MORNING KEYNOTE
Andrew Grantham
Executive Director and Senior Economist
CIBC Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets Inc.
TOPIC: Trends Shaping the Industry - Economic Outlook
ABOUT ANDREW:
Andrew Grantham is a Senior Economist with CIBC, with a wide range of experience in different areas of economic and financial market forecasting. Joining in 2011, he initially focused on the US and international outlook and its implications for foreign exchange and fixed income markets. More recently, he has taken over responsibility for the Canadian provincial outlook, and has also worked on the CIBC Economics team’s commodity forecasts. Since joining, he helped CIBC win MarketWatch's monthly contest for US forecasters five times, and is regularly quoted by the print and electronic media.
Prior to joining CIBC in 2011, Andrew worked in London, England, for one of the UK's largest banks. He gained a Master's degree in Economics from the University of York, England.
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE
Nicole Verkindt
Tech Entrepreneur | Angel Investor | CEO, Buggy
TOPIC: Leveraging a Crisis to Embrace Technology Trends
Join Nicole as she shares her expertise on embracing technology during crisis - especially in our traditional sectors of manufacturing.
Learn how new technology trends change traditional power structures and promote more diverse teams and structures.
She will also discuss the process of innovation and the steps involved during these unprecedented times.
ABOUT NICOLE:
Serial entrepreneur Nicole Verkindt has a knack for finding industry gaps and building innovative companies to fill them. As the founder of OMX, she built one of the largest supplier tech platforms specializing in ESG metrics. Now, as the CEO of Buggy, she is transforming Canada’s retail industries for today’s evolving consumer market. Speaking to technology, leadership, and disruptive thinking, Verkindt empowers audiences to turn today’s trends into their competitive advantage.
Verkindt started in manufacturing. She then founded Canadian tech company, OMX, in 2012. Since then, this innovative platform has grown into one of the largest supply chain data providers. Verkindt sold it in 2022 to Sustainalytics, which is owned by Morningstar. Today, Verkindt is the CEO of Buggy, Canada’s rapid essentials delivery business, and an active angel investor involved in dozens of Canada's early-stage tech companies.
In addition, Verkindt is a frequent technology commentator on CBC. She was also an investor on Gimlet Media’s The Pitch in the US and a “Dragon” on CBC’s Next Gen Den, which focused on early-stage technology startups. Verkindt currently sits on the board of the Canadian Commercial Corporation and was the co-chair of the Business Council of Canada’s Task Force on Canada’s Economic Future.
One of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40”, Verkindt was awarded the Peter Brojde Award for Next Generation Executive Leadership in 2018. She was also named “Canada’s Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2017 by Startup Canada.
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