Michael Eubanks, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, LCBO
Michael Eubanks, is currently the Chief Information Officer and SVP Operations Support at goeasy Ltd. Michael is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). His former recent Roles and responsibilities included CIO for the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) and Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer for One Inc., Vice President, Architecture Relationship Management and Technology Strategy at Canadian Tire Corporation, and various senior technology roles at Best Buy International and the T. Eaton Company LTD.
Michael is currently the Chair of the Board of Governors for North Toronto Soccer Association and a member of the York University Alumni Board. Michael is a graduate of York University, University of Toronto Rotman School of Business Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) Program and the Harvard Business School Executive Program.
Rachel Guinto, AVP – Global Information Security Risk Management, Manulife
Rachel Guinto is a veteran risk and information security practitioner in the financial industry. Her roles over nearly 20 years have crossed security domains in operations, governance and leadership at Scotiabank, CIBC and CISO of the Ontario Pension Board. She is currently AVP Global Information Security Risk Management at Manulife focusing on application and infrastructure security assurance.
Fahd Gulzar, MBA, PMP, CAMS, Agile Certified Practitioner
AWS National Programs Lead, Canada Public Sector, Amazon
At Amazon Web Services (AWS), Fahd works with internal and external stakeholders to develop and lead cloud computing education and workforce development programs for the Canadian Public Sector. In addition, Fahd is responsible for leading the localization of existing AWS Programs to better meet the needs of Canadians. Prior to Amazon, as Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), Fahd was leading large scale fraud and anti-money laundering implementations at SAS Institute, a leading data analytics firm. Fahd is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and an Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) with proven results in incorporating Agile framework in his work. Fahd graduated from the Electrical Engineering program at the University of Waterloo and holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Steve Ojwang, Director, ICT Infrastructure at York University
Steve Ojwang is the Director, ICT Infrastructure at York University and is responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of all third-party and internally managed common enterprise IT infrastructure used by the University to support business processes and services across the institution. Steve has more than 18 years of experience leading IT Infrastructure and operations across organizations in industries such as financial services, automotive, nonprofit, startup and Architecture & Engineering. His expertise spans technology strategy, IT infrastructure, program management, solutions design & delivery, change management and operating models. As a technology leader, he focuses on helping organizations grow through innovation and developing winning strategies to enhance the relationship with their customers.
Prior to joining York University Steve was the director of IT at Leonardo Worldwide, leading the platform engineering team in building a fully automated infrastructure for the company’s Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. He has also led technology function in both the private and public sectors with a focus on strategy, business transformation and innovation. Additionally, he is a strategy and technology consultant. Steve holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas, and a Master of Business Administration in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from the University Of Toronto – Rotman.
John Weigelt, CD, BENG, MENG, RMC, CISM, CISSP
National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada
As the National Technology Officer for Microsoft Canada, John Weigelt is responsible for driving Microsoft Canada’s strategic technology efforts. In this role, Mr. Weigelt helps business and governments innovate with technology while avoiding the unintended consequences that might arise. He leads Canadian outreach for technology policy issues across a wide range of subjects including: economic development, digital economy, open government, environmental sustainability, accessibility, privacy, security, critical infrastructure protection, government 3.0, spectrum and intellectual property. Mr. Weigelt’s 25 plus years of experience in cyber security, and his pioneering work in protocols, practices, policies, programs and partnerships to increase cyber assurance, provides him with a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities associated with overcoming the inertia often associated with initiatives to increase trust and confidence in the digital world.
Vinay Puri, National Director and Leader, Cloud Security, Deloitte Canada
Vinay has over 22 years of experience in cyber security helping organizations, primarily in the financial services, retail sector, and insurance sectors, to implement a comprehensive cyber risk management program. Vinay leads cyber security teams in designing, building, and managing infrastructure security, leads Secure Transformation Cloud for clients, Agile Enterprise Security for digital platforms, application security, incident management, and DDoS protection. His innovative ideas and analytical skills have been instrumental in identifying gaps in cyber security posture and architecting complete security framework for a number of enterprises.
Vinay leads Secure Cloud Transformation and the overall cloud security practice for Deloitte Canada. Vinay is a dual master in Computer Science and Information Warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School, operated by the Department of Defense, United States. Vinay holds more than 10 niche security related internationally recognized certifications.
Olav Hanrath, Vice President Distributed Hosting Services at RBC
Bio coming soon.
Marin Litoiu, Professor, ITEC, York University
Bio coming soon.
Chris Russell, Chief Information Security Officer at York University
Bio coming soon.
Jon VanUden, Vice President Cloud Strategy, Engineering and Delivery at TD
Bio coming soon.
Wessam Abdelwahab, MSc ISM, TOGAF, SOA, Cloud & Microservice Architect, PMP, ICAgile-PM, CBAP, ITIL
Wessam Abdelwahab is a Senior Enterprise Solutions Architect with over 15 years of extensive experience in managing, architecting, designing, developing, and implementing secure large-scale distributed systems within the private and public sectors. He led the architecture, integration, and infrastructure upgrades for multi-million-dollar systems within the financial industry as part of legacy systems modernization and digital transformation. He is a Cloud Evangelist transforming IT landscapes and accelerating the journey to the cloud.
Claude K. Sam-Foh, MBA, SCF, PMP, ITILv3&4, CISM, CISA, CIP, Cert. APM, COBIT
Claude Sam-Foh is the former Chief Enterprise Architect and Chief Cyber Security Officer with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. He has extensive business and IT knowledge, gained through more than 30 years’ practical experience in both fields. His area of expertise encompasses enterprise architecture, information management, information security, privacy leadership, cloud computing, service management, portfolio, program and project management, business systems analysis and agile management.
Claude has recently joined the School of Continuing Studies at York University as a curriculum developer and Instructor. Claude makes business and IT learning fun and adapts his delivery to the level of his students. He challenges them to think strategically and emphasizes on applying the knowledge they have learned in the workplace. His motto is “Knowledge Secured and Wisdom Applied.” He leads by example, teaches with passion, and creates a learning environment where students are motivated to excel.
Leonid Sorokin
Leo has over 10+ years of experience in various solution architecture and enterprise architecture roles with large organizations in the financial, manufacturing, and software industries. He is currently a Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft helping the largest Canadian organizations adopt cloud technology. Leo has extensive experience with service-oriented architecture, application integration, cloud-native application and hybrid-cloud architecture, as well as security software architecture. Leo is also TOGAF® 9 Certified, a Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect and holds a Computer Science degree from York University. Leo has also taught technology related courses in several educational institutions. In his spare time, Leo enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, traveling around the world, and dissecting the latest technology buzzwords.