Policy Talks - AI in Action: Policy Challenges & Opportunities

Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving rapidly from experimentation to real-world deployment across the economy. From healthcare to supply chain management to public services, organizations are adopting AI tools to improve efficiency, decision-making, and service delivery. Yet the pace and pathways of adoption vary widely across sectors – raising important questions for policymakers.

Join us for an engaging discussion with leading voices on AI and public policy to explore adoption across key economic sectors. Through real-world case studies and cross-sector dialogue, panelists will examine what is driving or constraining AI use, and what lessons policymakers can learn from sectoral experiences to design regulatory frameworks that both enable innovation and mitigate potential risks. The discussion aims to move beyond abstract debates about AI toward practical insights that can inform responsive, evidence-based public policy.

The panel discussion will be followed by a networking reception with food and beverage service. Note that this is an in-person event.

Admission is $10.00 CAD (all proceeds donated to charity)

Policy Talks is a joint initiative of the CSA Public Policy Centre, The Dais, and Springboard Policy.

Terralynn Forsyth is an AI product leader running Cogentic Labs, a product studio focused on AI-forward product development. She is driven by a mission to design AI systems that augment human decision-making — extending agency, autonomy, and opportunity rather than replacing it. She has over a decade of experience in startups, 0-1 product building, and AI. Previously, she co-founded and served as Chief Product Officer of FutureFit AI, scaling workforce technology across US, Canada, and Europe, backed by JPMorgan and Acumen. Her work on AI and the future of work has been featured by the OECD, World Economic Forum, The Economist, and BBC.

Will Falk has spent 25 years as a strategist and advisor in New York and Toronto, advising top academic centres, governments, and innovative companies in health care. Since retiring from the PwC partnership in 2017, Will has had several roles. He is an Executive in Residence at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, where he has taught since 2008. He is a Senior Fellow at the CD Howe Institute and an Innovation Fellow at Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care. He invests in and has worked with several startups focused on health care.

Will has had several formal and informal advisory roles in public service, including First Ministers’ meetings, ministerial reviews, expert panels, national reports, and bargaining teams. He is an active philanthropist, and his work on not-for-profit boards include West Neighbourhood House, AMS Foundation, Children’s Aid Foundation, William Osler Health System, and the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences. His service on corporate boards include Verto, Alayacare, FirstHx, Home Capital, Medseek, and StrataHealth. He received his B.Sc. from the University of Toronto (Trinity College) and his M.P.P.M. from Yale University’s School of Management where he was later a Visiting Research Fellow. Will is a CSA Public Policy Fellow

Dr. Daniel Munro is Director of Research & Innovation at Actua, Canada’s leading youth STEM outreach organization. He is also Co-Director of Shift Insights, a research shop that examines the social, technological and economic challenges and opportunities facing Canada; and Senior Fellow the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Dan’s research spans science, technology and innovation policy; skills and education; and applied ethics, including responsible innovation and space ethics.

Previously, Dan was Director of Policy Projects in the Munk School’s Innovation Policy Lab; Research Fellow at the Brookfield Institute; Associate Director, Public Policy, at the Conference Board of Canada; and Senior Analyst at the Council of Canadian Academies. Dan has taught political science, philosophy and innovation studies at the University of Toronto, Western University, the University of Ottawa, and Queen’s University. He holds degrees from the University of Toronto (BA), Western University (MA) and M.I.T. (PhD).

Viet (he/him) leads economics research at the Dais as Manager, Economic Research. Prior to the merger, at the Brookfield Institute, Viet has done extensive work on the impact of technology in the labour market in Canada, the technology sector and workers, digital skills, and scale-ups.

His research has been cited widely in national media, and has impacted policies at all levels of government. He believes that research, when done rigorously, can not only help shape policy, but also bring attention to issues that impact those who have been left out of conversations about Canada’s future.

Viet holds a Masters of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Economics from the University of British Columbia. Being a queer immigrant to Canada, Viet also devotes significant attention to ensuring the field of economics is inclusive to all. He sits on the Canadian Economics Association’s Diversity committee, and co-chairs the Affinity groups working group.

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