Ethical AI, Building Trust

Dr. Peter Lewis

Canada Research Chair in Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence; Director, Mindful AI Research Institute (MAIRI); Associate Professor, Ontario Tech University.

Dr. Peter Lewis is an interdisciplinary leader whose work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence and society. As a Canada Research Chair in Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, he designs and analyzes socially intelligent AI systems that support responsible decision-making in real-world contexts.

Dr. Lewis has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and co-edited the book Self-Aware Computing Systems. He has partnered with more than 75 organizations across Europe and Canada, primarily small and medium-sized enterprises, alongside larger corporations and non-profits, on applied AI adoption projects. Previously, he directed Think Beyond Data, an economic development program that generated more than £4 million for the regional economy. His work addresses trust, justice, and accessibility in AI, guiding the alignment of emerging technologies with societal norms and values.

Amber Mac

President, AmberMac Media Inc.

Amber Mac is president of an award-winning content development agency, an award-winning podcaster (This Is Mining and The AI Effect), and a bestselling author. She is also the host of The AmberMac Show podcast on SiriusXM with co-host Jeff MacArthur.

In 2024, Amber was named as one of DMZ’s Women of the Year for her work driving innovation and progress in the tech industry. In 2021, Amber was named one of the Bay Street Bull Women of the Year for her leadership in the technology sector. In 2016, she co-wrote the Amazon bestseller, Outsmarting Your Kids Online, just a few years after she wrote the Globe & Mail business bestseller, Power Friending.

Amber has keynoted more than 700 events around the world and has moderated sessions with notable leaders. Amber has hosted and co-hosted a variety of podcast series, including The Amber Mac Show, The AI Effect, Marketing Disrupted, The Feed, commandN, This is Mining (presented by the Ontario Mining Association), 15secTech, and more. She is a regular business host and tech expert for Fast Company, CNN, Bloomberg, CBS, BNN, CTV, The Marilyn Denis Show, and SiriusXM. 

Amber started her career in San Francisco and Boston during the dot-com boom. As a strategist for Razorfish and Director of Marketing for an e-procurement software company, she spent four years in the technology start-up trenches. As a child, Amber attended a two-room country schoolhouse and shared a party telephone line with neighboring houses. She is now recognized internationally as an innovation and technology leader.

Dr. Steven Murphy

President and Vice-Chancellor, Ontario Tech University

Dr. Steven Murphy has served as the fourth President and Vice-Chancellor of Ontario Tech University since March 1, 2018. His vision centres on ‘tech with a conscience': finding ethical solutions to problems in our tech-focused world. This philosophy carries over into reimagining flexible learning in a manner that best serves the needs of both traditional and mature learners.

Dr. Murphy’s bold approach is represented by a youthful and energetic new university brand. He champions student-led initiatives that increase engagement on campus. He actively encourages students to embrace collaboration, with a focus on innovations that improve society and our planet.

Dr. Murphy strongly believes that if we are to unleash our global competitive advantage, we will need to engage Canadians from often-marginalized, equity-deserving groups in meaningful, entrepreneurial pursuits. He advances the university’s mission of increased inclusivity and accessibility through key initiatives that place diversity at the centre of programming. For example, the entrepreneurial incubator Brilliant Catalyst works with federal, provincial and municipal counterparts to ensure that Black and Indigenous youth and students receive access to entrepreneurial networks. Dr. Murphy believes diversity is the key to Canada’s competitive future. At Ontario Tech we are seeing the results of this approach.

As the president of one of Canada’s most dynamic universities, Dr. Murphy recognized Ontario Tech’s broad range of energy-related expertise, which allowed him to drive the creation of the Brilliant Energy Institute, a multidisciplinary facility tasked with building the scientific plan to get us to net zero.

Dr. Murphy reimagines higher education to support the kind of flexible, individual pursuit of learning that will fuel Canada's knowledge economy. As a result, Ontario Tech has become an early leader in developing micro-credentials: short, accredited online programs that represent new learning in a specific study field, topic or competency. 

Renowned for his organizational and human behaviour expertise across business and industry, Dr. Murphy brings this experience to guide his leadership strategy. Beyond the lenses of race and gender, he embraces diversity of thoughts and ideas.

Dr. Hossein Rahnama

Edward Rogers Sr. Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity, TMU  Founder and CEO, Flybits; Visiting Professor and Head of the sAIpien Program, MIT Media Lab; Co-Founder Digital Media Zone

Dr. Hossein Rahnama is an internationally recognized computer scientist whose work focuses on artificial intelligence, data governance, and the transparent design of data-driven systems. He is a founding faculty member of the Scalable AI Program for the Intelligent Evolution of Networks (sAIpien), an initiative at the MIT Media Lab that develops auditable human-AI systems that provide organizations with the evidence they need to trace, test, and explain AI-supported decisions. Dr. Rahnama is also the founder and CEO of Flybits, which helps institutions deliver personalized digital experiences built on responsible data practices. He has authored more than 30 publications and patents, and his research continues to influence how organizations design and govern AI in complex environments.

Hugh Mansfield

President, Bizcom

Hugh Mansfield is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance consultant with over 12 years of experience in the design and implementation of AI frameworks and model development. He currently leads an AI governance consulting firm Bizcom (bizcomgrp.com) assisting organizations in the implementation of regulatory compliance, responsible and ethical AI frameworks and the ongoing monitoring that follows. He is a recognized industry expert in AI Governance, Risk and Compliance.

Hugh holds a LLM in Innovation, Law and Technology from U of T Law, and has achieved his ISO42001 2023 (AI Governance) Senior Implementer accreditation. Hugh has also earned his CIPP-C privacy designation from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP); and is an adjunct faculty member of York Osgoode Law where he teaches Data Privacy and AI Incident Response. Hugh also sits on the Advisory Board of the Digital Governance Standards Institute of Canada on their Ethics and Technical committees and the Marketing committee of the AI Safety Foundation (AISF) of Canada. Hugh was a founding Advisory Board member of the University of Toronto’s (Rotman) master’s in management analytics program (MMA 2018-2022).