AI Academy

Carlos Orencio

Carlos Orencio is the AI Enablement Director at Scotiabank, where he leads the development of scalable AI solutions, oversees the AI Center of Excellence, and manages partnerships with key AI vendors and external collaborators. He brings over 18 years of experience in management consulting and data-driven transformation across sectors including finance, energy, retail, healthcare, and government.

He holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in IT Management and is currently taking the Smith Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Ryan Grant

Dr. Ryan Grant is an assistant professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Queen’s University and a leading expert in secure supercomputing and AI infrastructure. He co-leads CAESAR, one of the world’s largest supercomputing labs, and is active in Queen’s Ingenuity Labs.

Previously, he spent nearly a decade at Sandia National Laboratories, where he developed a software standard now used in top global supercomputers. He has published over 80 papers and holds leadership roles in major HPC communities.

Cari Covent

Cari is a Strategic Advisor in AI to the Ontario Provincial Government Services sector and the Creative Destruction Lab. She is the former Head of AI and Emerging Technology at Canadian Tire, where she led enterprise-wide digital transformation using AI to enhance performance, culture, and customer experience. She is known for building human-centered AI strategies that deliver business value and operational impact.

An advocate for collaborative innovation, Cari has worked with startups, academia, and research institutions to create responsible AI solutions, educational tools, and governance practices. She is a frequent speaker on applied AI and serves on the Smith Analytics & AI Advisory Board.

Pam Snively

Pamela Snively is Chief Data & Trust Officer at TELUS, where she leads privacy, data and AI governance, data ethics, and compliance. She drives a customer-first approach to data transparency and trust, including a major refresh of the TELUS Privacy Centre.

Pam chairs Canada’s Business Privacy Group and serves on key advisory bodies in privacy and AI governance. A recognized leader in digital trust, she was named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network.

Dr. Ceren Kolsarici

Dr. Ceren Kolsarici is an Associate Professor, Ian R. Friendly Fellow, Scotiabank Scholar, and Director of the Scotiabank Centre for Analytics & AI at Smith School of Business.

She specializes in AI, big data, and analytics, with applications in advertising, digital marketing, product diffusion, pharmaceuticals, and finance. Her research focuses on optimizing marketing strategy—media selection, budgeting, campaign design—through advanced modeling to improve firm performance and profitability.

Dr. Murray Lei

Murray Lei is an Associate Professor of Management Analytics, a Distinguished Research Fellow, a Scotiabank Scholar, and the Academic Director of the Master of Management Artificial Intelligence (MMAI) program at Smith School of Business.

Murray’s research focuses on developing data-driven frameworks that enable companies to make dynamic decisions under uncertainty. He has collaborated with many leading global tech companies to develop real-time large-scale analytics solutions.

Aaqib Azeem

Aaqib is Google Canada’s lead subject matter expert on AI and Machine Learning. He supports Google’s top enterprise customers across Canada, helping to inform their AI initiatives. Aaqib brings extensive experience from his previous role as the head of technology of a leading Conversational AI startup in Toronto, which was successfully acquired.

Before his work in tech, he was a management consultant for Deloitte, advising Fortune 500 executives on AI strategy and data transformation. He holds a Master’s of Management in Artificial Intelligence from Smith and a Bachelor’s in Mechatronics Engineering.

Dr. Yannick Lallement

Yannick Lallement is the Chief AI Officer at Scotiabank, where he works on developing the use of AI/ML technologies throughout the Bank. Yannick holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from the French National Institute of Computer Science. Before joining Scotiabank, Yannick worked on a series of AI/ML projects for different public and private organizations.