CIO Think Tank

David is a 35+ year veteran of Information Technology. He has had varied roles including, software product developer, software architect, head of IT for a large Canadian manufacturing firm, and roles as VP/Country Manager for Information Builders, Teradata and most recently with Denodo. His technology passion focuses on concepts and patterns of digital reuse which lead him to the concept of logical data fabrics which enable the reuse of data assets without costly and risky replication. His current role as Regional Vice-President for Denodo Canada has seem him lead the entry and expansion of Denodo into the Canadian marketplace over the past 3 years.

An imaginative and results oriented technology leader who is passionate about the value creation resulting from the intersection of business and technology. A dynamic, servant leader focused on creating and motivating highly productive teams by institutionalizing a work environment that values collaboration, imagination and results. Driven by vision and strategy and am know for discerning game-changing paths.

Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the world’s leading privacy experts. Dr. Cavoukian served an unprecedented three terms as the Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada. There she created Privacy by Design, a framework that seeks to proactively embed privacy into the design specifications of information technologies, networked infrastructure and business practices, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In 2010, International Privacy Regulators unanimously passed a Resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an International Standard. Since then, PbD has been translated into 40 languages! In 2018, PbD was included in a sweeping new law in the EU: the General Data Protection Regulation. Dr. Cavoukian is now the Executive Director of the Global Privacy & Security by Design Centre. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre at Ryerson University, and a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Law, Science & Innovation at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.  Dr. Cavoukian is the author of two books, “The Privacy Payoff: How Successful Businesses Build Customer Trust” with Tyler Hamilton, and “Who Knows: Safeguarding Your Privacy in a Networked World” with Don Tapscott. She has received numerous awards recognizing her leadership in privacy, including being named as one of the Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada, named as one of the Top 10 Women in Data Security and Privacy, and named as one of the ‘Power 50’ by Canadian Business. She was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada for her outstanding work on creating Privacy by Design and taking it global (May, 2017), named as one of the 50 Most Impactful Smart Cities Leaders (November, 2017), named among the Top Women in Tech (December, 2017), was awarded the Toastmasters Communication and Leadership Award (April, 2018), recognized among the Top 100 Identity Influencers (February, 2019), and most recently, she was named among the Top 18 Global AI Influencers within the AI & Tech Space (February, 2019), was awarded the 2020 Canadian Women in Cybersecurity Lifetime Achievement Award In Recognition of Your Outstanding Contributions to Cybersecurity and Privacy in Ontario (March 2020), appointed member of the Auditor General’s Panel of Senior Advisors (March 2021).

As RVP Sales, Shiraz is responsible for the success and growth of Appian’s customers in Canada. In this capacity he has worked closely with some of the largest organizations in Canada on mission critical digital transformation and automation initiatives. Before joining Appian, Shiraz worked at SAP and Oracle and has over 12 years of experience in enterprise software. Shiraz holds an MBA from University of British Columbia with specialization in strategic management.

David Masson is Darktrace’s Director of Enterprise Security, and has over two decades of experience working in fast moving security and intelligence environments in the UK, Canada and worldwide. With skills developed in the civilian, military and diplomatic worlds, he has been influential in the efficient and effective resolution of various unique national security issues. David is an operational solutions expert and has a solid reputation across the UK and Canada for delivery tailored to customer needs. At Darktrace, David advises strategic customers across North America and is also a regular contributor to major international and national media outlets in Canada where he is based. He holds a master’s degree from Edinburgh University.

