2027 Speakers
Keynote speakers, master of ceremonies, seminar presenters, moderators & panelists
Keynote Speakers
Nik Nanos
Chief Data Scientist & Founder
Nanos Research
Nik Nanos is the Chief Data Scientist and Founder of Nanos Research. An expert in reputation and risk management, he has hands-on experience developing and applying machine learning algorithms and business intelligence in the workplace, and he is regularly called upon to provide counsel on demographic changes and workplace culture transformation. Nik leads the team behind the weekly Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, considered a must-have resource for senior executives, and is featured in a weekly segment on CTV News Channel, Nanos on the Numbers, focusing on the latest political, business and social trends. He is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, and the Chancellor of Carleton University in Ottawa. He previously served as a research professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His keynote, The Nanos Report, delivers a data-rich picture of economic conditions, political dynamics and public sentiment.
Benoit Tessier
Former Director General, Canada's Federal Public Service
Benoit Tessier is a retired Director General from Canada's federal public service, where he spent nearly 30 years across the Privy Council Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), most recently leading Digital Industries and overseeing federal strategy on artificial intelligence, compute infrastructure, semiconductors, and Canada's automotive, battery manufacturing, and clean economy initiatives. He advised four Prime Ministers and six Cabinet Ministers over the course of his career, and is a 2025 Clean50 Honoree recognized for his work on labour market and skills issues, industrial policy, technology, and economic competitiveness. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in Canadian Politics from the University of Ottawa. Mr. Tessier will bring a rare government-insider perspective to the AI conversation, examining how Canada is positioning itself in the global race on artificial intelligence, compute, and data centres, and what access to frontier AI models means for industry competitiveness.
Master of Ceremonies
Peter Brown
CBC Radio Host & Producer
Peter Brown is CE3C 2027's master of ceremonies. Educated at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Cambridge, Peter enjoyed a 25-year career as a CBC Radio host and producer, including stints hosting CBC Edmonton's afternoon show Radio Active and leading the creative team on the award-winning national comedy program The Irrelevant Show. These days he can be heard on the CBC airwaves doing comedy on The Debaters and devising word puzzles once a month on The Sunday Magazine. He has recently ventured into podcasting and radio documentaries: his 2023 documentary Flop Sweat: Why We Choke When It Matters Most won second place in the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) awards, and he most recently produced a long-form radio documentary about improvisation in art and life. Peter hosts the conference and delivers the Wednesday opening remarks.
Pre-Conference Seminar Presenters
Jason Boudreau
Founder & CEO
VELA Wealth
As Founder & CEO of VELA Wealth, Jason advises families on complex life and estate planning, with a focus on the structured transfer of wealth across generations. He works closely with business families on intergenerational planning and advanced insurance-based strategies designed to support efficient and optimal transition of capital, while preserving family intent. Known for his ability to simplify complexity and identify planning opportunities that are often overlooked, Jason brings a measured, highly-tailored approach that emphasizes stewardship and alignment of wealth with purpose. Jason is a tenured and active member of CALU (the Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting) and a regular contributor to industry discussions. He moderates the pre-conference seminar Legal Risks Facing Environmental & Engineering Consulting Leaders.
Aimee Halfyard
Partner, Business Law Group
Gowling WLG
Aimee Halfyard is the Canadian Co-Chair of Global Tech and a partner in Gowling WLG’s Business Law Group in the Vancouver office, where she defines her corporate practice by prioritizing her clients’ growth and success across a broad spectrum of corporate and commercial transactions. Organizations of varying sizes and sectors retain Aimee for her tenacious and effective approach to corporate transactions, earning her a reputation as a creative thinker offering innovative solutions and sound guidance, and she works closely with her clients to intimately understand their business needs and find the right legal solutions that balance risk and opportunity. She advises local, national and foreign corporations, private equity funds, scale-ups and start-ups on a wide range of complex domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, including private mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate reorganizations, spin-offs and other commercial matters. Having spent more than 15 years guiding transactions across the finish line, including previous senior in-house counsel roles such as general counsel of a global technology company, Aimee possesses a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities her clients face on a regular basis. She presents the pre-conference seminar Legal Risks Facing Environmental & Engineering Consulting Leaders.
