Disruptors

Hosted by RBC Thought Leadership, John Stackhouse

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242

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Disruptors, now in its 11th season, has become your front-row seat to Canada’s innovation story—200+ episodes exploring the people, ideas, and technologies reshaping Canada’s future. Each episode, hosted by John Stackhouse, SVP, Office of the CEO at Royal Bank of Canada—and former Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail—cuts through the hype and focuses on what you need to know. This season, we’re leaning into urgency: the global economy is shifting, geopolitics are noisy, and Canada needs to respond. You’ll hear from founders, investors, scientists, operators, and policy leaders at the forefront. Listen for a clearer understanding of the tech and innovation shaping Canada and the world—and practical insights to help you make sense of what’s coming next.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 21, 202618 min

Clear Skies: Direct air capture and Canada's advantage

In the latest episode of Disruptors, host John Stackhouse travels to Innisfail, Alta., a little more than an hour north of Calgary. There he joins Alex Petre, the CEO of Deep Sky, a direct air capture company that finds itself in the middle of a geo-tech race. The two discuss whether direct air capture technology can scale, how to test competing systems side-by-side, and how Canada’s geology, labor force, fiscal regime and reputation as a trusted partner can turn carbon removal into a competitive advantage. 0:00 Inside Deep Sky Alpha 0:48 Why carbon removal, and how direct air capture works 4:32 Multiple technologies on one site 7:26 Can direct air capture scale? 9:22 Building the first commercial facilities 11:49 The global race for carbon removal 15:01 What Canada needs to do next CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

October 14, 202623 min

Permission to Fail: A case for youth entrepreneurship

Spin Master co-founder Ronnen Harary believes Canada needs more entrepreneurs—especially young ones. In this episode of Disruptors, he joins host John Stackhouse to explain why your 20s offer the perfect window to start a business: you’re close to emerging trends, you have permission to fail, and you possess the “power of not knowing” that lets you take risks mature companies won’t. Ronnen shares the story of building Spin Master from Earth Buddies to global brands like Air Hogs, Hatchimals, and Paw Patrol. He introduces the concept of “inverse risk”—the idea that not pursuing your entrepreneurial vision may be riskier than trying and failing. And he makes the case that despite economic uncertainty, AI disruption is creating unprecedented opportunities for young founders willing to move fast. Chapters: 00:00 Why Canada needs more young entrepreneurs 01:39 Why your 20s are the best decade to start a business 03:49 The power of not knowing: the Air Hogs story 05:28 Immigrant roots, dysgraphia and an early entrepreneur 08:42 Earth Buddy and the birth of Spin Master 10:30 Tracking down the Kmart buyer 13:32 Inverse risk: from Earth Buddy to PAW Patrol 16:30 Why doesn't Canada have more entrepreneurs? 17:34 Futurpreneur and collateral-free loans 18:27 AI, Stickerbox and the most exciting time to start 21:23 Advice to his 23-year-old self CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

October 7, 202625 min

Digital Refineries: Data centres as Alberta’s new resource

Alberta wants $100 billion of AI data centre investment within five years, without subsidies. Recorded live at Energy Disruptors: UNITE in Calgary, Alberta's Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Glubish, tells John Stackhouse why he sees data centres as "digital refineries" that turn natural gas into intelligence. He explains how bring-your-own-power rules protect the grid and ratepayers, why projects proposed for Sturgeon County and Olds ended so differently, and what a proposed second round of grid power could look like. A conversation about energy, AI and where Canada's computing power gets built. Chapters 0:00 Live from Energy Disruptors: UNITE 0:42 The mood shift on data centres 4:42 Value-added economics 8:33 The Alberta model: water, setbacks, Meta vs. Olds 16:05 Exporting the intelligence 17:55 The power queue and Phase 2 21:27 Sizing the opportunity 22:36 Public opinion and responsible AI Guest: Nate Glubish, Minister of Technology and Innovation, Government of Alberta Host: John Stackhouse, Senior Vice-President, Office of the CEO, RBC Recent RBC Thought Leadership Reports: License to build: Unlocking Canada's data centre potential CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

