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Dan is the founder and CEO of The Pontefract Group, a firm that improves the state of leadership and organizational culture.
He is the best-selling author of four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN. How to Become a Leader Who Matters, OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT and FLAT ARMY. A renowned speaker, Dan has presented at four different TED events and also writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Dan is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business and has garnered more than 20 industry awards over his career.
His third book, OPEN TO THINK won the 2019 getAbstract International Book of the Year.
Previously as Chief Envisioner and Chief Learning Officer at TELUS—a Canadian telecommunications company with revenues of over $14 billion and 50,000 global employees—he launched the Transformation Office, the TELUS MBA, and the TELUS Leadership Philosophy, all award winning initiatives that dramatically helped to increase the company’s employee engagement to record levels of nearly 90%. Prior to TELUS he held senior roles at SAP, Business Objects and BCIT.
Dan and his wife, Denise, have three children (aka goats) and live in Victoria, Canada.
Speaking: April 7th, 2-3 PM EST.
Leadership: Being Our Best in Times of Change
There are only two kinds of leadership in this world: leading self and leading others. It’s that simple, only two. In the midst of a pandemic, times are complex. Now, more than ever, how you conduct yourself might become the defining moment of your career, particularly as CIOs continue to work from home while leading teams and operations remotely. One of the keys is our relationships and our ways of collaborating.
When we understand the critical importance of crafting meaningful, respectful relationships among our colleagues, we’ve set ourselves up for success. But when those interactions are no longer face-to-face—when everything we do is virtual and remote—how can we ensure that those relationships will thrive?
The bottom line is we need to foster our relationships. All of it requires both reminders and new methods. In this virtual keynote, delivered by 4-time TED speaker, 4-time author and leadership strategist, Dan Pontefract, you will leave with insights, stories and practical techniques on the key facets of a more connecting, collaborative and caring form of leadership. Ultimately every CIO must remember that we’re all in this together, even when we’re leading from afar.
Michael Daniel
Keynote Speaker
Cybersecurity Advisor to President Barack Obama (2012 - 2016) & President, Cyber Threat Alliance
Michael Daniel draws from his post at the highest echelon of government to sound the alarm on the global security threats of the 21st century, revealing the necessary steps for managing your organization’s cyber risk.
From the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment to the intrusion into the Office of Personnel Management and the Russian efforts to meddle in the U.S. electoral process, Michael Daniel has maintained a pivotal role leading the government’s response to the most prominent cyber incidents of our time. As cybersecurity coordinator to President Barack Obama, Michael led the nation’s cybersecurity strategy and policy efforts from 2012 to 2016.
Widely recognized as one of the world’s top cybersecurity experts, Michael specializes in managing cyber risk to critical infrastructure systems, such as financial services assets, electronic medical records and industrial control systems. As president and CEO of the nonprofit Cyber Threat Alliance, Michael leads a team of cybersecurity giants, such as Cisco, Checkpoint, Fortinet, McAfee, Palo Alto Networks, and Symantec, to improve information sharing about cybercrime and other threats.
With proven strategies for identifying and alleviating threats, and responding to cyber incidents, Michael unveils key insights for safeguarding assets in an era of precarious digital disruption and connectivity. As attacks increase in sophistication and hackers prove more brazen each day, Michael’s authoritative outlook on the global security landscape and applicable action plans help business leaders avoid becoming the next breaking cyber news story.
Speaking: April 29th 3-4pm EST
Leveling Up: How to improve your cyber game
Over the last decade, the cyber landscape has shifted. Cybersecurity is no longer an esoteric technical subject relegated to the server room or obscure on-line forums. The topic is now mainstream. Yet, business leaders still struggle to understand the issue, board members remain confused about how to conduct oversight, and CISOs regularly grapple with how to communicate the costs and benefits. At the same time, the problem steadily grows worse – more diverse, more frequent, and more disruptive. Supply chains are more complex, and the policy landscape is tougher to navigate as governments generate news laws, regulations, and policies. So how does a CISO deal with these issues effectively?
