Disruptors
Understand the forces that are shaping the future of business and technology to navigate the
rapid changes in Canada’s tech landscape.
Innovation is driving business productivity and sustainability across industries in Canada and beyond. How can Canadian entrepreneurs make the most of these new technology opportunities? How can they embrace disruption and scale their businesses?
Powered by cutting-edge research from RBC, Season 8 of Disruptors kicks off with a special
series, Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, co-hosted by Sonia Sennik, Chief Executive Officer of Creative Destruction Lab (CDL),
and RBC’s John Stackhouse. Together, they dive into the latest advancements in AI,
automation, and data analytics, highlighting their transformative impact on business and the
economy.
You’ll hear from pioneers in AI, clean energy, and life sciences—people leading the way in
turning technology innovation into practical business solutions. From AI’s role in improving
business productivity to the future of work, Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era delivers the insights you need to stay competitive in a world driven by technology and digital transformation.
The show highlights strategies and ideas that can help your business navigate rapid changes in
the tech landscape. Whether you’re a business leader, entrepreneur, or policymaker, Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era equips you with the tools to thrive in this new technology-driven economy.
Follow Disruptors x CDL: The Innovation Era, an original podcast from RBC, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 28 minutes
- Episodes
- 204
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
Canadian Innovation in Crisis
For today’s episode of RBC Disruptors, we’re kickstarting our new season with Michael Serbinis and Janet Bannister. Mike is a serial entrepreneur, and founder of League, a Toronto startup focused on…
RBC Disruptors: Season Two Trailer
Is Data Bigger than Oil?
The data economy in Canada is worth more than $200 billion. Over the past two years, more data has been created than ever before. And, while Canadian companies invest $40 billion a year in data, many…
Why Are There so Few Black Entrepreneurs in the Digital Economy?
Today on RBC Disruptors, John Stackhouse sits down with two Torontonians who are working to ensure black entrepreneurs have access to more opportunities in the city’s thriving tech sector. They discu…
How a Canadian Company Used AI to Detect the Coronavirus
On New Year’s Eve, BlueDot—a Toronto technology company aiming to fight epidemics using AI—saw something concerning. By the next day, BlueDot had alerted its clients of the possible outbreak of a nov…
The Skills Shift
In the age of automation, we are undergoing a skills shift. By 2022, 54% of frontline workers will need significant reskilling. Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify joined us on RBC Disruptors to discuss how…
Solving for the Silver Tsunami
By 2035, Canada’s senior citizens will make up 23% of the country and a shortage of 199,000 long-term care beds will exist if action is not taken. Canada’s health care system has a big problem to sol…
The Audience Strikes Back
Peoples’ viewing habits are shifting dramatically, with the rise of streaming services and mobile viewing – yet, digital isn’t stopping live entertainment from drawing crowds. Cameron Bailey and Joan…
Disrupting Democracy
Technology is transforming the vote. Shuman Ghosemajunder, CTO of Shape Security and former click fraud czar at Google joined us on RBC Disruptors to discuss what technology is doing to democracy, an…
In Conversation with Two Next Gen Entrepreneurs
The changing nature of work is keeping millennials and gen Z up at night. In a tech-driven economy, the path to success is no longer clear -- so young people are taking control. On this episode of R…
Farmer 4.0: The Shift to Automation
Automation is changing the nature of food production. In part two of this mini-series, John Stackhouse visits the dairy operation of Matt and Jaclyn Walker in Muir, Ontario, two food producers that d…
Farmer 4.0: Agriculture's Skills Revolution
Agriculture is undergoing a skills revolution. In part one of this mini-series, John Stackhouse discusses the findings of a new RBC report, Farmer 4.0, with Andrew Schrumm, its lead researcher, and h…
From Burberry to Apple: A Shift in Retail (July 8, 2019)
There is a shift happening in retail. Angela Ahrendts, former SVP of Retail at Apple and CEO at Burberry joined us on RBC Disruptors to discuss the trends she's seen from her time at two iconic globa…
Rewiring the Brain (June 24, 2019)
Technology is disrupting the brain. Dr. Murali Doraiswamy, a physician and brain scientist at Duke University highlighted that 8%-10% of people in North America show signs of a serious addiction to t…
AI for Good? (June 6, 2019)
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are moving at a staggering pace but big hurdles remain to dreams like self-driving cars and personalized medicine. What are the risks, opportunities, and …
Disrupting the daily RITUAL Event Highlights (April 24, 2019)
When Ritual CEO Ray Reddy was a product manager at Google, he learned a trick from Larry Page: the toothbrush test. If you can use a product twice a day, it will become habit-changing. A ritual. Redd…
The Future of Shipping Event Highlights (April 3, 2019)
Global shipping ushered in the modern economy — but in 2019, it still has a 19th-century problem: too much paperwork. With growth in global trade contracting, there is tremendous pressure to find eff…
"Hey Alexa, What's Next for Voice Tech?" Event Highlights (March 28, 2019)
The most common question people ask their voice tech assistant isn't “How's the weather?" Not anymore. Today, it's “Alexa, will you marry me?" With 80,000 skills and growing, marriage is maybe the on…
Willing To Fail: The Disruptive Force of an Entrepreneurial Mindset Event Highlights (Feb. 27, 2019)
Hauling away other people's junk, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? founder Brian Scudamore has seen it all: a mountain of escargot shells, a naked man and $400,000 in cash hidden under the floorboards. A lifelong ent…
BlackBerry's Big Pivot Event Highlights (Jan. 16, 2019)
John Chen didn't set out to be The Turnaround Guy. He just played to his strengths. He’s had plenty to fix at BlackBerry, the iconic Canadian tech company he took over as executive chairman and CEO i…