James brings 30 years of cross-industry experience in the software industry to lead corporate strategy and build operational excellence at PureWeb. He works with staff, investors, and partners to bring the potential of the immersive web experiences to increase innovation, protect the environment, and increase commerce to billions of people worldwide.

A radiologist by training, Dr. Fong is an active seed investor in start-up companies and is widely credited for launching the Rockies site of Creative Destruction Lab. He was invested into the Order of Canada in 2017 for his contribution to medical technology innovation and for his philanthropic activities. Chen was inducted into the Alberta Business Hall of Fame and is a recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Calgary.

Laurie is a serial entrepreneur who has launched and led several companies to successful exits. His first business, Datum Telegraphic, generated one of the highest returns ever in BC for an angel-backed company. Laurie was the executive chair for both Partnerpedia (acquired by BMC Software) and Recon Instruments (acquired by Intel). Both deals provided handsome returns to their investors. He currently invests, sits on the board, and chairs a number of Western Canadian technology companies.

Dr. Cannon is president emerita of the University of Calgary after serving as president and vice chancellor from 2010-2018. Previously, she was dean of the Schulich School of Engineering. Dr. Cannon’s received many honours including an NSERC Steacie Award and Engineers Canada Gold Medal. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering, and is an elected foreign associate of the National Academy of Engineering. Named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, she has five honorary degrees and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. She’s a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University, a Fellow of the Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies, and a Director of the Gairdner Foundation and the Rideau Hall Foundation.

Ajay is an economist and professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. He conducts research on the economics of innovation and serves on the editorial board of Management Science. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles as well as co-authored two books on Harvard Business Press: Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence (2018), and Power & Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence (2022).

He is the founder of the Creative Destruction Lab and cofounder of NEXT Canada, both not-for-profit programs that support the commercialization of science via entrepreneurship. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts; an academic advisory council member at the Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings in Washington, DC; an advisory board member at Carnegie Mellon University’s Block Center for Technology and Society in Pittsburgh; and a faculty affiliate at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Toronto. He is founder of Metaverse Mind Lab: building enterprise AI solutions for the Metaverse. He is co-founder of Sanctuary: creating the world’s first human-like intelligence in humanoid robots.

Ajay holds a PhD in applied economics from the University of British Columbia. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2022.

A 35-year veteran of the high-tech industry, Gary has led some of the web’s most innovative companies. Prior to co-founding Wisdom LLP, Gary was CEO of iPass (NASDAQ: IPAS) as well as President of Products and Operations at WebEx. He was also co-founder/CEO of Everdream Corporation and co-founder/CEO at HEAT.net. ‍

Gary has served on the board of directors for several private and public companies. He is currently an advisor to two private equity funds: Parthenon Capital and Day View Capital.