Ben Halpert is a man on a mission: to educate and empower today’s digital citizens in the workplace, at schools, and at home. By day, he is the CISO at Groupon bringing his global experience in Risk Management, Cyber Security, Physical Security, Audit, Privacy, Compliance, and IT to benefit their merchants and customers. By night, he champions cyber ethics education throughout society via the 501(c)3 nonprofit Savvy Cyber Kids he founded in 2007. Ben is honored to speak and keynote at conferences and events worldwide. He has presented at the World Economic Forum, multiple times at the RSA Security Conference, InfoSec World Conference & SecureWorld events. Ben was invited to present at TEDxKids@Vilnius (Raising Savvy Cyber Kids) and TEDxSaintThomas (Technology addiction and what you can do about it). In addition, Ben has presented at IEEE, ACM, CSO50, CISO Summits, the Worth Safety & Security Summit and many other events over his career. Based on his early research and experience in the then emerging field of Cloud Computing, Ben was invited to publish Auditing Cloud Computing: A Security and Privacy Guide through John Wiley & Sons. Ben was a contributing author to Readings and Cases in the Management of Information Security and the Encyclopedia of Information Ethics & Security, wrote the security column for Mobile Enterprise Magazine and has contributed to seven NIST special publications. Through Savvy Cyber Kids, Ben provides cyber ethics educational and awareness sessions for parents, teachers, and students – from preschool through high school. Ben is the award-winning author of The Savvy Cyber Kids at Home children’s book series (The Family Gets a Computer, The Defeat of the Cyber Bully, and Adventures Beyond the Screen). As a trusted voice on a variety of cyber security issues, Ben has made numerous TV and radio appearances and has been featured in newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times, Wired, BBC, Kilinger, Good Morning America, Good Day Atlanta, CNN HLN, Fox News, RogersTV, RTVI, 11 Alive, WSB-TV, among others.

Aruna Ravichandran is the CMO for Webex by Cisco. She brings a unique parallel expertise in technology and marketing, blending her computer engineering background with a maniacal customer focus and a business- outcome philosophy that is based on equal parts purposeful storytelling and data science. She is a change agent and recognized authority on Hybrid Work, with a track record of guiding customers, partners, and global teams through workforce and technology transformations. Bridging the roles of the CMO, CIO, and CXO, Aruna believes in the power of marketing as a revenue creator, a brand value accelerator, and enabler of human connections. She is an outspoken proponent of leading with a people-first approach, shepherding business leaders towards a more innovative, culture-conscious, and inclusive way of doing business. As an industry expert on SaaS marketing and enterprise technology, her experience spans more than two decades – building SaaS and digital routes-to-market and expanding addressable markets – for companies including HP, Juniper, CA Technologies, and Cisco, where she currently oversees marketing for this $6B organization. Aruna has authored two pioneering books on DevOps, is a contributor for Forbes.com, and is a multi- award honoree, including Top 100 Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley 2016, and the National Diversity Council’s 2016 Most Powerful and Influential Woman. Aruna holds an MBA and MS Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University and a BS Computer Science from Bangalore Institute of Technology (BIT). She was also a graduate of the esteemed CMO Leadership program at Kellogg Business School in 2019.

Information Technology Leader with a focus on Security, Architecture and Operations. Experienced in regulatory compliances & security frameworks: HIPAA, PCI, SOX, COBIT, ISO, NIST, SANS20. Consistently leading strategic planning, policy development and day-to-day operations of information security function in close coordination with all corporate departments aligned with corporate vision. Proficient in target enumeration, vulnerability assessments, risk analysis and management, open source intelligence gathering, social engineering, IDS/IPS and SIEM tools.

Information Technology: Successful professional with extensive experience in networking technologies, server platforms, operating systems, programming languages and mainframe applications. Problem Management: More than four years of advanced network, mainframe and server troubleshooting and support. Proven success in situation and change management for high impacting issues. Good understanding of general problem management methodologies, Six Sigma, ITIL and Process Ownership. Team Management: Managed several individuals (both internal employees and contractors) with responsibility for oversight of successful Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity tests. Ability to motivate as well as delegate in order to execute on stated goals. Professional Skills: Excellent work ethic, interpersonal skills & relationship building, multi-tasking, and communication management. Demonstrated eagerness to learn and take on challenging tasks. Specialties: Advanced Network Troubleshooting, End to End System Troubleshooting, Disaster Recovery Planning and Design, Business Continutiy Planning, Solution Development