Our Leadership Board

Andres Castro is an angel investor, AI strategist and former digital banking executive who provides seed-stage capital and scaling advisory to start-ups, while helping financial institutions move AI from pilot to measurable P&L impact. Across 15+ years at Scotiabank and TD Bank, he held P&L accountability over large deposit and lending books, directed multi-million digital portfolios and led teams of up to 150 across Canada, LATAM and the Caribbean. His teams delivered award-winning global digital platforms (mobile & web banking, onboarding, digital sales), two regional digital hubs, 60%+ digital sales growth, 96% transaction migration and 55% digital adoption, serving 6MM+ active clients across the Americas. He pioneered advanced analytics personalization and fraud prevention in Canadian digital banking and built payments and issuer/acquiring capability earlier in his career. Andres holds Generative AI and Agentic AI credentials from the University of Toronto, Google’s AI Professional certification, an MBA and MIT executive diplomas

Denny is an enterprise transformation leader optimizing operational efficiency through AI, automation & compliance strategies.  Aligning enterprise tool stacks in the Identity and AI space with with Best Practices, & Regulatory Governance.  More than 2 decades of leading organizations globally with compliance and security strategy initiatives.

Active architect with NIST and the Cloud Security Alliance driving digital transformations, and improving user experience not only  gathering value from each movement but also working with executives to focus on the issues that are driving mindshare.

Andre Rekhtine is an enterprise governance, AI risk, and digital trust advisor recognized for translating AI governance from policy into architecture. A 2025 CIO Award Canada winner with two decades of technology leadership across regulated automotive retail and financial services in North America, he is the author of the Pentagon of Constraints and Pentagram of Governance frameworks, which give enterprises and public institutions a structural model for accountable AI. His current work focuses on the convergence of decision intelligence, data trust, runtime ethics, and attribution, and on closing what he calls the Context Ownership Void, the absence of a named accountable owner for the context on which AI decisions depend. He advises technology vendors and financial and public sector leaders across Canada and internationally.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andre-rekhtine-65091517

Johanna de Boer is the Founder and Principal of Hinge Consulting Group, where she advises executive teams, boards, and educational institutions on artificial intelligence, leadership, governance, and organizational transformation.

With more than 25 years of experience spanning industry and academia, Johanna has led enterprise transformation initiatives, developed executive education programs, and advised organizations across financial services, higher education, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and the not-for-profit sector. A former university professor, she has designed and delivered AI and digital transformation programs for executives, leaders, and professionals, helping organizations move beyond AI experimentation to practical implementation and measurable business value.

Johanna is the creator of the AI PulseCheck®, an executive assessment framework that helps organizations evaluate AI readiness, identify opportunities, and build strategic roadmaps for responsible AI adoption. She is known for translating complex AI concepts into practical, actionable insights that enable leaders to make informed decisions with confidence.

As a speaker, Johanna challenges audiences to think differently about AI – not simply as a technology, but as a leadership, governance, and organizational capability that is reshaping how institutions operate, compete, and create value.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmdeboer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalia-shanshal-79769bba

Dr Linda Pajoel is an AI consultant for SMEs. She is also the founder and CEO of Diembassy, whose mission is to accelerate healthy adoption of AI worldwide.

From 2018 to 2020, Dr Linda served on the board of governors and senate of the University of Waterloo in Canada.

In 2024, she was named Scotiabank Female Founder, presented by Scotiabank in partnership with Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

In 2025, following her nomination and voting, Dr Linda was declared winner of ‘LinkedIn Thought Leader of the Year’ during the influence awards by The Influence Agency.

Currently, she inspires over one million combined followers across social media.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlindapajoel