Building trust in AI to help government deploy it

Jonathan is an executive in the Responsible Data and AI team at the Office of the Chief Information Officer at Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) leading the GC policy and strategy files for AI. Recently, he led the development and launch of the AI Strategy for the Canadian Federal Public Service. Prior to this work he was responsible for setting government policy direction in the space of privacy and data ethics. At TBS, he has championed data ethics through key pan-government digital projects and led the development of new digital-focused privacy tools. Prior to working at TBS, he worked at Fisheries and Oceans Canada where he began his public service career and gradually took on various leadership roles in the IM/IT space.

With over a decade of experience, Dr. Saeid Molladavoudi is the Director of the Centre for AI Research and Excellence at Statistics Canada, driving transformative AI research projects and shaping responsible AI governance. As a dynamic and strategic leader, Saeid has a proven track record of driving innovation and technological transformation in AI, data science, and emerging technologies, including privacy enhancing technologies. Saeid leads the agency’s responsible adoption of AI and Generative AI and plays a key role in enhancing its Framework for Responsible Machine Learning to ensure ethical AI practices and governance. With a proven track record of managing high-impact projects and fostering collaborations within the AI community, Saeid excels in aligning emerging technologies with organizational priorities and risk management frameworks. With expertise in leading complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives and building international partnerships, Saeid focuses on responsible innovation and delivering actionable insights for informed decision-making at senior leadership levels. He is also an award nominee, and serves as a journal area editor, and an advisory board member.

Steve Rennie leads the artificial intelligence practice at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). In June 2023, he and his team won the inaugural Public Service Data Challenge with their generative AI chatbot, which provides conversational information on government agricultural programs. Launched in early 2024, this chatbot is the Government of Canada’s first generative AI tool available to the public. This work was recognized in the Clerk of the Privy Council’s Report to the Prime Minister and in the Government of Canada’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement as an example of how government departments are leveraging AI to deliver better services to Canadians. Before joining AAFC in 2021, Steve held progressively senior roles at Natural Resources Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. With a background in journalism, Steve covered federal politics for nearly a decade in the Parliamentary Bureau of the Canadian Press news agency before serving as the Managing Editor of Metro Ottawa.

Jack is Global Government Forum’s Senior Staff Writer and Community Co-ordinator, and is a journalist, cartoonist and podcaster. After training in financial journalism at City University from 2013 until 2014, Jack worked at Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, afterwards moving into editing magazines on global trade and development finance. Shortly after editing opinion writing for UnHerd, he joined the independent think tank ResPublica, where he led a media campaign to change the health and safety requirements around asbestos in UK public buildings. As host and producer of The Booking Club podcast – a conversation series featuring prominent authors and commentators at their favourite restaurants – Jack engages today’s most distinguished thinkers on the biggest problems pertaining to ideology and power in the 21st century. He graduated from Heythrop College London in 2009 with a BA in philosophy. He lived in China for three years where he worked as a freelance reporter.