Why Toronto organizations are taking this conversation seriously
Toronto is where the major Canadian banks, insurers, and pension funds run their AI programs. Credit decisions, underwriting models, fraud detection, portfolio management: these are no longer theoretical use cases. They are live systems, producing real outputs, affecting real customers.
OSFI's E-23 guideline has sharpened the focus considerably. It requires financial institutions to demonstrate meaningful human oversight of model risk. That is easy to put in a policy document. It is harder to make real when analysts trust the model output more than their own judgement, or when the review process is a formality rather than a genuine check.
The question Toronto's financial institutions are grappling with is not whether to use AI. It is how to make sure the humans nominally in charge of these systems are actually thinking, not just approving.
What Steve covers when he speaks in Toronto
Steve's talk is built around a specific problem: the more useful AI becomes, the easier it is to stop thinking. He covers how that happens in practice, why it is rational behavior from an individual's perspective, and what it costs organizations when it compounds across a team or a firm.
For financial services audiences, he draws directly on the regulatory and operational context. That includes what genuine human oversight looks like versus compliance theatre, how to keep analysts sharp when the model is usually right, and what cognitive skills organizations need to protect as AI takes on more of the analytical load.
The talk is suited to senior leadership, risk and compliance teams, and the conferences and summits that bring Toronto's financial and technology communities together throughout the year.
Topics for Toronto audiences
Steve speaks on cognitive sovereignty, the judgment economy, AI and creativity, and related topics. Full details on the Speaking page.
Book Steve for your Toronto event
If you are planning a corporate conference, leadership event, or offsite in Toronto and want to discuss whether Steve's work is a good fit, the Work with Me page has the details.