September 29, 202626 min

Canada's Biotech Challenge

Canada has world-class biotech science. Too often, the companies built on it grow up somewhere else. Clarissa Desjardins, co-founder and CEO of Montreal’s Congruence Therapeutics, joins John Stackhouse on the state of biotech and what Canada must do to keep more of what it builds. In this episode: • How AI is changing the way new drugs are discovered • Why China’s rise is reshaping the global industry • Why biotech stays invisible in Canada, even to investors • What it would take to grow Canadian companies to global scale at home Chapters: 0:00 Will Canada's medicines come from China? 0:28 Biotech's missing place in Canada's agenda 1:32 From scientist to entrepreneur 3:47 Great science, too little commercialization 6:03 How AI is changing drug discovery 9:54 Why biotech is invisible, and underfunded 13:15 Health sovereignty and the anchor-company gap 18:33 China's rise in drug discovery 21:31 What Canada needs to do next 24:17 Closing thoughts CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

September 23, 202619 min

Two Middle Powers. One AI Bet

Live from ALL IN 2026 in Montreal, John Stackhouse and Nora Bieberstein sit down with three German business leaders — Yvonne Denz of the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Robert Jozic of Schwarz Digits, and Dr. Ralf Wintergerst of Giesecke+Devrient — as Germany serves as ALL IN's Country of Honour. Recorded the same week Canada and Germany backed Yoshua Bengio's AI safety lab LawZero and built on last year's Digital Alliance, they discuss why Schwarz backed the Cohere-Aleph Alpha merger and what a deeper Canada-Germany tech partnership could mean for both economies. Chapters: 0:00 Intro — live from ALL IN Montreal 0:41 Co-host Nora Bieberstein joins 1:20 Yvonne Denz on Germany's delegation to Canada 2:02 Inside the industrial AI panel with BSF 3:29 Making the case for Canada-Germany business 5:36 Robert Jozic on scaling sovereign AI at Schwarz Digits 6:19 Middle powers vs. the tech hegemons 8:54 The Cohere-Aleph Alpha deal, on the record 10:12 What Germany offers Canada 11:45 Dr. Ralf Wintergerst on Germany's AI ambitions 13:19 Combining Canada's AI research with Germany's industrial base 14:27 The "third moment" in global AI 15:32 What Canada offers Germany 16:38 Building the digital euro 18:34 Reflections: the globalization of AI CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

September 16, 202615 min

Canada's AI Potential

At the Milken Institute's Global Dialogues Toronto, held alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney's Canada Investment Summit, three Canadian leaders took up both questions on one stage. Aidan Gomez co-founded Cohere and was a co-author of the 2017 paper that introduced the transformer architecture underpinning today's large language models. Dave McKay leads RBC. Evan Solomon is Canada's first Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. Susan Li of Fox Business Network moderated. The conversation runs across three arguments. Gomez makes the case that regulation should be shaped by an independent third party rather than by the largest labs, and warns about incumbents using rules as a competitive moat. McKay describes a practical sovereignty problem: the most advanced security tooling is released selectively outside the United States, which he calls an unfair playing advantage with real cyber risk for institutions operating elsewhere. Solomon frames the government's position as a build right or build wrong option, and argues the test is whether society comes along. Gomez closes on the case for a democratic second rail in AI, with Cohere in Canada and Mistral in France as the two candidates. It is a compact view of where Canada's AI debate actually sits. 0:00 Canada's claim on the technology it built 0:16 Two kinds of uncertainty, one week in Toronto 1:11 Who should write the rules for frontier AI 1:46 Uneven access to the most advanced tools 3:38 Canada's position on AI safety 4:47 Development cycles are compressing 6:52 Will AI change more jobs than it creates? 8:41 Build right or build wrong 9:41 How modern AI was invented in Canada 11:58 The case for a democratic second rail 12:39 Final thoughts from the panel 14:42 What's next: geotech CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