This talk will discuss strategies for tackling these challenges. First, we need to shift our mindset about cybersecurity. It is no longer purely a technical problem, but rather a complex blend of issues, including economics, business processes, and psychology. It is not a problem to be solved, but a long-term risk to be managed. Second, we need to change our definition of success and failure; the goal is not to keep the adversaries “out” but to prevent them from achieving their objectives. Third, we need to change the metrics we use to measure cybersecurity to ones that will enable defenders to focus their resources on the activities with the highest return. Finally, the cybersecurity community needs to engage in the policy process to enable privacy and cybersecurity to be mutually reinforcing.
Julia Armstrong joined the Electronic Recycling Association team in 2018 and has gained experience in many different facets of the organization, now primarily focused on donation activities and marketing.
She started off her career as a production accountant for a mid-sized oil and gas company. Obviously knowing the importance of reliable technology to ensure work deadlines were met, she didn't give much thought to what the company did with the computers when it was time for an upgrade. Working with the ERA has exposed Julia to the fact that perfectly usable IT equipment gets recycled all the time instead of being reused and it has also highlighted the point that there is an immeasurable need for free or low-cost options for charitable organizations and less fortunate individuals.
Julia enjoys volunteering with seniors and appreciates that she can work for an organization like ERA which consistently provides vulnerable citizens with the devices they need to stay connected to friends and family.
As a Solution Consultant with a specialty in content management and workflow, Jonathan thrives on having unique business challenges to tackle each day. Jonathan uses his 10+ years’ experience to consult and design solutions alongside his clients to drive organizational efficiency, accuracy, accountability, and cost-savings.
Having worked with IT leaders from organizations of all sizes and industries to digitally transform their business, Jonathan’s unwavering commitment to his clients ensures the success of each project.
When he isn’t helping clients, Jonathan can be found on the links or in his backyard, spending time with his wife, their son and the dogs.
Chris Hallenbeck is CISO for the Americas at Tanium. Chris provides security leadership and operational insight gained from over 20 years in both the public and private sectors. Chris came to Tanium after almost 7 years of government service at the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). At US-CERT he designed and built their incident response capabilities, and restructured the team's focus toward strategic remediation with a goal of building more resilient organizations. Over countless IR engagements both with government and private sector victims a common theme emerged: a lack of emphasis on IT security hygiene. Prior to joining US-CERT, Chris worked for RSA Security/EMC as a security engineer and with AOL/Time Warner on their global incident response team. He started his career as a Unix sys-admin at Binghamton University. When not chasing electrons he prefers to be 20-30 meters under the sea.
Michael Hartmann is a jointly appointed Professor of Medicine and Management at McMaster University, Co-Director of the University’s Health Leadership Academy and Principal of The Directors College - Canada’s founding professional development program for board directors (2003-2019). He also serves as founding Executive Director of an EMBA program in Digital Transformation teaching courses on Corporate Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship. Dr. Hartmann has held senior leadership roles with universities in the UK and Canada. He previously served as Deputy Dean and CXO, Manchester Business School (2007-2012), and Assistant Dean, Rotman School of Management (1998-2007) where he established a globally ranked executive education business (Top 20 Business Week and Top 50 Financial Times).
Dr. Hartmann has over 25 years experience as an educational consultant, facilitator and trainer to organizations around the world. A sample of his consulting assignments include work for Novartis (Switzerland), Ziraat Bank (Turkey), Thales Group (France), JCB (USA), Omantel (Oman), Al-Futtaim Group (Dubai), Manchester Airport Groups, British Sky Broadcasting, NBCUniversal (UK), Dentsu Aegis Network (Singapore, New York, London), BDO, SOCAN and OMERS (Canada). His current research interests focus on the topics of disruptive innovation and governance. He leads an annual course on innovation for board directors and is a member of Stanford's Digital Cities Consortium and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Technology, Governance and Innovation Panel. Dr. Hartmann holds graduate degrees from the University of Toronto and York University and a doctoral degree from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He also holds professional accreditation with The Directors College (C.Dir.) and le Collège des administrateurs de sociétés (ASC). His work on corporate governance and executive and directors education has been published in academic journals as well as the professional press. He also hosts a regular governance and innovation webinar and podcast series called The Collaboratorium.
