GRI Summit 2025 Resilience in the New Information Age – Opening Remarks

a presenter standing in front of the GRI Summit 2025 screen

From AI Disruption to Geopolitical Uncertainty, Canada Must Rethink Risk

Sonia Baxendale, GRI President and CEO, opened the 15th annual GRI summit with a stark message: We now live in a world once confined to science fiction, where medical breakthroughs coexist with technologies that spread disinformation and erode trust in vital institutions.

This erosion of trust, driven by inequality, xenophobia and conspiracy-driven movements, and amplified by AI and social media, has weakened multilateral norms and emboldened authoritarian regimes. For Canada’s financial sector, Baxendale stressed the most urgent risks lie at the intersection of technological disruption and a geopolitical shift away from a norms-based global order. Leaders need to prepare for continued uncertainty, and actively work to shape the next horizon of risk.

Sonia Baxendale

President & CEO of Global Risk Institute (GRI)

In this role, Sonia brings together leaders from industry, academia and government to focus on emerging risk issues.

Sonia has extensive experience as an executive and non-executive in the financial services industry globally.

Sonia is an active corporate director who sits on the boards of Laurentian Bank, Definity Financial Corp., and Intermediate Capital Group (ICG). She is past Chair of the Board of SickKids Foundation. In 2023, she was appointed to a three-member investment committee overseeing the $23.4 billion First Nations Child and Family Services settlement fund.

Prior to joining GRI, Sonia held senior roles at CIBC, including Senior Executive Vice President and President of CIBC Retail Markets, where she led the Retail & Commercial Banking and Wealth Management businesses. She played a key role in developing strategy and direction for CIBC. Prior to CIBC, she held various positions with American Express Canada and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Sonia is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she was named the Victoria College Alumni of Distinction in 2017. She was named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada” for three years in a row and then joined the ranks of the Top 100 Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2000, she was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.