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Toronto Chapter - Who Owns the Intelligence?

September 10, 2026 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM (EDT)

Description

A cross-sector CXO event on data sovereignty, value capture, and a practical, affordable path off frontier-AI dependence

The evening opens with a provocative argument from Raju Vegesna, delivered recently at a Canada CIO Peer Forum: every time your organization feeds its most valuable data into a frontier AI model it doesn't own, it's repeating the oldest pattern in economic history — supplying the raw material while someone else captures the value. Coffee. Cacao. Canadian energy, 89% of which still leaves the country unrefined. The same pattern is playing out with AI and business intelligence today, by default.

From there, we initiate a frank, moderated discussion on where your organization actually sits on the sovereignty spectrum, who captures the value your own data produces, and who's accountable once AI moves from advising to acting — before turning, deliberately, to something practical.

Model is where sovereignty starts: an open-weight or right-sized model, run on infrastructure your organization controls rather than a vendor's.

Integration is where most alternatives stop short: a model-agnostic layer (Zoho MCP, built on the same open protocol behind Claude's and other frontier tools' agent connections) that connects that model to your real business systems — without exporting bulk data to a frontier vendor.

Orchestration is where value is delivered: a no-code layer for building governed, fully-audited agents on top of the first two.

No slides during the discussion portion. Just a candid peer conversation that ends somewhere useful — with at least one idea to act on, not just a sharper set of questions to sit with.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

— A sharper, more memorable vocabulary for sovereignty than "where is our data stored"

— A clear view of the explainability and agent-accountability gap opening in your own organization

— A concrete, affordable inventory of next steps — an owned model, a model-agnostic integration layer, and no-code audited agents — that don't require frontier-scale spend

— At least one idea to act on within the next quarter, not just a better set of questions to sit with

— Candid peer perspectives from other Toronto-area leaders on where the real friction — and the early wins — are showing up

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Sovereignty — the real version

When you say "data sovereignty" inside your organization, does everyone mean the same thing — or has the definition stopped at where the data is stored?

  1. Value capture

How much of your organization's data — client files, transaction history, donor relationships — is flowing through tools where you don't control what gets learned from it?

  1. Explainability

If a regulator, client, or board member asked tomorrow why an AI-assisted decision went the way it did, how good would your answer be today?

  1. Agents and accountability

As AI moves from advising to acting on its own, who is accountable when it affects someone's job, case, or funding?

  1. Practical sovereignty

If the choice weren't "which frontier AI vendor do we sign with" but "how do we build a right-sized, owned intelligence layer on our own data" — what would you build first?

  1. The forward-looking close

What's the one thing you'd fix in the next twelve months — and what's actually stopping you?

Speaker: Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist, Zoho Corporation

Raju is a senior leader at Zoho. Over 25 years at the company, he has been closely involved in Zoho’s evolution and growth, both technologically and across global markets. While he has a computer science background, his work has always lived at the intersection of technology, business, and customer needs. Based in Austin, he spends significant time engaging with customers and partners worldwide, learning from their challenges and sharing perspectives. He enjoys connecting dots, challenging assumptions, and building through change.

Moderator: Ian Bruce, VP Sales Zoho Canada

Agenda

6:00 - 7:00pm – Arrival & Networking Reception

7:00 - 8:00pm – Presentation – Q & A

8:00 - 8:30pm – Networking

Hors d’oeuvres & Beverages to be served

Thank you to our Sponsor



Open to CIOCAN Members & their *Qualified Non-Member Guests
(*CIO/CISO/Senior IT Executive in a Leadership role and their direct reports)


Location

The National Club

Room: Tudor East West

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Contact Information

Name: Jeannie Taylor
Email: jeannie.taylor@ciocan.ca
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