Dr. Ibrahim Gedeon
Speaker
Chief Technology Officer at Telus
Ibrahim Gedeon is one of the global telecommunications industry’s eminent thought leaders. He has carved out an international career by combining insight and skill as an applied scientist with a lighthearted approach to leadership. As Chief Technology Officer for TELUS, a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, he is responsible for all technology development and strategy, security, service and network architecture, service delivery and operational support systems, as well as service and network convergence, and network infrastructure strategies and evolution. Under his leadership the TELUS wireless broadband network has become one of the best in the world.
Ibrahim serves on the board of the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and the Institute for Communication Technology Management. In addition to his industry leadership roles, he has been awarded with IEEE Communications Society’s prestigious Distinguished Industry Leader Award and elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) for his significant contributions to the field of engineering. Ibrahim has also been named one of the 100 most powerful and influential people in the telecoms industry in Global Telecoms Business magazine’s GTB Power 100.
Ibrahim holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut, a Master’s in Electronics Engineering from Carleton University and an Honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia and is passionate about supporting engaged, high-performing teams.
Jacqui Guichelaar is the Group Chief Information Officer and senior vice president at Cisco. She is responsible for the company’s global technology infrastructure and application development and is passionate about driving the Digital Strategy for Cisco and its customers.
Throughout a career characterised by focused self-determination and a refusal to rest on laurels, Jacqui has gained extensive commercial, management and leadership experience in the Technology industry. Previously, she was the Group Chief Information Officer at Thomson Reuter’s where she built and led a Technology Transformation program in support of the companies Digital Strategy. She has also held roles in Lloyds Bank, Deutsche Bank, National Australia Bank, IBM and CSC gaining experience across industries such as Financial Services, Utilities, Telecommunications, Media and Retail.
Informed by 28 years of IT experience that has allowed her to witness developments in the sector from every angle and to spearhead the introduction of significant new technologies, Jacqui has a sustained track record of delivering large scale transformation programmes through a structured framework of plans and strict governance. She is passionate about developing talent and supporting individuals to realise their potential.
Jacqui was born in Uruguay, South America. She has worked in many countries around the world including Sydney, Frankfurt, London and New York, which plays into her passion for exploring new cultures and fostering diversity of thought. She is actively involved in many non-profit organizations and is currently a Board member of the Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE). She was the Chair of 2012 Women on Wall Street Conference.
Lisa Inness
Speaker
Executive Director, Client Engagement & Solution Delivery and Innovation at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)
Lisa Inness is currently an Executive Director, Client Engagement & Solution Delivery and Innovation at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of Ontario. In this strategic role, Lisa collaborates with the Injured Persons and Providers lines of business to provide technology solutions supporting return to work services for Ontarians. Lisa is also the Technology Lead for the WSIB’s core services modernization initiative and Innovation program enabling new digital services and improved outcomes for key stakeholders.
Lisa has over 20 years of IT leadership experience in both the public and private sector with extensive experience in organizational design, relationship management, strategic sourcing, portfolio management and Innovation.
Todd Kennedy
Speaker
Director of Technology at Golden Hills School Division #75
Todd began his career at the Pembina Hills School Division. After serving for 16 years, he left his role as Director of Technology to take on the new challenge of Director of Technology for Golden Hills School Division. His team manages all the technology and infrastructure for a school population of 8,400 students and 1,000 staff, spread across 47 schools, both traditional and on-line, in South Central Alberta.
