Open Banking Expo Canada Speakers

As the Open Banking and Blockchain Leader, Abhishek leads EY Canada’s Banking Technology Consulting practice.

Abhishek focuses on the transformative impact technology has on the banking industry.

He works with clients to strategize and operationalize major transformative initiatives within Core Banking Operations, Retail & Commercial Banking, Finance & Treasury and Payments. Abhishek’s current focus includes Digital Adoption, Innovation, Open Banking, Open APIs, Enterprise Architecture, Data Management, Analytics and IT Strategy.

Abhishek also leads EY’s Blockchain practice in Canada across all sectors, working with clients as they understand the fundamental impact blockchain has to their operating & business models.

Abhishek significant international experience with top-tier consulting firms and within the banking industry. He has played significant roles in setting up de-novo banks in different jurisdictions and has held various management positions in established global banks.

Chris Sweetland is CIBC’s SVP of Payments, Strategy & Transformation and resides in the Personal & Business Bank (PBB) arm of the Canadian retail bank. Chris is responsible for our Payment Strategy, our exploration of new products, services, platforms and partnerships related to PBB commerce and payments, and advises the broader organization on investments, priorities and roadmaps in support of all retail lines of business.

Before CIBC, Chris led Square’s Industry Relations and Payments Operations & Partnerships teams. Chris represented the interests of the small business and microseller community against an increasingly complex backdrop of payments and commerce The Operations & Partnerships function under Square’s Payments organization where Chris looked after Square’s Seller communities in North America, Europe, Australia and Japan. Before joining Square in 2017, Chris led a Business Development and Commerce Partnerships team at Google focused on mobile, online and in-app payments that solicited card network, financial institution, card issuer, and digital payments participation in Google Pay (previously, Android Pay).

Prior to Google, Chris was Vice President of Corporate Initiatives at Visa Inc., and led the business development and product partnerships engagement of the major US financial institutions and their participation in the launch of the Visa Token Service in support of the introduction of Apple Pay.

In nine years between Visa U.S.A. and Visa Inc., Chris led a team based in Singapore focused on Emerging Payments Partnerships and Industry Programs across Asia Pacific, Easter Europe, Middle East, and Africa. He participated in Visa’s 2008 IPO, while managing a team of corporate strategy professionals who oversaw the financial restructuring and network pricing overhaul in the transition of the network association to a for profit, public company. Prior to his work tied to the IPO, Chris managed numerous pilot programs for Visa U.S.A. as a Product Innovation manager focused on mobile and contactless initiatives between 2006 and 2008. Before 2006, Chris consulted various companies including Visa in the payments, financial services and technology industries at Accenture. He spent four years between Accenture
and Economists, Inc. advising businesses and law firms in areas including marketing, technology, antitrust, competition, and litigation.

Chris holds a B.A. in Economics from Colgate University. He’s a former chapter President of the Omecron Delta Epsilon academic honor society. In 2001, Chris was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All America team for his participation in the Colgate University cross country and track and field teams

Dianne leads Portfolio+ including all aspects of strategy, vision, go-to-market and growth initiatives. Her rich knowledge in the banking/financial services industry provides focus on creating value for customers, employees, and partners through open communication and collaboration across all teams.

Responsible for the development, planning and execution of a comprehensive Open Banking strategy to position Axway as the leading solution provider in the space. Coordinates efforts across teams within the organisation, from marketing to sales to product, in order to ensure common strategic alignment and complementary messaging. A member of the Catalyst team at Axway, dedicated to providing global thought leadership in the realm of APIs, integration technologies and digital transformation.

As Vice President in Digital, Franklin leads developments aiming to transform how the bank interacts with its employees and customers on a North American basis. He promotes the effort to “mobilize” TD Bank colleagues; untethering and empowering employees. As part of his mandate, Franklin leads the Digital Identity agenda for the enterprise, building and delivering a platform that will transform how Canadians assert their identity in the digital world; in addition to serving on the DIACC board. He also leads TD’s involvement and efforts around Open Banking, covering both regulatory and market developments, he represents TD on the Financial Data Exchange (FDX) board.

Franklin is a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University with a Masters of Business Administration. He also holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Ecole Superieure D’Electricite.

Frederick Lavoie is the co-founder and COO of Flinks. He has global responsibility for making things happen. He oversees the implementation of Flinks’ business plan, equips teams with the resources they need, and scales culture as the company grows in size and across geographies.

