Snapshots from my presentation No Newcomer Left Behind: Global AI Futures for a Melting Pot of Governance in May 2025 at the IAPP’s 2025 Annual Canada Privacy Symposium in Toronto’s Sheraton Hotel. My LinkedIn post about it was here.
I kicked off the session by gauging the sentiment of the audience around attitudes towards AI tools in hiring and recruiting to get a baseline of the attitudes around AI applications that empower and impede our workforce. Three quarters of the audience reported a negative perception of AI tools in hiring which was not surprising given most of them were across data protection, privacy, governance and related fields of work and specializations. I offered examples of attitudes of jobseekers who found AI diagnostic quizzes or screeners tiring and even insulting. The positives came mostly from the hiring side who felt that their ability to streamline operations to hire the most willing, invested and engaged candidates likely to thrive in their business culture or environment within certain roles, created wins for HR, with the usual guardrails.
At the forefront of AI, data ethics, and immigrant empowerment it was validating to continue breaking new ground—this time as a featured speaker at a national privacy and data summit. My work with Generation1.ca is not just resonating—it’s helping catalyze cross-sector alignment and reframing how industries approach talent, inclusion, and responsible innovation. In a world still wrestling with the ethics of AI and the urgency of talent shortages, my message is clear: if we want truly talent-rich economies, we must act with urgency and intention—centering immigrants and future skill pipelines in the solution. While our employers survey initially peaked on the AI competency requirement, the demand has evened out and is in aggregate considered a baseline need in today’s digitally native times where human and critical thinking skills including project management and communications are still highly marketable skills. More on this in an upcoming report of our GISS2025 wave that concluded in early summer.
Humbled by the response from regulators, legal experts, and enterprise leaders alike, this presentation sparked deep validation and dialogue, especially around the human and machine biases shaping AI. From reflections on authorship and AI to EU data protection discourse, and their impact on skill building and global talent pipelines, this moment wasn’t just a milestone—it was a mandate. The future is arriving. And Generation1.ca is helping build it.