He is a sought-after speaker for the annual ATLE Convergence Conference, as well as the IT4K12 annual conference in British Columbia, where his sessions are always fully subscribed. His topics focus on leadership in the field of technology. Todd attends the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) annual conference of around 18,000 attendees, where he helps facilitate a day of learning for international affiliates. Todd is also part of the Future of Education Technology STEM awards committee - where schools from all over the world are recognized for their achievements at the annual FETC conference in Florida.
Todd has been part of the Board for the Alberta Technology Leaders in Education since it’s inception in 2006, serving in various roles over the years. In December 2020, he completed his third, two-year term, as President. Currently Todd serves on the Board of CIO Association of Canada - Calgary Chapter.
Todd has a Master of Science degree in Information Technology from the University of Liverpool, where his Dissertation described QoS for Voice, Video, and Data over Alberta Supernet. This project was intended as a “cookbook” of sorts that could be used by school jurisdictions as they implemented QoS.
As Softlanding’s vCIO, Brian engages with clients on strategy, the art-of-the-possible, planning, transformation, road-mapping, business case development, architecture, cloud computing, change management, technology adoption, and project leadership.
Brian holds a Bachelors of Computing Science with Distinction from VIU and has gained a wealth of valuable experience with over 34 years in public sector roles.
Brian is passionate about being able to serve, guide, and help clients navigate ever-evolving technological change and opportunity, to their business advantage.
Jason Lang is a Senior Solutions Engineer for Shape Security (part of F5) in Canada. In his role, he has worked as a trusted advisor to numerous large Financial Institutions, Service Providers, large retailers and travel/hospitality organizations throughout Canada. Prior to joining Shape in 2019, Jason spent 10 years at Arbor Networks, and 8 years at Bell Canada.
Gary Miller is Vice President, Canada Cybersecurity for CGI, accountable for strategy, service innovation and evolution, and revenue growth. For more than 20 years Gary has been assisting governments and industry organizations around the world shape appropriate and practical cyber security strategies and programs to support their changing business. Gary has held senior executive positions within international businesses leading corporate security functions and cyber security business units.
His unique balance of strategy, business and cybersecurity domain expertise combined with his diverse situational experience allows him to work with senior leaders to plot the most effective way forward in today’s complex environment. Gary has successfully launched new cyber security products and businesses, consulted with governments on national cyber security strategy and policy, advised on transformative market opportunities, supported numerous mergers and acquisitions, and speaks often on strategic cyber security issues.
Jim Richberg’s role as a Fortinet CISO leverages his 35 years’ experience driving innovation in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and cyber strategy & policy. He currently focuses on cyber metrics, election security, and helping organizations maximize IT efficiency and security post-COVID. Mr. Richberg served as the National Intelligence Manager for Cyber, the senior Federal Executive focused on cyber intelligence within the $80B+/100,000 employee US Intelligence Community (IC). He led cyber strategy for the 17 departments and agencies of the IC, set integrated priorities on cyber threats, and served as Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on cyber issues.
Zeshan has been with Softlanding since 2007 and a partner since 2019. In his role as Business Analyst Lead, he focuses on Digital Transformation for the Modern Workplace, helping organizations to transform their business to stay ahead of change and create value for today and in the future. Alongside planning and envisioning, Zeshan specializes in facilitating Information Architecture redesign, Governance, and Organizational Change Management.
Brian Robison is the Senior Director, Product Marketing and Chief Evangelist at BlackBerry, where he educates the world that preventing cybersecurity threats is actually possible and a much better approach than detecting and responding after the attack. Prior to joining Cylance, Robison spent five years helping secure corporate data on mobile devices—three years at Citrix as Director of Technical Marketing and two years driving enterprise product strategy at Good Technology. Before moving into the mobile security space, Robison’s career focused on endpoint security and risk and compliance. At McAfee, he led the effort to bring ePolicy Orchestrator into the modern age as well as managing the vulnerability management and policy compliance solutions. Prior to McAfee, Robison held many roles over his seven-year career at Tripwire, Inc.
