 2024•30 min•Season 7Ep. 19
AI, automation, robots, and drones are all impacting the way we grow food — and it’s happening right here on Canadian soil. With a growing population, an affordability crisis, and increasing food insecurity, greenhouse innovation has a huge role to play in the agri-food sector. Can Canada emerge as a leader in a low-carbon global food system? To find out, John visits the greenhouse capital of Canada; Leamington, Ontario, where he’s joined by Peter Quiring, CEO at Nature Fresh Farms and Matt Korp...
Jun 04, 2024•29 min•Season 7Ep. 18
It’s no secret that the last few years have been rough for tech, but the sector also has a unique ability to look beyond the clouds and see opportunity through innovation. And while there are challenges ahead, there is a renewed optimism that we may be entering a recovery stage — where a period of fiscal discipline and strategic focus can set companies up for long-term success. Silicon Valley and other tech centres are hopeful and as markets looks toward rate cuts going into 2025, a new confiden...
May 21, 2024•26 min•Season 7Ep. 17
