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2026 Live Agenda

Subject to change

Tuesday April 14

4:00 pm - 7:00 pmEarly Arrival Registration (Junior Ballroom Foyer)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pmMember Only Reception – Peer Forum Registrants (Port McNeill Room)
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Wednesday April 15

7:00 am - 6:00 pmRegistration Opens (Junior Ballroom Foyer)
7:15 am - 8:15 amBreakfast (Pavillion Ballroom & Foyer)
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8:15 am - 8:25 amPeer Forum Opening & Land Acknowledgement (Pavillion Ballroom)
8:25 am - 8:35 amConference Welcome (Pavillion Ballroom)
8:40 am - 9:25 amOpening Keynote, The Empowerment Era – Creating Future Ready Teams (Pavillion Ballroom)
Cheryl Cran (Future of Work Expert)
9:30 am - 10:15 amPlenary: Beyond the Prompt – Business Transformation in the era of AI Empowerment (Pavillion Ballroom)
John Encizo (Lenovo)
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10:15 am - 10:40 amNetworking Break (Pavillion Ballroom Foyer)
10:40 am - 11:20 amBreakout 1 (Junior AB)
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10:40 am - 11:20 amBreakout 2 (Junior C)
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10:40 am - 11:20 amBreakout 3: From AI to enterprise intelligence -Finding the path from pilots to scaled decision advantage (Junior D)
Robbie Beyer (RSM)
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11:30 am - 12:15 pmPlenary: Security That Builds Trust, Trust That Builds Success (Pavillion Ballroom)
Andrew Archibald (Thrive)
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12:20 pm - 1:10 pmLunch (Pavillion Ballroom)
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1:15 pm - 1:55 pmBreakout 4: Do More with Less – Make Your SOC Faster, Leaner with AI (Junior D)
Hardeep Mehrotara (Concert Properties | CIOCAN Member)
1:15 pm - 1:55 pmBreakout 5: The Human-Centric Side of AI (Junior C)
Jean-Paul Lalonde (Impact Assessment Agency of Canada | CIOCAN Member)
1:15 pm - 1:55 pmBreakout 6: CIO FAMILY FEUD – Battle of the Playbooks! (Junior D)
Gerry Akkerman (Legal Aid BC | CIOCAN Board), Derek Cullen, CIO.D® (Stikeman Elliott LLP | CIOCAN Board)
2:05 pm - 2:50 pmPlenary: Too Important for IT – How AI is Eroding IT’s Mandate and What To Do About It (Pavillion Ballroom)
Geoff Nielson (Info-Tech Research Group)
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2:50 pm - 3:15 pmNetworking Break (Pavillion Ballroom Foyer)
3:15 pm - 3:55 pmBreakout 7 (Junior AB)
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3:15 pm - 3:55 pmBreakout 8 (Junior C)
Dr. Joseph Geraci (Slater Hill Digital)
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3:15 pm - 3:55 pmBreakout 9 (Junior D)
Michael McCullough (Improving Canada), Michael Ell (Improving Canada)
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4:05 pm - 4:50 pmPlenary (Pavillion Ballroom)
Raju Vegesna (Zoho)
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4:50 pm - 5:00 pmDay 1 – Wrap Up (Pavillion Ballroom)
6:30 pm - 8:30 pmMain Reception (Offsite)

Thursday April 16

7:30 am - 2:30 pmRegistration (Junior Ballroom Foyer)
7:45 am - 8:45 amBreakfast (Pavillion Ballroom & Foyer)
8:45 am - 9:00 amDay 2 – Welcome and Opening Remarks (Pavillion Ballroom)
9:00 am - 9:45 amPlenary (Pavillion Ballroom)
Jeff Reichard (Veeam)
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9:55 am - 10:35 amBreakout 10: Empathy, Boundaries, and Burnout in the CIO Role (Junior AB)
Shaun Guthrie (CIOCAN President & Chair | RJC Engineers)
9:55 am - 10:35 amBreakout 11: Work Death Balance (Junior C)
Gerry Akkerman (Legal Aid BC | CIOCAN Board)
9:55 am - 10:35 amBreakout 12: Future-Ready Boards Need CIOs (Junior AB)
Sarah Shortreed (Metrie | CIOCAN Member)
10:40 am - 11:05 amNetworking Break (Pavillion Ballroom Foyer)
11:10 am - 11:50 amBreakout 13: The AI Paradox – Governance vs. Speed (Junior C)
Yatin Dhareshwa (YASH Technologies)
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11:10 am - 11:50 amBreakout 14 (Junior D)
12:00 pm - 12:45 pmPlenary: Inside the 2026 Threat Landscape – What CISOs Need to Know Now (Pavillion Ballroom)
Adam Marrè (Arctic Wolf)
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12:50 pm - 1:35 pmLunch (Pavillion Ballroom)
1:40 pm - 2:25 pmPlenary: From Attack to Disruption – Inside Real-World Cybercrime Response (Pavillion Ballroom)
Chris Lynam (RCMP), Rocco Galletto (BDO Canada LLP)
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2:30 pm - 3:15 pmClosing Keynote (Pavillion Ballroom)
Nikolas Badminton (Chief Futurist & Hope Engineer)
3:15 pm - 3:30 pmConference Close (Pavillion Ballroom)