Daniel Sanchez Reina is a Senior Director Analyst for Gartner's Leadership, Culture and People Dynamics team in the CIO Research Group. Mr. Sanchez Reina covers the complex challenges of High-Performing Teams, Organizational and Cultural Change, Leadership Skills and Competencies, and Digital Transformation initiatives. He provides research on a worldwide basis, advising clients on their specific needs to achieve sustainable growth.
Mr. Sanchez Reina brings to Gartner over 20 years of experience in delivering people and digital transformation initiatives in different industries. He worked as a CIO for Sony Europe (Consumer Electronics Industry) and Laboratorios Isdin (Pharmaceutical Industry), and he also has an extensive background as a consultant as well as an executive coach.
He has published two books on leadership and high-performing teams.
Guy M. Snodgrass
Speaker
Chief Executive Officer
at Defense Analytics
Guy Snodgrass is an author and strategist exploring the intersection of technology, innovation, and national security. As Chief Executive Officer for Defense Analytics, he oversees a team responsible for guiding corporate strategic development, communications, and advocacy.
Mr. Snodgrass has 25-plus years of experience as a strategist and senior leader in the U.S. Department of Defense, having served as the Pentagon’s Director of Communications and chief speechwriter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis. He is most recently the author of TOPGUN’s TOP 10: Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit, which explores leadership tenets through the lens of the high-performance fighter pilot community. He also hosts Holding the Line, a popular national security and foreign policy podcast. He has appeared as an expert national security and technology commentator on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, and others, and is a contributor to Forbes.
Mike Schoenberger
Speaker
CEO at Sunco Communication and Installation Ltd.
Hi! I’m Mike Schoenberger and CEO of Sunco Communication and Installation Ltd. My passion is to make business communication easier for our clients. In today's world, there is so much information available, it is hard to know what will fill your business's needs. I use my knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the past 30+ years to ensure that Sunco has the best products and services, designed specifically using our personal touch. We deliver a quality solution with simple access to support and the friendliness of the Sunco family.
Stanley Sims joined CGI in January 2016 as Chief Security Officer. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s global enterprise security strategy and establishing global security policies, standards and practices across the full spectrum of security areas, including personnel, information, physical security, and cybersecurity. In addition, Mr. Sims is responsible for the company’s business continuity programs and supporting activities. Mr. Sims also is a member of CGI’s Executive Management Committee, which includes corporate and operations leaders who set enterprise-wide strategy, approve enterprise policies, and provide operations oversight, ensuring tight collaboration and alignment in executing CGI’s strategic goals and priorities across the company’s global footprint. Prior to joining CGI,
Mr. Sims served as Director of the Defense Security Service (DSS), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) agency responsible for securing the DoD’s technological base and overseeing the protection of classified information residing within the DoD’s ecosystem of industry partners. In this role, he provided oversight of more than 10,000 industry partners’ security programs, providing products and services to more than 31 separate U.S. federal agencies in addition to the DoD. Mr. Sims was credited with transforming the DSS culture and operations, bringing together government and industry partners to operate as a national security team and improving the overall execution of the National Industrial Security Program.
An accomplished executive with 15 years at Ricoh, Ryan consults with global clients to identify and remediate inefficient business processes. Ryan has led the Ricoh team from discovery and solution development through implementation for some of Ricoh’s largest business process automation (BPA) engagements.
Ryan also contributes to Ricoh’s own Digital Transformation Strategy and shares his expertise in expanding Ricoh’s BPA offering to continue delivering exceptional value across our clients’ organisations.
With his big heart & fun-loving nature, Ryan is a devoted husband and dad who loves hitting the slopes in Tremblant with his family & strapping on the blades at the rink.
