Randy Aitken has spent nearly 25 years in Risk Management and has worked at major financial institutions such as Scotiabank and RBC. In 2018, Randy joined Flexiti, a FinTech, where he became the Vice President of Collections. When Flexiti was acquired by Questrade Financial Group in 2023, he soon became the Managing Director of Collection Strategy & Operations where he is accountable for all collections strategy and operations across the firm which include Questrade, Community Trust, and Flexiti.

Randy uses data and analytics to drive strategic decisioning to optimize performance, reduce losses, and provide the best possible client experience.

Sal Guatieri is a Senior Economist and Director at BMO Capital Markets, with three decades experience as a macro economist. With BMO since 1994, his main responsibilities include analyzing and forecasting the U.S. economy, Canadian and U.S. housing markets and commercial real estate markets. He is responsible for the Department’s economic forecasts prepared for regulatory and stress testing requirements and oversees analysis of financial services markets. He is a regular commentator in the media. Prior to joining BMO, Sal worked at the Bank of Canada, contributing to its quarterly economic projection and analyzing foreign exchange markets. Sal received his master’s degree in Economics from Queen’s University in 1990.

Detective Staff Sergeant Dan Dusto began his public service career in 2001 and joined the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in 2012. Throughout his career, he has held a variety of specialized investigative and leadership roles, including positions in Crime Units, Professional Standards, Financial Crimes, and the Counter Exploitation and Missing Persons Section. In 2023, he spearheaded the creation of the OPP's award-winning Cyber-Enabled Fraud Team and played a key role in developing the OPP Cyber-Fraud Strategy. A strong advocate for collaboration and meaningful partnerships, D/S/Sgt Dusto is committed to advancing innovative approaches to complex investigations and enhancing public safety in Ontario.

Matt Fabian leads the Canadian financial services research and consulting practice for TransUnion Canada. His expertise lies in customer insights and analytics, acquisition and portfolio management strategy, credit risk, profitability and growth dynamics as well as business transformation. Matt is a recognized speaker and has been published in journals and key industry publications. His commentary is regularly featured in national newspapers, radio and television programs. Prior to TransUnion, Matt held senior roles in strategy and advanced analytics at BMO Financial Group, as well as strategic consulting roles at The Polk Company. Fabian holds a BA (Hons) in economics, an MBA from the University of Illinois, a CPA designation and is a CFA charter holder.

Hussein Ezzat uses his 20 year-experience in Credit Lending and Fraud Risk Management to support Equifax clients in achieving their goals and to help them establish best-in-class fraud prevention practices. Hussein joined Equifax Canada as a Functional Consultant, where he successfully on-boarded 15 new members to the Citadel Fraud Consortium and delivered training and strategy optimization to enhance their experience.

In his current role within Equifax, Hussein consults on all Fraud Prevention, Anti-Money Laundering, and Identity Management solutions. He continues to foster robust relationships with Clients across diverse verticals: Large Financial Institutions, Mortgage Lenders and Credit Card Monolines.

Hussein is fluent in various languages, and has a proven ability to achieve results across multi-cultural environments.

With 14 years of experience in financial services, including 11 years specializing in fraud, Andrew brings a unique blend of expertise in fraud, credit risk, and identity management. His analytical training in statistics, combined with practical business strategy knowledge, enables him to effectively bring new ideas and solutions to the fraud prevention ecosystem. Andrew leads the Fraud Data & Analytics team at TransUnion Canada and designed and developed TransUnion’s consortium fraud score, the Identity Exchange. Having worked on both the client side and with credit bureaus, Andrew has extensive experience in data sharing and consortiums, as the provider and the user of such programs.

Brent is a passionate problem solver with 25+ years of experience in the financial services industry, including credit cards, consumer finance, and insurance. He has deep expertise across the entire customer lifecycle, spanning product, marketing, credit, customer experience, fraud, and loss mitigation.

Brent founded Payson Solutions in 2018 to provide strategic, data-driven solutions to companies looking to transform their business. Since then, Payson has helped dozens of companies across the globe realize the power of their own data, with a diverse client base that includes top-tier banks, credit unions, fintechs at both start-up and growth stage, collection agencies, and alternative lenders.

Prior to Payson, Brent spent the majority of his career at Capital One Canada, where he held roles such as Chief Credit Officer, Head of Branded Card, and Chief Customer Experience Officer. As a proponent of Financial Literacy in Canada, he has made numerous television appearances on BNN, CTV, and City TV to promote credit education and fraud prevention.

Gianluigi is a Data Science and Analytics leader with over 20 years of domestic and international experience in Retail and SMB lending. Leveraging ML/AI methods, he is known for discovering new insights and driving innovation into lending decisions that lead to incremental bottom line results.