Mark Youden
Partner
Gowling WLG
Mark Youden is a partner at Gowling WLG with a practice focused on environmental, regulatory, construction and Indigenous law matters in both an advocacy and advisory capacity, and is called to the bar in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Yukon, servicing clients from industry, government and Indigenous groups. As an advocate, he represents clients before superior and appellate courts in British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon, as well as the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada, and frequently appears before administrative tribunals such as the British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board and the Alberta Utilities Commission, as well as in arbitrations and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. From an advisory perspective, he assists clients on issues such as spills management and reporting, waste diversion, environmental assessment, forestry, permitting, brownfield development, impact benefit agreements and energy efficiency matters. Mark is recognized as a leader in his field by Chambers Global and Chambers Canada, Lexpert, The Best Lawyers and The Legal 500, co-edits Gowling WLG’s Environmental Law Newsletter, and is active in the legal community as a coach for the UBC Allard Law Willms & Shier Environmental Moot team and a mentor to students and junior associates. He presents the pre-conference seminar Legal Risks Facing Environmental & Engineering Consulting Leaders.
Kevin Nilsen
President & CEO
ECO Canada
Kevin Nilsen is President & CEO of ECO Canada, a role he took on in 2016 after earlier spending seven years with the organization, most recently as Director of Professional Services. He began his career as an officer in the Norwegian Army before moving to Canada in 2000, and later managed large global offshore oil and gas projects for Aker-owned companies in Norway and Houston, Texas, where he led development of a cutting-edge Riser Gas Handling tool. At ECO Canada, Kevin has been instrumental in establishing the Canadian Centre for Environmental Education and growing regional networking events, EP certification, and academic partnerships, and holds an executive MBA plus the PMP, EP, and CPHR designations. He moderates the pre-conference seminar Managing Risk Through Insurance & Risk Transfer.
Carl Spensieri
President
Steamboat Insurance Agency
Carl Spensieri is President of Steamboat Insurance Agency. He helps clients achieve better outcomes by using creative, individualized insurance products to address complex business risks. Before moving into underwriting, Carl practiced as an environmental engineer, and his areas of expertise include merger and acquisition due diligence, professional liability, environmental liability assessment and risk transfer, property transactions, and Canadian infrastructure projects. He holds a Master of Applied Sciences and Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London (UK), and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario. He presents the pre-conference seminar Managing Risk Through Insurance & Risk Transfer.
Executive Exchange Moderators & Panelists
Faramarz Bogzaran
Managing Partner
F&M Management
Faramarz Bogzaran is the founder and Managing Partner of F&M Management Ltd., a management consulting firm providing M&A and corporate advisory services in Canada. With a career spanning more than four decades, Faramarz has been at the forefront of managing and steering environmental consulting, waste management, and remedial contracting companies in Canada. An experienced M&A advisor, he has successfully led organizations through ownership transition processes and was instrumental in founding CE3C Management Ltd., the driving force behind the executive conferences that bring together leaders of the environmental and engineering consulting sector in Canada. At F&M, Faramarz provides advice on a range of corporate issues, including growth strategies, financial management, management buyouts, exit strategies, corporate governance, and project management. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree, is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), and has served on several company boards over the past two decades, including as Chairman of the Board of ECO Canada. He moderates the M&A: Financing the Deal Executive Exchange.
