Getting Started with AI: Practical Uses, Real Risks, and What’s Changing Fast
A practical, no-hype session on what AI can do today for professional services, what’s evolving rapidly, and how to adopt it responsibly.
AI is evolving rapidly — and for professionals, the challenge isn’t whether to pay attention, but what actually matters and how to use it responsibly.
Vanessa has 25+ years of experience leading human-centred design and business transformation across startups and large enterprises, including senior leadership roles at RBC, HomeEquity Bank and Cineplex. She is an industry speaker and educator, teaching Entrepreneurship and AI at the Schulich School of Business and Design Strategy and AI at OCAD U Co. Vanessa brings a human-centred perspective to AI design, emphasizing effective integration within organizational systems.
Saad has 15+ years experience at McKinsey, RBC, Goldman Sachs. Saad has led AI transformations globally for firms across sectors and sizes, developing a practical view on what matters to deliver value from AI: a robust understanding of the problem to be solved alongside broader organizational realities, including implications on the end-to-end human-technology interaction model – not just the stack.