“I don’t know what Canadian DOGE is. You know what I know? That everyone is projecting both their hopes and fears onto this thing.”

Ex-Shopify VP Daniel Debow joins to discuss his Build Canada initiative, what it’s attempting to achieve, what it isn’t, and his frustration regarding ongoing associations with ‘Canadian DOGE’.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by The Cyber Challenge, powered by Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and CCTX—your pathway to new sales, industry connections, and non-dilutive funding. If you're ready to scale, refine, and lead cybersecurity innovation, apply today at www.thecyberchallenge.ca. 

Related links:

Major tech figures get into politics with launch of Build Canada 

The tech CEOs who want a DOGE for Canada 

Canada's tech broligarchs are getting organized too

Should we be worried about Canadian DOGE?

DEI rollback is the “wrong direction for Canada,” open letter says

What Debow says he’s hearing from senior civil servants

“It feels like my inclusion was optional, and that is a scary message to be told. ‘We were doing you a favour by letting you in the room.’”

AccessNow founder and CEO Maayan Ziv has been working in the accessibility space for over a decade—long enough to know that progress is slow and takes a fight. With DEIA currently being blamed for “everything from bad business decisions to plane crashes,” Ziv joins to explain why she feels the fight is “slipping through our fingers.”

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by CIX SUMMIT, powered by Elevate. CIX is Canada’s largest startup awards program and investment conference that brings together Canada’s most promising tech founders, global investors, and industry advisors to power new deals.

Join us March 26 at the Design Exchange. Get your tickets now!

“Once you’ve cornered that beaver, look out. We are a vicious beast.”

Rob and Douglas review the latest dispatches in Canada’s impending trade war with the United States, specifically how Canadian tech is responding. Did someone poke the beaver and unleash Canada’s quiet patriotism? A 3-2 overtime hockey win points to yes.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by the University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Week, returning March 3-7 in downtown Toronto. Don’t miss AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, 2024 Nobel laureate, live as he shares insights for startups.

View the schedule and register for free: uoft.me/hintonkeynote

“ You're going to see Coveo starting to invest quite aggressively actually to be a market taker. We're not a disrupted company. We're a market taker in AI.”

Coveo's current CEO and future executive chair, Louis Têtu, joins to discuss the applied AI company's earnings performance and where the market is heading in the face of customer fatigue and DeepSeek disruption.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by Float, Canada's complete business finance platform, combining modern financial services and software to help businesses spend, save, and grow. Support Canadian business and switch today at floatfinancial.com.

“Part of the magic of the games industry here is that it’s not one thing.”

Canada must diversify its economy. Why not start with gaming? Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) president and CEO, Paul Fogolin, joins to discuss video games’ $5.1 billion contribution to Canada’s economy and the results of his organization’s latest study on the Canadian gaming industry.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by Float, Canada's complete business finance platform, combining modern financial services and software to help businesses spend, save, and grow. Support Canadian business and switch today at floatfinancial.com.

“ Subversiveness is a way of changing the system. And I think what we're seeing right now is that all systems are changing.”

Entrepreneur and Startupfest founding partner Alistair Croll has co-authored a new book, Just Evil Enough: The Subversive Marketing Handbook. Why are Canadian companies so bad with their go-to-market execution and is now really the time to be preaching subversion and disagreeableness? Let’s dig in.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by The BetaKit Newsletter. Your inbox deserves better, and so do you. Stay informed on all things Canadian tech by signing up for The BetaKit Newsletter today.

“This is worth the pain of attempting to figure out how to do it. But attempting to figure out how to do it required us to basically rethink everything about that traditional outsourcing model.”

SRTX founder and CEO Katherine Homuth explains how attempting to solve one problem with tights led her company to attempt solving for all problems related to modern North American textile manufacturing.

The BetaKit Podcast is brought to you by the BetaKit Innovation Leaders program. Innovation Leaders are driving Canada’s innovation economy forward. By partnering with BetaKit, you can help support the journalism that keeps Canada’s tech sector in focus.

 ”It does make me increasingly nervous that one of them really wants to move to Mars and the other one has a legit bunker. Like, what are they preparing for?”

Social media expert Amber Mac joins to discuss why two of the world’s richest men, collectively responsible for over 3 billion monthly users, are so quick to blame everyone else for the problems their platforms cause.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by The BetaKit Newsletter. Your inbox deserves better, and so do you. Stay informed on all things Canadian tech by signing up for The BetaKit Newsletter today.

“ I'm sure if there's one takeaway here is that we can all trust Enron to solve the world's energy problems.” 

“With a mere human-sized egg.”

A cleantech crisis? The end of VCCI? The rise of centaurs? FinTech IPOs? Quantum leaps? BetaKit reporters Madison McLauchlan and Josh Scott join to review 2024’s biggest tech questions before offering a fresh set for 2025.

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by The BetaKit Newsletter. Your inbox deserves better, and so do you. Stay informed on all things Canadian tech by signing up for The BetaKit Newsletter today.

“Part of my prediction for 2025 is embracing or acknowledging that chaos reigns.”

AI agents. Political shenanigans. A Canadian tech acquisition that will shock you. And a Big Tech breakup that you might expect. After choosing chalk last year, The BetaKit Podcast adds some spice to its 2025 tech predictions. Let’s dig in!

Have a different take on 2025? Let us know: [email protected].

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by ‘Devious Web,’ a Shelley Grandy mystery novel available in digital or paperback formats.

A successful Canadian entrepreneur is offered millions from Silicon Valley for his data analytics business. As CEO Tom Oliver considers the deal, he is targeted by an unknown perpetrator, and his friend, homicide detective Jason Liu, must strive to keep him safe.

If you enjoyed ‘Suits’ and ‘Succession,’ this book is for you. Order your copy today.