Disruptors

WTF: where’s the finance? It was a hot topic at COP27, the UN Climate Conference in Egypt in November, and it continues to be a source of debate at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is just wrapping up in Montreal.

In 2011, 20 targets were set at the Convention on Biological Diversity. A study done nine years later showed that the world had failed to fully achieve a single one. This is not an opportunity we can afford to waste again. But in order to bridge the $700 billion biodiversity financing gap, real changes will have to be made. 

On this episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, host John Stackhouse speaks with the leaders of some of Canada’s most prominent environmental organizations about biodiversity, how to fund it, and the best way to incorporate tech into our country’s conservation efforts. Catherine Grenier is the President and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Dr. Justina Ray is the President and Senior Scientist at Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada, and Hadley Archer is the Executive Director of Nature United. All are partners of RBC’s Tech for Nature program, a $100 million, multi-year commitment to preserving the world’s greatest wealth: its natural ecosystem.


Click on the following links to read more about: Nature Conservancy of Canada, Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada, and Nature United. For more information about the UN Biodiversity Conference: COP15, click here. 

To learn more about RBC Tech For Nature visit their site.

To read John’s takeaways from the event, visit his LinkedIn page.

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AI was expected to revolutionize the way we do just about everything, but the changes that were promised haven’t materialized as quickly as expected. What’s holding AI back?

On this episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, host John Stackhouse sits down with Ajay Agrawal to dig into this question and more. Ajay is a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management; he was named to The Order of Canada this year for his contributions to enhance Canada's productivity, competitiveness, and prosperity through innovation and entrepreneurship, and he’s the founder of the Creative Destruction Lab, an early proponent of AI ingenuity.

Ajay is also the author of two books about AI. His latest, Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence, co-written with fellow Rotman professors Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb, focuses on the fact that AI hasn’t lived up to the excitement that he himself helped create. When he looked back at the predictions made in his 2018 bestseller, Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence, he realized it was time to shift focus away from AI as a technology and instead look at the economics of the systems in which it operates.  

This episode also features an exciting new AI technology called GPT-3, which uses deep learning to produce text that reads like it was written by a human. It was created by Open AI, an organization founded in San Francisco in 2015. Ilya Sutskever, their chief scientist, is Canadian and a U of T alum. 

GPT-3 even provided a brief summary of John and Ajay’s conversation: 

“Creative Destruction Lab was designed to address the market failure of commercializing early stage science. The program helps entrepreneurs with the judgment they need to turn their scientific innovation into a business. AI is characterized as a drop in the cost of prediction.

AI is not going to figure out the complexities of health care. There are many barriers to deploying AI in health care, including system frictions that are not aligned with the incentives of hospitals, doctors, and insurers. It is difficult to experiment with AI in health care because of the need for a system-level overhaul.

AI has the potential to help reduce discrimination by making it easier to detect and then fix. However, too much regulation of AI has the potential to stifle innovation. Canada is doing well on the research side of AI, but there is room for improvement on the application side.”

Amazingly concise! This episode also features an AI-generated John Stackhouse, so listen in and see if you can tell the difference.

To read Ajay Agrawal’s newest book, “Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence”, co-written with fellow Rotman School of Management professors Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb click here. Follow this link to the University of Toronto’s article about testing out GPT-3 and this one for more about Open AI, GPT-3 and Dall-E2.  Some background on IBM Watson can be found here. 

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Amidst a backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rapidly rising inflation, ever-lingering COVID, and near constant political convulsions, this year’s COP27 took on an unprecedented weight. 

In this episode, let John Stackhouse walk you through the recently wrapped COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. With his special guest co-host Naomi Powell, Managing Editor of RBC Economics and Thought Leadership, get John’s front row seat perspective on the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of the Parties (COP27)

Hear from some of the world’s top leaders and thinkers, including talking to climate scientists Katharine Hayhoe and Johan Rockström; Elizabeth Nsimadala, the President of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, as well as Heather Chalmers, the president and CEO of GE Canada.

From loss and damages to climate financing, John talks about the successes and failures of COP27, and where Canada stands out. Is the goal of halting global warming at 1.5*C still attainable? Listen in and find out.

John Stackhouse shares his takeaways from COP27, click here to read the piece called, “Reality Bites”. For more information about COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt click here. If you’d like to know more about some of the people John spoke with, read up on Katharine Hayhoe at the Nature Conservancy; Rick Smith, the president of the Canadian Climate Institute, or the call to action by Elizabeth Nsimala, the President of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation. Disruptors recently took an in-depth look at how Canada can reduce emissions and waste in the agricultural sector, it’s a special, three-part series called, The Growing Challenge, listen here.

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It’s an issue that’s estimated to cost Canada more than $21 billion per year -- nevermind the environmental impacts. But how much thought have you really given to the problem of food waste and spoilage, and how it could be hampering our country’s effort to reduce emissions? Whenever wasted or spoiled food ends up buried in a landfill instead of decomposing while exposed to air, it generates methane — a potent greenhouse gas with 86 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. And it just so happens that Canada is one of the worst countries on the planet when it comes to wasted food. So what can be done about it?

On this episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, co-hosts John Stackhouse and Trinh Theresa Do wrap up their special, three-part series called “The Growing Challenge”, with an in-depth examination of how both food waste and spoilage represent a huge and often overlooked obstacle to our nation’s sustainability efforts. They’ll also discuss new technologies and tactics helping food producers to address the issue — as well as how we as consumers all need to change our attitudes when it comes to things like best before dates, portion sizes, and so-called “rescued food.” 

In addition to some familiar voices from earlier episodes in the series like Sonya Hoo, Evan Fraser, and Kristjan Hebert, John and Theresa will also hear from Meeru Dhalwala, author, chef, and the co-owner of Vij’s and Rangoli restaurants in Vancouver; Randy Huffman, the Chief Food Safety and Sustainability Officer at Maple Leaf Foods; Kevin Groh, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Loblaw Companies Limited; as well as Jeremy Lang, the founder and Vice-President of Sustainability at Pela Earth, which makes a smart, countertop-based composting system called Lomi. 

To learn more about Meeru Dhalwala you can visit her Wikipedia page or follow her on Instagram at @meerudhalwala. Maple Leaf Foods has much more information about its sustainability goals on its website. Loblaw Companies Limited has details on its efforts to reduce waste in both the textiles and food industries. Click here to learn more about the Lomi smart composter, and here for information about Pela’s compostable phone cases. For more about BCG’s work on food systems and food security—follow this link. And for details on The Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph, please click here.

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When people are asked to name the most innovative industries in North America, Canada’s beef and dairy sectors probably aren’t the first ones to come to mind. But it turns out the agrifood business in our country has been undergoing a rapid and dramatic evolution for a number of years now -- and it’s going to need to keep on innovating if it’s going to meet one of the most pressing challenges of our time; climate change. Because while the beef and dairy industries contribute more than $40 billion to the economy, they’re also a key source of one of the most potent greenhouse gases; methane. So which new technologies, data systems, and processes will be critical if Canada is going to meet the needs of a growing population while simultaneously reducing emissions? 

That’s the central question at the heart of this second episode in a special, three-part series, “The Growing Challenge”, this fall on Disruptors, an RBC podcast. Join co-hosts John Stackhouse and Trinh Theresa Do as they share first-hand insights from their own experiences, and speak with guests working up and down the beef and dairy supply chain, like Dr. Calvin Booker, a veterinarian and General Manager for Services and Research at TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods; Alison Sunstrum, the CEO of CNSRV-X Inc and General Partner of The51 Food and AgTech Fund; and John van Logtenstein, the vice-president of  Dairy Lane Systems and DLS Biogas, and Kristjan Hebert, managing partner of Hebert Grain Ventures.

Together, they discuss the skills, talent, technology, and innovation that are needed to maximize production while minimizing our environmental impact — and make Canada a world leader in sustainable agriculture without compromising on its net-zero goals.

You can learn more about TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods and its commitment to a sustainable value chain here. CNSRV-X is working on advanced technology solutions for agriculture and carbon markets—read all about it on their website. Follow this link to explore the work of The51 Food and Agtech fund, and these two to read up on the people and processes at Dairy Lane Systems and DLS Biogas. And Kristjan Hebert has his own website, as does his company, Hebert Grain Ventures.

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Extreme weather and geopolitical turmoil have placed the world’s food systems under tremendous stress.

At the same time, climate change is slowing agricultural productivity among major producing nations, there’s a growing need for more food: globally, over 800 million people are food insecure — meaning that they don’t have access to enough safe and nutritious food to meet their daily needs. In Canada, one-in-six people are food insecure. As a top agricultural exporter, Canada has both a responsibility and an opportunity to help. But agriculture is also one of the biggest contributors to our carbon footprint: by one estimate, 10% of Canada's emissions are from crop and livestock production. 

How can Canada feed a growing population while simultaneously slashing emissions? That’s the problem we’ll tackle in a special three-part series on Disruptors, an RBC podcast, called, “The Growing Challenge”. In it, co-hosts John Stackhouse and Trinh Theresa Do speak with some of the top innovators and big-picture thinkers who are helping Canadian agriculture meet this grand challenge.

In our first episode, John and Theresa speak with Sonya Hoo, a managing partner at BCG who studies the Canadian food and agricultural sector, Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph and author of the new book, “Dinner on Mars: The Technologies That Will Feed the Red Planet and Transform Agriculture on Earth”, Kristjan Hebert, managing partner of Hebert Grain Ventures (HGV), a large grain and oilseed operation in southeast Saskatchewan, and Murad Al-Katib, president and CEO of AGT Food and Ingredients, a global value-added pulses, staple foods and ingredient company. 

