We are unapologetically curious.
Trust is human. Verify the rest.
Where the curious meet the leaders shaping the AI future at the intersection of technology and trust.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing what we see, hear, build, decide and believe. CanInnovate brings together the leaders, builders, researchers, board directors, policymakers, cybersecurity experts and other voices helping us make sense of what comes next.
We explore the questions underneath the hype:
- What is changing?
- What can we trust?
- What should we question?
- And how do we verify?
From AI governance and cybersecurity to deepfakes, digital identity, responsible adoption, leadership and the human impact of emerging technology, every conversation comes back to one intersection:
AI. Technology. Trust.
Thinking about applying?
CanInnovate is not a general business, leadership or book promotion podcast.
A book, company, product, research project or personal experience may be part of your story, but your proposed conversation must have a clear and substantive connection to AI or emerging technology AND trust.
That might include:
- AI governance and board oversight
- Cybersecurity, privacy and digital safety
- Misinformation, deepfakes and authenticity
- Digital identity and verification
- Responsible AI and accountability
- Regulation, policy and risk
- AI adoption inside real organizations
- The human impact of AI
- Leadership and decision making in the age of AI
- How technology is changing what and whom we trust
If your proposed conversation does not meaningfully connect to this intersection, CanInnovate is probably not the right platform.
The show
The show, and why it is coming back
The first episode
Canada was full of innovators nobody was talking about.
100+ conversations
Founders, operators, authors and thinkers, asked the questions everyone else was too polite to ask.
Life required it
Thank you to everyone who kept downloading.
And now, we are back
Same curiosity, sharper lens.
CanInnovate started in 2017 with a simple premise: Canada was full of innovators nobody was talking about, and the best business thinking in the world was locked inside conversations most people never got to hear. Across three seasons and more than 100 episodes, the show sat down with founders, operators, authors and thinkers, and asked the questions everyone else was too polite to ask.
We paused because life required it. Thank you to everyone who kept downloading through those years. And now, we are back.
In 2027 it returns with the same curiosity and one sharper lens: AI, technology and trust. AI now handles the ordinary. The extraordinary still comes from people who build, decide and connect, and from the people who make sure we can trust what gets built. Those are the people we want on the show, and we want to give them a platform to make some noise, bring awareness, and build understanding.
From the archive
Listen to the back catalogue
More than 100 conversations from the first three seasons are still live. New episodes will publish to the same feeds, so a follow today carries into 2027.
3 Secret Ingredients of Branding
His story is a riddle that I couldn't wait to get the solution for.
Find Flexible Talent & Work Environments
Jennifer is the Founder and CEO of tellent and is on a mission to make work, work better for women.
Empower entrepreneurs to build better businesses and change the world
This week, I sat down with Keith Ippel, the CEO & Co-founder of Spring.
Driving change during a downturn
A global Organizational Change Management guru on leading change when times are tough.
COVID-19, The Adult 'Time-Out' is a Gift
COVID-19 is always on our mind, it's what everyone is talking about.
How to beat procrastination and be productive during the pandemic
Paul Minors is a productivity blogger and virtual consultant.
Explore your curiosity during COVID
Are you finished baking and looking for other ideas to entertain yourself? I have the perfect guest.
Could COVID-19 actually kill Narcissism?
As we all embrace and adjust to the 'New Normal', the impact on humankind is going to be instrumental.
7 Tips on how to deal with overwhelm
Life is always a rollercoaster!
8 Secrets of Strong Women
Everyday is Happy Women's Day!
Who it is for
- The curious, the ones who read the footnotes.
- Thought leaders, and the people who argue with them.
- Innovators building something real, in Canada and beyond.
- ROARers, wherever you are in your R.O.A.R Framework™ journey.
- Leaders who want to hear from other leaders, without the spin.
And anyone who needs a little inspiration. Sapna's name means dream in Hindi, after all.
And anyone who does not mind the sound of Sapna's voice. She has been told it grows on you. She has also been told it is a nice voice. You pick.
What we talk about
Three questions, on repeat
AI + emerging technology
What is actually changing beneath the headlines? What is real, what is hype and what should leaders be paying attention to?
Trust + verification
When technology can generate, imitate, personalize and automate almost anything, how do we know what is real? We explore cybersecurity, identity, misinformation, privacy, safety and verification.
Governance + leadership
How do boards, executives, policymakers, builders and individuals use technology responsibly? We explore governance, accountability, risk, regulation, decision making and responsible adoption.
Along the way, some past guests return to tell us what happened next. Some episodes are recorded live with the R.O.A.R Table in the room, asking their own questions. Every conversation is 30 minutes or less, every guest is asked what advice they would give their younger self, and every episode ends with one thing to take with you.
Who sits across the mic
Three kinds of guest
AI + technology leaders
Builders, researchers, founders and executives shaping how AI and emerging technologies are developed and used.
Trust + risk voices
Leaders in cybersecurity, governance, policy, privacy, digital identity, risk, safety and verification.