Hugh McKee is Head of BMO Partners, BMO’s Enterprise partnership team accountable for using strategic partnerships and investments to help accelerate innovation and growth across BMO. He is accountable for developing partnerships with Fintechs, Bigtechs, financial services consortia and innovation accelerators. Prior to his current role, Hugh was the Vice President of Enterprise Strategy in the Office of Strategic Management where he led Enterprise strategic initiatives.

Hugh has also held a number of operating roles within BMO including President and CEO of BMO Mutual Funds and Vice President of Customer Segment Management. Before joining BMO in 2007, he was a Global Account Manager for Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, where he was a leader in the financial services practice. Hugh holds an Honours BA in Economics from Queen’s University and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

Karen Budahazy is an experienced Senior Executive in the financial services industry. She has held leadership roles at Givex and InComm prior to joining the payments team at Peoples Group as Vice President, Digital Enablement and Issuing. She currently serves as the Chair for the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization.

Keith Jansa is the Executive Director of the CIO Strategy Council. Keith brings 15+ years of public, private and not-for profit experience leading diverse teams to generate successful business strategies and deliver client-focused solutions and meaningful results. Keith has particular subject matter expertise in the strategic application of standards for creating secure, privacy-preserving technologies. He works with Canada’s most forward-thinking Chief Information Officers and executive technology leaders to collectively accelerate the pace of digital transformation and advance Canada’s position in the global digital economy. In his previous role as Vice President of Standards and Innovation at the Council, Keith provided executive leadership in the design and successful accreditation of the Council’s standards-setting process to drive the creation of national standards to advance Canada’s digital economy. Keith is also Chair of Innovate Cities, an appointed member of Ontario’s Health Data Council, and chair of its Strategic Working Group on Data Stewardship. Keith holds a Bachelor in Health Sciences honours degree from the University of Ottawa. He is married to his university sweetheart, Kayla Jansa, and loves chasing after his 3 children.

Kristy Duncan is the founder and CEO of Women in Payments. This growing professional network unites women in payments from around the globe with a shared vision of gender parity. Women in Payments supports women’s career development through conferences, award and mentorship programs, and by hosting a growing online community.

Kristy is an avid supporter of her fellow female trailblazers, as investor and advisor to three women-led fintechs. As a respected leader in the field, she’s judged several accelerators, fintech contests, and global awards programs.

Before founding Women in Payments, Kristy was a leading payments consultant to global financial institutions, payment networks, fintechs, regulators, and other industry leaders. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at a tier one Canadian bank.

Michelle is the CEO & founder of FINAVATOR an award winning FinTech and Payments Consultancy. She is also a strategic advisor, a Money 20/20 Rise Up alumni, a Women in Payments Global Council Member, the Membership Chair at CPPO (Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization), a Payment Advisor at NCFA (National Crowdfunding and FinTech Association of Canada), and a Board Member at OBIC (Open Banking Initiative of Canada).

Roy possesses over 20 years of experience in various leadership roles in Fintech, managing consultancy, and other entrepreneurial pursuits around the world.

Prior to joining MaRS, Roy was the founding Chief Technology Officer at Lendified, a respected small business lending Fintech company, and was a co-founder of Alpha Insights, a data and analytics strategy consultancy for the Financial Services industry. Previously, Roy was CEO of Bentley & Co. Limited in New York and Shanghai, and has held management and consulting positions at companies including BCE Emergis, CA Technologies, and Accenture.

Roy is a native Mandarin Chinese and English speaker, and graduated with an honours degree in computer science and economics from the University of Toronto.

The Honourable Colin Deacon’s background as an entrepreneur provides a unique perspective in Canada’s Upper Chamber. Prior to joining the Senate, he ran several successful global businesses, the latest of which was Bluelight Analytics, a technology firm providing data tools to dental offices worldwide.

As part of the Senate, he has been a strong advocate for entrepreneurs, harnessing the digital economy, updating Canada’s privacy legislation, ensuring global competitiveness of Canadian firms, and promoting Canadian leadership on issues relating to climate change.

Senator Deacon was appointed to the Senate of Canada as a representative of Nova Scotia in June 2018 and has since been part of the Independent Senators Group.

With over 25 years of experience in digital strategy and transformation, Stéphane has made a name for himself as a key player in the evolution of Canada’s digital landscape.

Prior to working at National Bank of Canada, Stephane was active in the media industry where he led numerous digital transformation programs for the Sun Media Corporation, the National Film Board of Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Stephane holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Communications and Digital Media from the University of Quebec in Montréal (UQAM).