Behind the Growth

Kristin Milchanowski, Chief AI and Quantum Officer at BMO and author of Return on Intelligence , believes organizations need to stop treating AI as a tool and start treating it as infrastructure. In this episode, she talks about what that shift looks like in practice, why automation is the wrong goal, how to connect AI investment to return on equity, and what it means to be quantum-ready before mo...

Praveen Kumar, Sr. Director, Data & AI at mobileLIVE, joins host Imran Mian on Behind the Growth for a candid conversation about why so many enterprise AI initiatives stall before they ever generate business value, and what it actually takes to move models from pilot to production.  Drawing on two decades of leading data and AI transformations across Fortune 500 banks, telcos, and retailers, P...

Svetlana Makarova, AVP of AI Technical Product Management at IKS Health, joins Imran Mian on Behind the Growth to break down what’s actually happening inside organizations trying to adopt AI. She starts by outlining a fragmented landscape where some companies move quickly due to internal capability, while others struggle with change management and foundational readiness before AI can even be appli...

Roman Itskovich, Co-founder & CRO at At-Bay, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to unpack how cyber risk has evolved into a primary business risk—and why traditional approaches to managing it are no longer sufficient. Roman traces his path from military and fintech into cyber, highlighting how increasing reliance on technology has shifted risk from the periphery to the core of enterpris...

Ben Volkwyn, Senior Vice President of Data, Analytics & Research at Triumph, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to discuss what it actually takes to turn data from a reporting function into a real driver of business decisions. Rather than focusing on dashboards or tooling, Ben explains why the real shift happens when organizations connect data directly to operational workflows and the d...

Mike Bruno, AVP of Digital at Co-operators, joins Imran Mian on Behind the Growth to unpack what digital transformation really looks like inside a large, regulated financial services organization and why it’s far more than launching a new platform or redesigning a website. Mike explains how enterprise transformation is layered, closely governed at the executive level, and ultimately anchored to on...

Saeed Shamsi, Director of Engineering and AI Factory Lead at TELUS, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to break down what it takes to build enterprise AI infrastructure that can ship fast, compliant, and within Canada’s regulatory boundaries. He opens by grounding the conversation in TELUS’s evolution beyond telecom, and why its expansion into data-driven businesses made sovereign AI a prac...

Kushal Munir, Executive Vice President and Head of IT at Green Shield, joins Imran Mian on Behind the Growth to unpack what it really takes to turn emerging technology, especially generative AI, into measurable business value inside complex, regulated organizations. The conversation traces Kushal’s career from early startup and IBM roles into enterprise leadership, and how shifting from purely tec...

Ilse De Bruin, Managing Partner at Trade Exchange, joins host Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to break down how logistics and supply chain leaders are navigating a world where volatility is no longer episodic, but constant. Drawing from real operating environments, Ilse explains why today’s disruptions, like tariffs, trade policy shifts, and capacity constraints, are forcing enterprises to ret...

Zamina Walji, VP Growth Businesses at EQ Bank, joins host Imran Mian on Behind the Growth to talk about how she builds scalable systems, accountable teams, and a culture of innovation inside one of Canada’s most forward-thinking digital banks.  Drawing from her experience across consulting, retail, and financial services, Zamina explains how customer obsession remains her constant growth driver. S...

Jyoti Bansal, Founder & CEO of Harness, Traceable, and Unusual Ventures, joins host Mudassar Malik to discuss the ideas and lessons that have shaped each of his companies. He begins with the transition from engineer to founder, describing how a “burning passion” to solve a specific engineering challenge pushed him toward building a product, and ultimately a business. Jyoti also shares the inve...

Mohammad Yousaf, Chief of Operations and Technology at National Mortgage Insurance Corporation, joins host Mudassar Malik to discuss how trust, alignment, and disciplined technology choices drive lasting transformation in financial services.  Mohammad traces his path from telecom engineering into banking and mortgage finance, explaining why he moved from building technology to shaping business str...