Joshua has over 14 years of experience working with commercial and personal credit supporting multiple industries and lines of business. In his current role at Equifax, he is focused on educating lenders on leveraging new commercial credit data sources for risk mitigation and client acquisition. He also works with integrating technologies, like Business Gateway, for credit process automation and building robust risk scorecards and strategies.

Leanne Marshall is a Principal Scientist on the Analytics and Score Development team at FICO, where she has been driving data-informed insights since 2020. With deep expertise in statistical modeling and credit analytics, Leanne specializes in custom validations for the FICO® Score 10 Suite and FICO® Resilience Index for
North American lenders, as well as monitoring and reporting on emerging credit trends that help lenders navigate an ever-evolving financial landscape.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Leanne brings a multidisciplinary academic foundation to her work, having earned a Master of Science in Statistics and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Sociology from the University of Nebraska. Her unique combination of quantitative rigor and social science perspective informs her
approach to understanding not just the numbers, but the real-world implications behind them.

Craig O’Brien is Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Verisk, bringing more than 20 years of experience in sales leadership, business development, and strategic partnerships.

His background spans financial services, real estate solutions, and technology-enabled platforms, where he has led growth initiatives, strengthened industry partnerships, and advanced enterprise-level opportunities. At Verisk, Craig leads sales and business development while supporting strategic growth and deepening client relationships.

With over 13 years of international experience in analytics consulting and sales, Shiva serves as a Risk Analytics Consultant at Equifax. He specializes in the financial services industry, collaborating with leadership at banks, collection agencies, and monolines to enhance profitability and top-line revenue. By utilizing extensive cross-geographic insights, Shiva develops client-centric go-to-market (GTM) strategies.

Benoît is a Director in the Financial Risk Services Management practice. He has two decades of experience in credit risk management acquired in consulting for European and North-American banks.
Benoît leads a national team of risk managers specialized in credit, capital and climate risk advisory. He supervises a portfolio of projects ranging from ICAAP, risk appetite and policies, lending process optimization, model validation, Basel III compliance assessment, and IFRS 9 methodologies.
He is currently leading a strategic project to modernize and automize the underwriting process of a large institution for SME lending. The program involves streamlining the role of each function, enhancing origination models, strategies and controls. It also encompasses the automation of the monitoring and annual review process of corporate SME loans.
Benoît holds an MSc of International Business from Paris Dauphine (PSL University), a Certificate in Commercial Credit (Moody’s) and Sustainable Finance degree (INSEAD)

Leon Kushnir is a Director in the Financial Services Risk Management Advisory (FSRM) practice at Ernst & Young LLP. He specializes in credit risk management across Retail and Small Business, with a focus on strategy development, portfolio segmentation and modelling. Leon brings more than 15 years of experience with financial institutions in Canada and overseas, including a decade developing and deploying regulatory model frameworks (AIRB, IFRS 9 and CECL), and lifecycle origination and account management models. He has led large-scale modelling and transformation projects, managed agile, cross-functional teams and translated complex analytical work into business decisions.
His experience spans the customer lifecycle—from acquisition and underwriting through monitoring, account management and collections. He works closely with executives, business owners, risk, data, technology, operations and model governance stakeholders. He advises institutions on enhanced data, AI-enabled decisioning, process automation and next-generation risk models. His work connects model design and portfolio insight with executable strategies, customer-centric processes and scalable risk operations.

Tom Galimanas is a Customer Solutions Lead at SAS, helping financial services organizations across Canada leverage analytics, AI, and data to drive business value. He brings over 20 years of experience spanning banking, fintech, software, risk management, strategy, product development, and data analytics. Based in Toronto, Tom is passionate about helping organizations turn complex data challenges into business opportunities.

Simon Howard is the Founder and CEO of SmartI&E, a unique Open Banking and AI platform designed to understand consumer affordability across the entire customer lifecycle and connect consumers to the most appropriate pathway to resolution.
With more than 25 years of experience across credit risk, collections, data and digital transformation, Simon has held global consultant roles with organizations including Equifax and Experian and has worked across both the UK and Canadian financial services markets. He was part of the Experian team supporting early Open Banking consultancy and deployed the UK’s first digital affordability assessment solution for Santander and Clydesdale bank.
After arriving in Canada in 2018, Simon launched SWIPE, a digital engagement and payment solution, with partners illion DTS and Score Statistical, before focusing on the next evolution of customer engagement using AI and Open Banking. Simon is the co-owner of Canada’s affordability summit and a key member of the Canadian national roundtable focused on helping low income and marginalized Canadians gain better access to credit and financial support.
Today, Simon works with lenders, mortgage providers, collection agencies, insolvency professionals and other organisations to explore how real-time financial data and AI can be used throughout the customer lifecycle - not simply at the point of a credit decision.
A self-described “resolution enthusiast,” Simon is particularly interested in combining Open Banking and AI to identify financial stress earlier, reduce reliance on manual documents, improve engagement and help organisations find sustainable outcomes for consumers.