Leaders navigating the real world of AI
Board directors, executives, innovators and communities with firsthand lessons about what happens when technology meets people, organizations and society.
Authors are welcome when the ideas in their work directly advance the CanInnovate conversation around AI, technology and trust.
Get involved
Four ways in
Every new guest is verified before booking, and every conversation lives at the intersection of AI, technology and trust. It is a show hosted by the author of Trust, But Verify, so consider both a feature.
Apply to be a guest
You have a point of view, a story with a lesson in it, and a public record. Communities of 500 or more members apply here too.
Know someone? Recommend them
Let them know people want to hear from them. Tell us who and why, and we will reach out directly.
Past guests, welcome back
You are already verified. Skip the queue. We cannot wait to hear about your adventures since we last spoke.
At the R.O.A.R Table?
Ask your questions of these leaders directly, before we record or live at a taping.
The bar
What we look for
We look for guests with
- A clear connection to AI, technology and trust
- A point of view grounded in experience, research, evidence or real world practice
- Something that will make listeners question an assumption
- Something listeners can verify, explore or do differently
- A public record we can check: a LinkedIn profile that matches your story, and one third party source
- A willingness to discuss what did not work as well as what did
- A perspective that adds something new to the conversation
- For communities: 500 or more members, active for at least a year, with a named leader and a public page
We generally decline
- Book promotion without a substantive AI, technology and trust thesis
- Generic leadership, career, coaching, wellness or entrepreneurship conversations
- Product pitches disguised as interviews
- Topics with only a superficial connection to AI
- Early stage ventures without customers, a team and a public record yet. Apply when you have all three
- Unverifiable claims
- Applications submitted on behalf of a guest
Applications should be completed by the proposed guest. Once selected, we are happy to coordinate logistics with an assistant, communications lead or publicist.
We review every application and respond within 10 business days.
With the seat
What guests receive
Once you are confirmed, this is what comes with the seat.
The episode, and the assets
Published on Apple, Spotify and the feed, with two short clips and a quote card for your own channels.
The newsletter
A feature in Probe & Ponder that carries your best answer to a community of senior professionals.
Your open roles
If you are hiring, your job postings go to R.O.A.R Table members the week the episode releases.
A seat at the table
A guest seat at one R.O.A.R Table live session, to meet the people who asked the questions, and a signed copy of Connect the Dots.
Other benefits
For your community and your team, shared with you on acceptance. More to come as the season takes shape.
About ten minutes
Apply to be a guest
Takes about ten minutes. The show has one lens, AI, technology and trust, and the first question on the form asks whether your conversation fits it. Communities apply here too; choose "Community leader" when asked who you are. Past guests, use the short past guest form instead. Applications are completed by the proposed guest. We read every application and respond within 10 business days.
Two minutes
Recommend a guest
Two minutes. Recommend someone whose work lives at the intersection of AI, technology and trust. We will contact them directly and mention you if you would like us to. A recommendation does not skip verification, so recommend people you would vouch for.
A two way conversation
Sit at the table
CanInnovate is a two way conversation. Members of the R.O.A.R Table send questions to upcoming guests before we record, join live virtual tapings through the year, and ask their questions live. It is the shortest distance between a senior professional and the leaders shaping their industry.
Joining requires a LinkedIn profile and a valid credit card.
- The monthly live session
- The members only room
- Questions to guests before we record
- Live virtual tapings through the year
Stay in the know
Be first to hear when the 2027 season drops
Be first to hear when the 2027 season drops, who is on it, and when the live tapings happen.
Podcast updates come through Probe & Ponder, Sapna's free newsletter. Register once and you will hear about new episodes, live tapings, and more.
Partnerships
Partner with the show
If your organization wants to sit beside the leaders shaping the future, in front of an audience of senior professionals, there are three ways to do it.
Founding presenting partner
Named in every episode, on the page, with a guest seat, a hosted R.O.A.R Table session and category exclusivity.
Episode partner
Named in one episode, with a guest seat for your executive and a credited clip.
Community partner
Associations and professional communities that share the show with members, in exchange for a member offer.
Partners never choose guests, questions or topics. The show verifies partner executives like every other guest, and is politics-free.
Your host
Sapna Malhotra
CMC · CPA · ICD.D
Sapna Malhotra, CMC, CPA, ICD.D, is a Board Director, Fractional Transformation Executive, and Advisor focused on AI, governance, trust, risk, and complex transformation, and the Principal and Founder of Digiruptor™, a practice working at three altitudes. With boards, designing oversight and accountability. With executive teams, closing the gap between policy and practice. And with the people doing the work, building the human skills AI cannot replace.
She is the creator of the R.O.A.R Framework and author of Connect the Dots, now in its second edition. Her next book, Trust, But Verify, examines AI governance and board oversight. She serves as a director on the boards of Kinvia and CMC Ontario.
The human translator between risk & reward.