Michael Andrisani
Partner
Clairvest Group
Michael Andrisani is a Partner at Clairvest Group, a private equity firm. He joined Clairvest in 2020 and participates in all areas of the investment process. Before joining Clairvest, Michael worked on a variety of M&A transactions in investment banking at Lazard in New York and as an attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. He earned a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School and an MBA and Bachelor of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business. Michael is a board member of NCS Engineers, a water and wastewater engineering firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. He joins the M&A: Financing the Deal Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Mukesh Kapila
Founder and CEO
Cicul8 Energy & Environment
Mukesh Kapila is the Founder and CEO of Circul8 Energy & Environment Inc. and Enoverra, a technology entrepreneur, strategic investor and start-up mentor with extensive international experience developing, financing and commercializing innovative technologies in the energy and environmental sectors. He has participated on both sides of the M&A table, having built and sold a technology company to Schlumberger, where he spent more than 16 years in senior business and technical roles, and later served on Halliburton's Senior Leadership Team, identifying, evaluating, acquiring and commercializing new technologies and technology businesses. Mukesh holds 18 patents plus 8 pending, has authored 15 peer-reviewed technical papers, and holds an Advanced Certificate in Management, Innovation, and Technology from MIT and a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Saskatchewan. He joins the M&A: Financing the Deal Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Ted Rowe
President and CEO
MTE Consultants
Ted Rowe is an accomplished executive, engineer, and governance leader with nearly 40 years of experience guiding growth, transformation, and long-term value creation in the engineering, land development, infrastructure, and construction sectors. As President and CEO of MTE Consultants, one of Canada's largest employee-owned engineering consulting firms, Ted has led the organization through a period of significant expansion, completing 10 acquisitions, expanding into five new geographic markets, and adding complementary service offerings, resulting in fourfold revenue growth and an increase in staff from approximately 200 to more than 500 employees. A strong advocate for employee ownership, he has helped strengthen governance and board oversight as MTE has grown in size and complexity, and under his leadership, MTE's Board was recognized as “Best Fiduciary Board; Employee-Owned or Partnership” by Canada's Best Private Boards in 2024. He joins the M&A: Financing the Deal Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Eric Pringle
CEO & Managing Partner
Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc.
Eric Pringle is CEO and Managing Partner of Milestone Environmental Contracting, a Canadian environmental remediation and infrastructure services firm operating across Western and Central Canada. He leads the company's growth strategy, Indigenous partnerships, governance initiatives, and acquisition activities. With more than 35 years of experience in engineering, environmental services, and business leadership, Eric works at the intersection of client expectations, market consolidation, talent development, and technological change. He moderates the Business of Disruption Executive Exchange, bringing a practical executive perspective on how firms can adapt and thrive amid disruption.
Nathalie Viens
President & CEO
Sanexen
Nathalie Viens has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Sanexen since 2024, bringing more than 25 years of experience across environment, engineering, construction, investment, infrastructure, consulting and asset management, and service on more than fifteen boards of directors in Canada and internationally, including BPA since 2025. At the helm of Sanexen, a company specializing in environmental site remediation, regulated materials management, industrial effluents treatment, PFAS removal, and specialized environmental consulting, she rallies the organization around turning environmental challenges into sustainable solutions that create value for communities. Before Sanexen, she was Managing Director and Head of Asset Management – Private Infrastructure at CBRE Private Infrastructure, an Operating Partner with the Infrastructure Group at the Caisse (CDPQ), and held executive roles at Veolia North America and SNC-Lavalin/AtkinsRéalis, following fifteen years at Accenture. A graduate of Polytechnique Montréal in chemical engineering, she is a licensed engineer (Quebec), a PMP, and a certified corporate director (ASC, C.Dir.). She joins the Business of Disruption Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Brian Lapos
Senior Vice President, Canada
Onterris
Brian Lapos is an executive business leader and a licensed Professional Engineer with a Master of Engineering from Queen's University, bringing 22+ years of Environment & Infrastructure and Professional Service experience across the Public Infrastructure, Water, Government, Mining and Oil & Gas sectors in Canada, the US and Australia. In his current role as Senior Vice President, Canadian Consulting with Onterris, Brian is responsible for implementing strategic business initiatives across the Canadian business, and as an experienced engineering executive he has managed P&Ls up to $330M with teams exceeding 1,800 professionals. He establishes a people-first leadership approach to drive best business practices around strategic change, business strategy, sustainable growth, business development, financial performance, health & safety, ESG, and project delivery. He joins the Business of Disruption Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Sean Hanlon
President & CEO
Dillon Consulting
Sean Hanlon serves as the President and CEO of Dillon, a proudly employee-owned, Canadian firm celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. Appointed as CEO in March 2020, Dillon has doubled in size under his leadership. Sean brings over 35 years of consulting and industry experience to the panel, with a technical focus on environmental and risk management. Dillon Consulting is a professional services firm specializing in engineering planning, environmental science and management consulting, delivering innovative solutions for infrastructure, environmental protection and community development.