Shini is a seasoned leader in Financial Services Risk Advisory with over 13 years of experience in credit risk management, data analytics, customer journey optimization, and technology enablement. She leads the Credit Risk Lifecycle competency and Go-to-Market strategy for EY’s Risk Analytics Platform where she drives business growth through the strategic integration of AI-enabled solutions for risk-return optimization and operational productivity. Shini leads the development of EY’s model acceleration solution, leveraging a library of reusable AI/ML code packages to standardize credit risk model delivery. Known for building and mobilizing high-performing, cross-functional teams, she employs agile methodologies and outcome-driven KPIs to deliver scalable, high-impact solutions and programs.

Swapnil is a Senior Manager in the Financial Services Risk Management (FSRM) practice at Ernst & Young (EY) in Toronto. He specializes in Model Risk Management and Treasury risk, advising leading financial institutions on governance, regulatory compliance, and risk transformation initiatives. Swapnil brings deep experience in designing enterprise wide risk frameworks, strengthening oversight models, and translating regulatory expectations into practical, executable solutions. His work focuses on helping organizations enhance risk resilience while enabling innovation in an increasingly complex financial environment.

Lora is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Tangerine, Canada’s leading challenger bank. She oversees Tangerine’s operations, strategic delivery and analytics teams. With a background in risk management and analytics, Lora previously served as Tangerine’s CRO. She is a results-oriented leader skilled in driving performance, innovation, and building high-performing teams. Her current mandate focuses on scaling personalization, enhancing productivity, and delivering award-winning customer experiences using AI and cloud-native technologies.

Andres Masmela is a seasoned financial-services leader with extensive experience at TD, where he has built a career spanning leadership, risk management, analytics, and business transformation. Throughout his career, Andres has held progressively responsible roles within TD and has developed broad experience across the financial-services sector, complemented by a strong interest in data, analytics, artificial intelligence, and innovation. His professional development includes studies at McGill University and University of Bogota, as well as additional education and professional development in data science through Harvard Online with areas of interest including machine learning, statistical inference, regression, data visualization, and data wrangling. He is also an active contributor to the broader community, including financial-literacy initiatives and fundraising efforts supporting cancer research.

Rebecca Oakes is the Vice President of Advanced Analytics at Equifax Canada. She is a seasoned analytics professional with over 15 years’ experience in building and leading high performing analytical teams. Prior to joining Equifax Canada, Rebecca held several senior leadership positions in the UK. Rebecca has a wealth of experience in driving business value from data and analytics across multiple industries including Financial Services, Utilities & Retail.

Sandi is the Chief Risk Officer with Manulife Bank. She is a passionate people leader, finding success in building teams who work together towards common goals. She drives change through collaboration and communication and finds creative ways to get to a solution. She has been with Manulife Bank for the past 19 years working in Operations and Residential Lending prior to joining the Global Risk organization.

Sandi received her BA from Acadia University and graduate degree from the University of Calgary. Sandi is solutions driven and feels understanding the why behind a decision is vital to success.  She understands the benefits of clear and effective communication to drive positive and impactful change.

Shabnam Chitsaz is a credit risk and advanced analytics professional at TransUnion Canada with a Ph.D. in Statistics and a Master's degree in Financial Modeling. She specializes in credit risk modeling, model governance, and AI-driven analytics, partnering with financial institutions to develop innovative risk solutions and transform complex data into actionable business insights. Her work spans traditional credit risk methodologies as well as emerging applications of machine learning and alternative data in financial services.

Tischa Agnessi is a Fraud Solutions Consultant at Experian with nearly 30 years of experience in financial services, risk management, and data-driven technology solutions. She has partnered with banks, credit unions, and fintech organizations across North America to develop fraud prevention, identity verification, and risk mitigation strategies that balance security, customer experience, and business growth.

In her role at Experian, Tischa works closely with financial institutions to address emerging fraud challenges, evaluate innovative technologies, and implement solutions that strengthen fraud defenses while supporting digital transformation initiatives. She is passionate about helping organizations translate complex fraud and identity risks into practical, actionable strategies that drive measurable results.

Kathy Catsiliras is the Data & Analytics VP for Analytical Consulting at Equifax Canada and has been with the organization for over 15 years in various roles all centered around Analytics. Kathy brings more than 20 years of experience in the area of Analytics, Risk Management, Strategic Planning and Leadership. She leads a national team of Consultants that provide data and analytics expertise across Consumer, Commercial and Fraud business lines.

Mr. Akey is a senior financial services executive with over 30 years of experience specializing in enterprise risk management and regulatory oversight. He has held progressively senior leadership roles for more than 20 years at Scotiabank, spanning Risk Management, Finance, and multiple business lines across both the first and second lines of defence, with a consistent focus on strengthening risk frameworks and governance.

Following his tenure at Scotiabank, Mr. Akey served as Chief Risk Officer at Wealth One Bank of Canada for a decade, where he was accountable for the full spectrum of risk management, including credit, market, liquidity, operational, and regulatory risk. In this role, he led the development and execution of the bank’s risk appetite framework, enhanced enterprise risk governance, and served as the primary liaison with regulators, successfully navigating supervisory reviews, regulatory examinations, and ongoing compliance requirements.

Recognized for his deep expertise across banking products and risk disciplines, Mr. Akey has a proven track record of managing risk through varying economic cycles while aligning business strategy with regulatory expectations. He is known for building strong, transparent relationships with regulatory bodies and for fostering a culture of proactive risk identification and disciplined decision-making.

Mr. Akey holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Guelph and an MBA from Dalhousie University. He is actively engaged in the industry, serving on advisory boards and contributing to regulatory and risk-focused roundtables and forums.

As Chief Risk Officer, Curtis has more than 20 years of financial services experience. Having worked in both Canada and the United States, his diverse background includes customer and risk analytics, capital and portfolio management (including pricing and risk management for capital markets and consumer loan portfolios), economic and regulatory capital allocation, financial software development, customer up-lift and response analytics, and credit cards portfolio management.

Prior to joining Canada Guaranty, Curtis served as the Director of Risk Methodology and Analytics for Consumer Banking at BMO Financial Group where he led a team that developed and maintained all areas of credit risk and capital analytics, models, strategy, and methodology for more than $190 Billion of consumer loan exposures in Canada and the U.S. Curtis holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Calgary and an MA in Economics from Simon Fraser University.

Nadine Leblanc leads CMHC’s Housing Policy and Programs teams which are responsible for providing evidence-based policy advice to departments responsible for housing and financial stability in Canada and delivering CMHC’s suite of housing programs, which represent major federal investments to increase much-needed housing supply across the country.

Prior to working at CMHC, Nadine was a senior advisor at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and was responsible for leading large financial Crown corporation audits, including CMHC’s financial audit.

Nadine joined CMHC in 2008 as part of the finance team leading the development of major programs in response to the global financial crisis. She has also held various executive roles at CMHC such as the Chief Audit Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Risk Officer, as well as the position of Vice-President, Multi-Unit Underwriting.

Nadine is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours Accounting) from the University of Ottawa. In 2018, she received the prestigious Forty Under 40 award, which recognizes business leaders who give back to their community.

Mr. Sweeney has more than 22 years of professional experience in the mortgage and banking industry. Since joining the Company in 1998, Mr. Sweeney has held senior positions in Operations and Business Development, including Director of Risk Operations and Director of Product Development. Mr. Sweeney received an honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Carleton University in 1994.

Smriti Kapoor is an Advisor on the Consumer Credit Solutions Consulting team at TransUnion Canada, supporting fintech, insurance, and banking clients with credit risk strategy, model development, approval optimization, and go-to-market strategies. She helps organizations leverage data and analytics to drive growth while managing risk effectively. Smriti recently presented at TransUnion's International Insurance Summit and brings practical expertise in helping financial institutions and fintechs make data-driven decisions.

Mr. Gaspar Csete is a director at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions within the Housing and Mortgage Risk Division. His team has been responsible for developing and managing the loan to income measure, as well as for the ongoing calibration of the mortgage qualifying rate.

Prior to his current role, he worked in the Industry Surveillance and Credit Risk Divisions of OSFI, where he helped coordinate different work streams across both the retail and wholesale risk areas. He took a leading role in several broader institution-facing initiatives, including work on CLPs, underwriting guidance, and setting expectations on innovative products in RESL.

Before joining OSFI, Gaspar spent his entire career at Capital One’s Canadian operations in a variety of first- and second-line roles, ranging from marketing strategy and digital product management to collections strategy and credit risk management. In this second line role, he was responsible for effective challenge on credit strategies, and was responsible for provisions, stress testing, and economic analysis.

Grant Anderson brings over 30 years of business development and enterprise sales leadership across real estate, financial services, and technology. Since 2014, he has held senior account management roles at Teranet, Canada's leading provider of land registration and property intelligence, working closely with government and financial sector clients on real-property, title registry, and mortgage underwriting data. Grant's seven years as a licensed real estate sales representative in Ottawa give him a ground-level view of the first-time home buyers journey.