National non-profit and charity Venture for Canada has established an AI Advisory Council consisting of nine members: Sam Ramadori, Zabeen Hirji, Jaxson Khan, Salim Teja, Stephanie Enders, Abdi Aidid, Rosario Cartagena, André Côté, and Marc Etienne Ouimette.
The council will be tasked with helping to develop programs equipping Canadian youth with practical artificial intelligence skills for use in startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. It will also guide the VFC in ideas testing and identifying how AI can boost access to opportunities in Canada.
The council will explore AI trends and the future of work, develop early-stage initiatives and pilots, recognize risks and ethical considerations, and identify opportunities for AI to bolster access and outcomes.
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Sam Ramadori
Ramadori is co-president and executive director of non-profit organization LawZero. He was previously CEO at BrainBox AI, spearheading the application of AI to decarbonization efforts. He oversaw the day-to-day execution of BrainBox AI’s growth plan and led fundraising efforts.
Zabeen Hirji
Hirji is Deloitte Canada’s future of work advisor. She founded the Purposeful Third Act movement, where she assists leaders in developing tailored Third Acts to leverage experience, skills, and social capital.
She is senior advisor to AI-enabled recruitment platform Knockri, which concentrates on enhancing hiring outcomes and diversity. She previously served as special advisor to the clerk of the privy council, co-chair of the city of Toronto's economic development advisory panel, chancellor-designate of Trent University, and executive-in-residence at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business. She received the Order of Ontario.
Jaxson Khan
Khan is CEO of Aperture AI, which assists major corporations and governments with maximizing AI and emerging technologies. He teaches a digital transformation and AI policy course in the University of Toronto’s master’s program and is a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.
He co-directs the AI Competitiveness Project and was once senior policy advisor to the minister of innovation, science, and industry. He helped design the $2.4 billion AI Sovereign Compute Strategy and passed significant Competition Act amendments.
Khan was chief of staff at global think tank LawAI, which focuses on AI, law, and policy.
Salim Teja
Teja leads the velocity team at Radical Ventures. He was previously president of venture services at urban innovation center MaRS Discovery District.
He has also held leadership positions at Indigo Books & Music, CX Digital, and Brightspark Ventures, where he was a partner. He co-founded e-commerce venture MobShop Inc, which is based in San Francisco.
Stephanie Enders
Enders is Amii’s chief delivery officer. She concentrates on responsible AI and open-source strategies; moreover, she spearheads initiatives improving AI literacy, championing industry adoption, and developing talent.
Abdi Aidid
Aidid is the Canada research chair in artificial intelligence and access to justice. An assistant professor at the University of Toronto's Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, he concentrates on civil adjudication, privacy law, and the intersection of law and technology.
He was a litigator and arbitrator at New York’s Covington & Burling LLP and at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto. He was vice president of legal at Blue J, spearheading machine learning-enabled legal research tool development.
Rosario Cartagena
Cartagena practises with Osler as a counsel in its privacy and data management group. She focuses on health privacy law, health research, privacy and data governance, information security, risk management and data ethics. She has guided clients on matters involving cybersecurity readiness, compliance program development and audits, AI frameworks, and regulatory issues
She is also ICES’ corporate secretary and chief privacy and legal officer, managing a team of experts in privacy, legal, enterprise risk management, compliance, and cybersecurity
André Côté
Côté leads Toronto Metropolitan University’s Dais think tank. He has served as senior advisor to Ontario's deputy premier and minister of advanced education and skills development, and for digital government services.
He is the chief operating and strategy officer at national non-profit startup incubator NEXT Canada. He also sits on eCampus Ontario’s board.
Marc Etienne Ouimette
Ouimette founded Cardinal Policy, which helps firms and governments navigate the intersection of AI, public policy, and industrial strategy. He studies AI sovereignty and industrial policy at the University of Cambridge's Bennett School of Public Policy.
He leads global AI policy at AWS, helping to develop strategic policy positioning and spearhead engagements with numerous governments and multilateral bodies. He was on the B7’s advisory committee and was in the OECD’s experts network.
Ouimette chaired the global partnership on AI’s Centre of Expertise. The minister of artificial intelligence appointed him to the Canadian AI Taskforce on AI strategy development in October 2025; he was tasked with analyzing possible sovereign AI infrastructure build-outs.