By one account, humanity must produce more food over the next four decades than we have in the last 8,000 years of agriculture combined. Can we make it happen — while simultaneously lowering our greenhouse gas emissions? Tune in over the next few weeks to find out!

To learn more about BCG’s work on food systems and food security — follow this link, and to learn more about their Centre for Canada’s Future, click here.

The Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph has a mission to “bring people together to conduct research, train the next generation of food leaders and shape social, industrial and governmental decisions”; to read some of their work, click here. And to check out director Evan Fraser’s new book—which he co-wrote with author Lenore Newman—follow this link. 

Farmer Kristjan Hebert has his own website, if you’d like to find out the latest on what he’s up to. Kristjan also appeared recently on The Farm CPA Podcast; you can listen to his interview here.

To learn more about Murad Al-Katib’s business, AGT Food and Ingredients, follow this link. Murad is also chair of the federal government’s Economic Strategy Table for agri-food. To read more about their work, click here.

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It may not be top of mind for most Canadians -- or the top issue in most public opinion polls -- but it’s one of the greatest challenges our world has ever faced; climate change. And did you know that 10% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions can be traced back to the very food we eat?

This fall on Disruptors, an RBC podcast, hosts John Stackhouse and Theresa Do will tackle a critical question for the 2020’s -- how can Canada feed its growing population, and potentially the world, while simultaneously reducing our carbon footprint in order to meet our nation’s net-zero goals?

To find out, John and Theresa have visited farms and production facilities across the country, and spoken with an array of experts who are working up and down the agrifood supply chain, including farmers, academics, scientists, and restaurateurs. And they’ll share what they’ve learned in a special, three-part series called 

The Growing Challenge

. They’ll take you from the field, to the processing facility, to the dinner table, to learn how we can harness new technologies and processes to improve efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and reduce food waste. It turns out, Canada may have much more to contribute to the global food system than just poutine and maple syrup.

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Despite the economic storm clouds on the horizon, there is little doubt that Canada’s labour market is in desperate need of talent — and will be for many years to come.

In this special LIVE episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, host John Stackhouse speaks with tech entrepreneur Martin Basiri about immigrant and employment — specifically, how Canada can build a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, and how companies can do a better job of attracting and retaining this global talent. 

Basiri is the co-founder and CEO of Kitchener, Ontario’s ApplyBoard. ApplyBoard has an AI-enabled software platform that lets students from around the world quickly identify and apply for university or college programs across North America, the U.K. and Australia. Basiri’s tech platform improves global access to education by streamlining the study abroad search and application process for students all over the world.

For any listener looking for work — or looking for workers — this is an episode you won’t want to miss!
 

To learn more about The Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) — the non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that hosted this discussion — follow this link.

ApplyBoard uses an AI recruitment platform to connect international students with post-secondary institutions. To learn more, follow this link. And to read about Martin Basiri’s fundraising success (totaling approx. $600 million), check out these two articles.

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Inspiration is something that fuels every entrepreneur’s journey — and few stories are as inspiring as John Ruffolo’s.

In this special LIVE episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, host John Stackhouse speaks with Canadian tech investing legend John Ruffolo at the ELEVATE Festival in downtown Toronto — the largest gathering of creative thought leaders in Canada. 

Ruffolo is the founder and managing partner of Maverix Private Equity and previously founded OMERS Ventures, where he made several winning bets on Canadian tech powerhouses, including Hootsuite, Wattpad and Shopify. The two talk about Ruffolo’s amazing investing journey, as well as his inspiring “road to recovery” from a near-deadly cycling accident in 2020.

It’s an insight-filled conversation that will resonate with Canadian entrepreneurs everywhere — a story about resilience, bold risks and hard work.

To learn more about John Ruffolo and Mavrix Private Equity, follow this link.

Ruffolo is also the co-founder and current vice-chair of the 

Council of Canadian Innovators. You can find out more about their work here.

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Despite economic turmoil in 2022, Canada continues to experience a very tight labour market. And in many professions — from healthcare to engineering — jobs continue to go unfilled. The answer to this challenge, according to many: Strengthen the pathways from classrooms to citizenship, and leverage the growing presence of international students — now totalling some 600,000 — to meet Canada’s pressing labour needs.

In this episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, hosts John Stackhouse and Trinh Theresa Do speak with two women leading the charge to foster and retain top international talent. In the first half of the show, they speak to Larissa Bezo — the president and CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE). The CBIE is a national, non-profit organization helping Canadian education institutions achieve their internationalization goals. 

And in the second half, they chat with Pat Chaisang, a former international student from Thailand (now based in Vancouver) who has launched Isempower: a job-search platform for international students hoping to secure meaningful work in Canada. 

To learn more about the work of the Canadian Bureau of International Education — and its advocacy for international students — check out its website.

Isempower describes itself as “Canada’s first job search platform for international students.” To find out more, follow this link.

In the episode, Theresa and John reference a new report from RBC Economics and Thought Leadership called “Course Correction: How International Students Can Help Solve Canada’s Labour Crisis.” You can read it here.

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