Canada’s AI Challenges: Are We Ready to Scale? — TorontoAI Panel Recap

On November 4, 2025, the TorontoAI community gathered at OneEleven, Toronto, for a packed evening of insights, networking, and conversation on one of the most critical topics shaping our future — Canada’s readiness to scale AI.

The event brought together over 130 professionals, including developers, founders, AI engineers, and executives from retail, finance, media, and technology.

Hosted by Chandan Kumar, founder of beCloudReady and organizer of the TorontoAI Meetup, the evening featured an engaging panel discussion with some of Canada’s leading AI voices:

• Kyle McCrindle – Co-Founder & CTO, Denvr Dataworks

• Gayatri Sikka – Sr. Director, Data & AI Engineering, Loblaws

• Olga Tsubiks – Director, AI & Data Products, RBC

• Mohit Rajhans – National Media Contributor & Tech Commentator

Setting the Stage: Canada’s AI Advantage

The event opened with a land acknowledgment, followed by a brief overview of TorontoAI’s mission — a community-driven initiative focused on bridging the gap between developers and startups, and fostering collaboration through tutorials, workshops, and panels.

Chandan highlighted that while Canada leads globally in AI research and talent, scaling requires more than innovation — it demands infrastructure, regulation, and public trust.

The introductory presentation outlined the AI technology stack — from GPUs, Kubernetes, and foundational models like LLaMA and DeepSeek to modern agentic workflows where microservices are powered by LLMs.

Panel Highlights

1. Infrastructure & Power — “The Neo-Cloud Era”

Kicking off the discussion, Kyle McCrindle shared insights from Denvr Dataworks’ journey building AI-optimized cloud infrastructure.He discussed the rise of “neo-cloud” providers — a new category of specialized cloud platforms focused on AI workloads, GPU orchestration, and sustainability.

“Canada’s clean energy advantage gives us a unique opportunity to build sovereign AI infrastructure that’s both powerful and sustainable,” Kyle noted, emphasizing partnerships that can make Canada globally competitive.

The conversation explored how AI compute is no longer just about scale, but about efficiency — optimizing power, cooling, and capital expenditure for a high-growth AI economy.

2. AI in Retail — “From Shelf to System Intelligence”

Gayatri Sikka provided a window into Loblaws’ AI-driven transformation, discussing how data and machine learning are reshaping customer experience — from personalized recommendations to operational forecasting.

She emphasized the fine balance between personalization and privacy, especially in Canada’s regulatory landscape:

“As AI gets better at anticipating customer needs, our responsibility to uphold trust grows even stronger.”

Her session also touched on the evolution of data pipelines — from batch ETL systems to real-time, LLM-enhanced workflows, enabling faster business insights and agentic automation.

3. Finance & Regulation — “Trust as the New Currency”

Representing the financial sector, Olga Tsubiks of RBC spoke about the dual challenge of innovation and compliance.She shared how major banks are experimenting with both open and closed-source LLMs, while ensuring robust governance, transparency, and model interpretability.

“Our approach to AI must be explainable, compliant, and aligned with customer trust. Regulation isn’t a barrier — it’s an enabler of responsible innovation.”

Her remarks resonated deeply with attendees navigating similar compliance concerns in AI-driven products.

4. Media & Public Perception — “Bridging Culture, Business, and Technology”

Mohit Rajhans, a well-known media and tech commentator, reflected on how AI narratives are being shaped in public discourse.He emphasized the need for accurate storytelling, encouraging media and tech communities to work together to build public trust in AI.

“The more we connect the cultural context to technology, the faster we can demystify AI and help people see its positive impact.”

Emerging Themes: Agentic AI and Developer Productivity

In the open-mic portion, the panel explored Agentic AI — the idea of autonomous agents that combine LLMs with microservice architectures.Chandan described this as the “AI version of workflow automation”, where developers design multi-agent systems capable of performing complex business tasks.

The discussion also touched on “Vibe Coding” — a growing movement where developers use natural language tools like Cursor, Copilot, and Claude to accelerate coding productivity.

Panelists agreed that AI isn’t replacing developers — it’s augmenting creativity and removing technical barriers, allowing teams to focus on solving meaningful problems.

Advice for Emerging AI Professionals

Each panelist closed with advice for young professionals:

• Kyle: “Learn how infrastructure powers innovation — from data center to model deployment.”

• Gayatri: “Develop an intuition for data — it’s your most strategic asset.”

• Olga: “Understand the regulatory mindset early — compliance and creativity can co-exist.”

• Mohit: “Build soft skills. The future of AI is not just technical, it’s human.”

Community and Next Steps

The evening wrapped up with networking, coffee, and new connections — a reminder of how vibrant the Toronto AI ecosystem has become.Attendees were encouraged to join the TorontoAI Slack, RSVP for upcoming events, and tag #TorontoAI on LinkedIn and X to keep the discussion alive.

TorontoAI continues to serve as a growth partner for startups and developers, fostering an ecosystem where Canadian innovation meets global opportunity.

As Chandan closed the session, he summed it up perfectly:“Canada has the talent and vision. Now it’s time to scale — responsibly, sustainably, and together.”