Rohit Prabhakar, Global Head of Experiences & Capabilities at Visa, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to explore how leaders can move from AI add-ons to AI-native marketing ecosystems that deliver hyper-personalized experiences at scale. With a career spanning technology, product, and marketing, Rohit grounds the discussion in two priorities: customer obsession and business enablement....

Valerie McMurtry, President & CEO of Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to discuss how purpose-driven leadership, data, and partnerships are reshaping outcomes for children and youth in care. Drawing from her experience leading Canada’s largest charity in this space, Valerie explains how aligning mission, strategy, and innovation drives measurable ch...

Brian Shickluna, Director of Software Engineering at Staples Canada, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to unpack the leadership principles and organizational design strategies that have shaped his career. Drawing on experience from startups to large enterprises, Brian shares what it really takes to build and scale high-performing engineering teams.  The conversation begins with Brian’s ref...

Naresh Babu, AI Technology Leader and Digital Transformation Specialist at mobileLIVE, joins Mudassar Malik to unpack the tough decisions behind core banking modernization. Together, they explore how leaders can balance customer demands, operational resilience, and the rising costs of legacy systems.  Naresh shares how his early career as a COBOL developer shaped his understanding of resilience an...

Zahid Salman, President and CEO at GreenShield, joins Imran Mian on Behind the Growth to unpack the strategy behind building Canada’s first payer-provider platform, and how a nonprofit model is enabling innovation at enterprise scale.  Zahid opens with the personal experiences that shaped his purpose-driven approach to leadership and shares how he moved from a traditional actuarial career into hea...

Janet Sherlock, Founder & CEO at Org. Works, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to challenge how most companies approach transformation, org design, AI strategy, and why their structures are often built to fail. Drawing from her executive experience and doctoral research, Janet breaks down what she calls “the hidden architecture” that shapes performance across every level of an enterpri...

Hanni Doch, VP of Digital Technology, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to explore what enterprise transformation really looks like when it's done sustainably, incrementally, and with an eye toward value—not buzzwords. With experience spanning telecom, insurance, banking, and retail, Hanni brings a grounded view into why so many digital initiatives fall short and how leaders can avoid...

Charu Pujari, Vice President of Engineering and Data Science at Loblaw Digital, joins Imran Mian on Behind the Growth to break down what it really takes to architect enterprise systems that move fast, scale reliably, and stay relentlessly focused on the customer. Opening the conversation with insights into his early shift from data science into engineering, Charu shares hard-won lessons on enginee...

Akua Mensah, Senior Director of Process Engineering & Business Enablement at CIBC, joins host Mudassar Malik on this episode to explore the real drivers of transformation—and why soft skills aren’t just a “nice to have,” but a strategic necessity. Drawing from her work leading process design, service improvement, and enterprise change across banking and consulting, Akua brings a grounded persp...

Sid Kumar, Head of Global GTM Strategy & Planning at Databricks, joins host Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to unpack what it really takes to design and run a connected go-to-market engine—one that aligns across marketing, sales, customer success, and operations, from first touch to renewal.  Sid shares hard-earned lessons from leading GTM functions at CA Technologies, Amazon, HubSpot, and...

Hamza Qamar, Senior Director of Product, Innovation & Design at mobileLIVE, joins Mudassar Malik on Behind the Growth to break down what it really takes to lead product innovation inside enterprise environments—and why technical talent alone doesn’t cut it.   Starting with a story from his early days as a software engineer, Hamza explains how a single round of informal user conversations resha...

Justin Bundick, Managing Director of AI and Data Transformation at Southwest Airlines, joins host Imran Mian to explore the real-world complexities of scaling AI in one of the world’s most operationally intense industries. With a focus on turning experimentation into enterprise impact, Justin outlines what most organizations overlook when moving beyond pilots—highlighting the critical role of infr...

Vipul Lalka, Vice President of Canadian Personal Banking Digital Transformation and Strategy at TD, joins Behind the Growth to discuss how technology is reshaping banking. He breaks down the challenges and opportunities in driving digital adoption, from modernizing legacy systems to meeting evolving customer expectations. He shares insights on TD’s approach to digital strategy—balancing innovation...