The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo invites you to a networking reception and an expert panel discussion on trust, policy, ethics, education, and strategy in a world increasingly shaped by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In this dynamic conversation, thought leaders across numerous sectors will explore how organizations, governments, and educators can navigate the breakneck evolution of AI — not just responsibly, but boldly. We’ll move from ethical dilemmas and policy blind spots to workforce transformation and the reimagining of education itself, asking a simple but urgent question: what does successful AI adoption look like, and how can we ensure its benefits define our progress rather than its risks?
What to Expect:
- Insightful perspectives on what “responsible AI” means in practice
- Debate on the tension between innovation and regulation
- Insights on how workforces are shifting — and how to prepare for change
- Exploration of the skills the future demands, and how we teach them
- A forward-looking finale: the one AI opportunity each panelist finds most exciting
Whether you’re shaping policy, leading innovation, educating the next generation, or simply eager to understand what’s ahead, this conversation will give you the insights — and the questions — you need to navigate and help shape an AI-driven future.
---
Appetizers and refreshments will be provided and are included in the registration fee.
Please note that registered alumni and guests will be sent a QR code the day before the event in order to gain access into the event at Microsoft headquarters - a smartphone is highly recommended for seamless entry.
Registration: There are no physical tickets for this event. Once your online registration is completed, you will be sent a registration confirmation by email and your name will be added to the event guest list. Please check in at the door when you arrive at the event.
Please note: This session will not be recorded. Past sessions of this series were virtual and have been posted to view on the Alumni Speaker Playlist on the Waterloo Engineering YouTube Channel. Event participants do not have permission to record the session.
Moderator
Erin Chapple
BASc 1998, Electrical Engineering
Corporate Vice President, Commercial Solution Areas, Microsoft
Erin Chapple is the Corporate Vice President of the Commercial Solution Areas (CSA) organization at Microsoft. She is responsible for go-to-market strategy and operations, solution sales, solution quality and execution at scale across the Microsoft Commercial Cloud business delivering $160 billion in annual revenue (FY25). The Microsoft Commercial Cloud is comprised of three Solution Areas - AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, and Security - which are the foundation of how CSA designs, delivers and goes to market across segments. Under Erin’s leadership, the Innovation and Acceleration team was formed to support customer’s AI Transformation by showcasing the end-to-end platform value of the Microsoft Commercial Cloud at locations around the world including the brand-new Experience Center One and global Innovation Hubs.
Erin is committed to building world-class organizations, developing excellence in management, creating communities that foster allyship and support, and growing the next generation of business leaders.
Previously Erin was the Corporate Vice President, Product and Design, of the Azure Infrastructure team, delivering infrastructure offerings that power the world’s workloads. After completing several internships, she joined Microsoft full-time in 1998 as a Program Manager on the Small Business Server. Since then, she has contributed to more than 15 operating system releases in various product leadership positions.
Connect with Erin Chapple on LinkedIn.
Panelists
Joel Blit
MASc 2000, Electrical Engineering
Associate Professor, Economics
Co-Director, Canadian AI Adoption Initiative (CAIAI)
Prior to joining Waterloo, Joel was an Assistant Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the George Washington University. He has also been a business consultant to financial services firms in Asia, Australia, and North America. His consulting engagements included reorganizing the activities of a major bank and formulating the strategy for a $US 100M startup.
Professor Blit regularly advises policymakers on innovation policy. As part of an expert roundtable, he advised the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Canada’s optimal position on intellectual property for USMCA trade negotiations. On the topic of automation and the future of work, he has briefed the G7 Representatives and has been an invited speaker at a number of venues including the OECD Global Forum on Productivity.
Joel’s main research interests are in the economics of innovation and innovation policy. He studies the role that multi-location firms play in promoting the flow of knowledge across geographical space, the effect that intellectual property rights (patents) have on innovation, and whether skilled immigration can be leveraged to foster innovation. His most recent research focuses on AI and economics. His most recent work, examining how COVID-19 is transforming the economy through automation and reallocation, featured in numerous media outlets including The Economist, The Globe and Mail, and the CBC.
Joel has received numerous research grants from agencies such as SSHRC, NBER, CIBER, INET, CIGI, the UW AI Institute.
Connect with Joel Blit on LinkedIn.
Sheldon Fernandez
BASc 2001, Computer Engineering
AI Mentor & Board Advisor at Neuberg Gore and AI Strategist at Layered Insights Inc.
Co-Founder, DarwinAI
Sheldon Fernandez is a seasoned executive, strategist and respected thought leader in the entrepreneurial and academic communities. He has successfully built and exited numerous businesses, including DarwinAI, which was selected by CBInsights for its AI 100 annual list of the hundred most promising private AI companies in the world. Prior to that, Sheldon co-founded Infusion, a leading technology and consultancy firm, and helped grow the company to 700 people before its acquisition by Avanade.
At present, Sheldon is advising enterprises, startups, PE firms and VCs, on transformational opportunities around AI, and maintains advisory positions with the Montreal Institute for Global Security (MIGS) and the CleanAI initiative. He is also deeply involved in work on AI governance, ethics, and artificial consciousness, as well exploring the intersection of AI in the theological and creative realms.
Connect with Sheldon Fernandez on LinkedIn.
Sirisha Rambhatla
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Science and Engineering
Val O’Donovan Chair in Efficient, Safe, and Adaptive AI, Waterloo Data and Artificial Intelligence Institute
Director, Critical Machine Learning Lab
Sirisha Rambhatla, PhD, is the Director of the Critical Machine Learning (ML) Lab (https://sirisharambhatla.com/criticalml/) and an Assistant Professor in the Management Science and Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo (UW) with cross-appointments in Systems Design Engineering and the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. Her research focuses on developing reliable ML and artificial intelligence (AI) models for critical real-world decision-making in surgery, transplantation and healthcare, intelligent manufacturing, and aviation using computer vision, spatiotemporal modelling, representation learning, and explainable AI. Her inter-disciplinary work, spanning both the theory and practice of ML, has been published at top ML venues such as ICML, NeurIPS, ICLR, KDD, IJCAI, AAAI, and clinical venues such as AMIA, Urology Clinics North America, Surgery, and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Performance Award by University of Waterloo, 2021 Merit Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Research at the University of Southern California, Dr. Rambhatla received her Ph.D. and Master’s in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota -- Twin Cities in 2019 and 2012, respectively, where she was the recipient of the E. Bruce Lee Memorial Fellowship.
Connect with Sirisha Rambhatla on LinkedIn.