Mike Cormier
President
Englobe
Mike Cormier, P.Eng., is President of Englobe, one of Canada's leading engineering and environmental services firms, where he leads growth, acquisitions and operational excellence across a team of nearly 4,000 professionals. With over 30 years of experience in the engineering industry, he has advanced high-profile infrastructure projects across New Brunswick and built a strong, proactive safety culture as a key organizational priority. Mike joined Englobe through its 2018 acquisition of Crandall Engineering, where he had served as President since 2011, and was named Englobe President in 2024. He joins the Business of Disruption Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Leroy Banack
Senior Partner
F&M Management
Leroy Banack is a Senior Partner at F&M Management, with more than 20 years of consulting experience and a specialty in internal business processes and systems improvement. He conducts comprehensive financial performance and operations assessments to advise clients on strategies for performance improvement, and prepares business valuations specific to the engineering and scientific consulting industry. With specialized expertise in numerical modelling, network and database management, Leroy builds customized models that give clients valuable information to aid decision making, both for day-to-day operations and for long-term planning. He creates custom financial models to forecast the short and long-term financial implications of alternative strategic options, and builds effective tools for analyzing technical data and market intelligence. Skilled at gathering, synthesizing, interpreting and communicating complex information, Leroy is especially valued by F&M clients for his proficiency at translating large amounts of complex information into a few simple key concepts and ideas. He moderates the AI in Action Executive Exchange.
Rayna Carmichael
Digital Solutions Lead
AECOM Canada
Rayna Carmichael is the Digital Solutions Lead for AECOM Canada's Environment Business Line, with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations transform the way environmental data is managed, understood, and used. Her career has evolved from GIS and technical delivery to data stewardship, digital strategy, and the integration of emerging technologies, giving her a distinctive perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing the industry. As environmental projects become increasingly data-driven and AI-enabled, Rayna works at the intersection of technology, people, and business, helping internal teams and clients translate complex data and digital capabilities into practical, trusted solutions that improve decision making, collaboration, and project outcomes. Her experience spans planning, permitting, engineering, Indigenous engagement, and public consultation across the mining, remediation, energy, transit, and water sectors. She joins the AI in Action Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Raminder Grewal
President
Keystone Environmental
A prominent Environmental Engineer with over 20 years of experience, Raminder Grewal joined Keystone Environmental Ltd. in 2000 as a Project Manager and Environmental Engineer, and since 2013 has excelled in his role as President, providing consulting services for contaminated sites across Canada and delivering practical, results-driven solutions to his clients' environmental challenges. He joins the AI in Action Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Manish Nayar
Founder & CEO
PRI Engineering
Manish Nayar is the Founder and CEO of PRI Engineering, a multi-disciplinary engineering firm he established in 2018 and has grown from a four-person team into a multi-office organization operating across Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean, delivering complex engineering and environmental service solutions in some of the world's most demanding environments. A Licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario, his career spans more than 30 years across venture capital, investment banking, management, and manufacturing, including corporate finance and M&A work at Merrill Lynch, the CEO role at Judricks Enterprises Ltd., and founding companies in the renewable energy and infrastructure space such as Orca Renewables and Polar Racking. Manish holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, along with a B.E.Sc in Computer Engineering and a B.Sc in Applied Mathematics from the University of Western Ontario. He joins the AI in Action Executive Exchange as a panelist.
Mike Soligo
President and CEO
RWDI
Michael Soligo is the President and CEO of RWDI, a Canadian company with deep technical expertise in wind engineering that has evolved into a global consultancy solving some of the world's most demanding climate and performance engineering challenges. A wind/environmental engineer and microclimate specialist, he has driven corporate growth and diversification, extended the firm's international reach, and deepened its technical capabilities in emerging areas including sustainability, climate change, and artificial intelligence. A professional engineer and fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Michael holds a Master of Applied Science from the University of Waterloo, is a Chartered Director of Directors College, Canada, and holds the Consulting Engineer designation through the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario. He joins the AI in Action Executive Exchange as a panelist.
See the Full Conference Program
Two days of keynotes, seminars and Executive Exchanges · January 20 & 21, 2027 · Vancouver, BC
2027 Program