Canada’s tech sector needs more swagger. That’s according to Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein, who says part of his company’s runaway success has been the ability to sell itself—to customers and to potential employees. After hiring 200 people from 50 countries over the past two years, Shopify is looking to add thousands more in its Ottawa HQ and around the world. To meet those needs they’ve partnered with Carleton University on a new degree program, are supporting coding camps for kids in elementary and high schools, and are making Canada a destination for international talent.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dax Dasilva says that when building a successful startup, culture is more important than code. He's the founder and CEO of Montreal-based Lightspeed, which has 50,000 customers around the world using its e-commerce platform and nearly $300 million in funding. Yet it wasn't clever coding that powered that success, he says, but an open mind and an inclusive corporate ethos that draws on his background as the son of immigrants and a member of the LGBTQ community. Lightspeed's success comes from a core understanding that diversity fuels innovation.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you’re looking for the future of digital government, you’ll find it in the unlikeliest place: the tiny European nation of Estonia. The country offers nearly all of its government services online, and Estonians are behind Internet innovations such Skype and Kazaa. Siim Sikkut is the man charged with making sure Estonia stays on the cutting edge, and we sat down with him at C2 in Montreal to talk about what Estonia can teach the rest of the world.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some say cryptocurrency is the future of money. Others think it’s a house of cards that’s going to come crashing down any minute. We hosted a lively discussion about the future of cryptocurrency at our RBCDisruptors event on April 26, 2018. We heard from an entrepreneur who is bullish on the benefits of cryptocurrencies, a venture capitalist who thinks the hype has grown out of control, and a blockchain researcher who says companies needs to understand crypto’s disruptive potential.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Robot doctors are still years away, not least because of their cold hands and stilted bedside manner. Yet the transformational power of technology is nowhere more obvious than in healthcare, where data is reshaping diagnostics, implantable sensors are saving lives, and digital video has opened up new opportunities for virtual care. Our guests, Shirlee Sharkey, CEO of in-home care provider Saint Elizabeth Healthcare, and Felicia Kontopidis, a nurse and clinical practice coach, agree that technology is changing everything—but you can't automate the human touch.

Part three of three. To read the skills report, go to www.rbc.com/humanswanted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As part of our look at the skills revolution in Canada, we headed down to the Niagara Peninsula to see how one of Canada’s largest wine companies is training the next generation. Andrew Peller Estates has a partnership with Brock University, bringing in co-op students and building their skills through on-the-job training. RBCDisruptors producer Peter Henderson sat down with John E. Peller, whose grandfather founded the company, and Emma Garner, one of Peller’s top winemakers, to talk about the winemaker of the future.

Part two of three. To read the skills report, go to www.rbc.com/humanswanted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Canada is facing a quiet crisis, In the coming decade, half of all jobs will be disrupted by technology and automation. That's the conclusion from our new report, Humans Wanted, a year-long study of the future of the Canadian workforce. As part of that study, we visited the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph to hear from its director, Evan Fraser, and two student entrepreneurs, Leah Blechschmidt and Amberley Ruetz, about the future of food.

Part one of three. To read the report, go to www.rbc.com/humanswanted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon control huge swathes of our online lives. That's why we need to seriously consider breaking them up, according to NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway. In his new book, The Four, Galloway makes the case that these original disruptors have come to form an oligopoly—one that is stifling innovation. He says we need a radical new approach to regulating the big four.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There’s a serious skilled trades shortage in Canada. Carpenters, plumbers and electricians are retiring faster than they can be replaced. Here’s an easy answer for the problem: encourage more women to get involved. They make up nearly half the workforce in Canada, but less than five per cent in the trades. RBC CEO David McKay spoke with the founder and CEO of construction company Freshco, Mandy Rennehan, about the skilled trades shortage, getting more women into the building industry, and the importance of soft skills such as networking.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The NFL is a TV ratings juggernaut: 19 of the 20 most-viewed broadcasts in U.S. history are Super Bowls. But the league is facing new challenges to its dominance in the age of mobile video, at the same time as America's Game has become a cultural flashpoint. The NFL's head of digital, Maryann Turcke, explains how she dealt with player protests, covered off-the-field controversies, and tried to keep the focus on football during a tumultuous year for the league.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.