September 9, 202625 min

David, Goliath, and Drones: The New Map of Geo-Technology

As global power dynamics shift, the intersection of technology and national strategy is defining a new Cold War race. In this season opener of Disruptors , host John Stackhouse sits down with economist and Noahpinion author Noah Smith to map out the new geopolitics of tech. Together, they unpack China’s dominance over the critical "electric tech stack" (batteries, magnets, and power electronics), why traditional military platforms are being upended by cheap drone warfare, and how middle powers like Canada, Japan, and Korea can build "Allied Scale" to compete. They also explore the true goal of modern industrial policy, the reality of AI labor disruption, and what a disabled rabbit named Giggles can teach us about resilience in a noisy world. CHAPTERS & TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Introduction: The Shift to Geo-Technology 01:58 - Lessons in Resilience from a Disabled Rabbit 03:07 - Great Power Competition & the New Global Tech Map 07:15 - The "Electric Tech Stack": Batteries, Magnets, and Electronics 10:03 - Rebuilding "Allied Scale" Without the U.S. 13:32 - Modern Industrial Policy: Wealth vs. Strategic Preservation 17:10 - AI, Labor Disruption, and Jevons Paradox 21:30 - Canada’s Next Move in the Geo-Tech Race RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED: Substack Newsletter: Noahpinion by Noah Smith Commentary & Analysis: Bloomberg Opinion archives by Noah Smith Concepts Referenced: Rush Doshi’s "Allied Scale," Mark Carney’s commentary on global hegemons, and Jevons Paradox in economic theory. CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

August 18, 202636 min

REBOOT: The Trust Advantage: How OpenText is Securing Canada’s Information Layer

The world is investing billions in data centres and compute. Canada’s edge isn’t bigger boxes—it’s Trust : rules enforced at home, private information secured under Canadian jurisdiction, and a clear path for enterprise data handling in the age of AI. That’s how “Canadian trust” becomes a competitive advantage. This week on Disruptors: The Canada Project, John Stackhouse takes us to Waterloo to map how policy as code , Canadian residency , and lineage + audit turn trust into a speed advantage. Guests: Tom Jenkins & Shannon Bell (OpenText) , with Janice Stein (Munk School) . Build it here—export it with confidence. Takeaways: OpenText new book Enterprise Artificial Intelligence: Building Trusted AI with Secure Data RBC Thought Leadership’s Bridging the Imagination Gap: How Canadian companies can become global leaders in AI adoption RBC Thought Leadership CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

August 4, 202629 min

REBOOT: Beyond the Battery: Inside Quebec’s Mine-to-Refine Transformation

As the world electrifies—from cars and buses to datacentres and defence—demand for battery materials is exploding. Today, China refines more than 90% of the world’s graphite into the material used in virtually all EV battery anodes— that level of concentration is a strategic vulnerability Canada, and its allies, can’t ignore. But Canada is starting to respond. The federal Major Projects Office has just referred Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Phase-2 Matawinie Mine as a “Major Project of National Interest” —a move aimed at helping Quebec and Canada shift from exporting ore to building a full mine-to-refine graphite value chain at home, and with it, an entirely new strand of economic and industrial capacity. In this episode of Disruptors: The Canada Project , host John Stackhouse takes listeners into that story. With former Quebec premier Jean Charest and Eric Desaulniers , founder & CEO of NMG , he lifts the hood on what it means for a critical-minerals project to be treated as a “major project” in Canada—and what this could mean for Canada’s role as a trusted critical-minerals supplier to its G7 allies. RBC Thought Leadership CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

July 21, 202626 min

REBOOT: Port to Prosperity: How Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Is Rebuilding Canada’s Pacific Gateway

Canada’s prosperity depends on how efficiently it can move goods to market — yet its largest ports have fallen behind the world’s best. With global trade accelerating and supply chains under pressure, Roberts Bank Terminal 2 represents a generational investment in Canada’s competitiveness. In this episode, Peter Xotta, CEO of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Devan Fitch, the project’s Program Director, and Tamara Vrooman, CEO of Vancouver International Airport, join John Stackhouse to discuss how this long-planned expansion will bring new automation, capacity, and environmental innovation to Canada’s Pacific Gateway. Together, they explore how smart infrastructure and strong partnerships can secure Canada’s trade future — sustainably and sovereignty. RBC Thought Leadership CONNECT & SUBSCRIBE: • Follow RBC Thought Leadership on LinkedIn • Follow John Stackhouse on LinkedIn • For more insights visit RBC Thought Leadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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