Vancouver AI Meetup (VAM!) - AI Across Industries: Trends and Real World Impact
Join us for AI Across Industries: Trends and Real-World Impact, a focused meetup exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping critical sectors including business, cybersecurity, and high-stakes operational systems.
This event brings together speakers from diverse domains to examine not just what AI can do, but what its growing influence means in practice. Whether you are a builder, researcher, student, or working professional, this is a chance to hear grounded, real-world perspectives on where AI is heading and why it matters.
🎙️ Featuring:
Pawel Z – Senior Data Scientist, Jeppesen ForeFlight
Pawel is an expert in cognitive systems and modern AI enterprise platforms. He leads R&D at the intersection of agent-based modelling, high-scale infrastructure, and real-time decision intelligence. Rooted in computer systems and cognitive science, he has spent two decades building and shipping AI systems in industry.
Natalie Chu – PhD Student, International CyberCrime Research Institue (ICCRI)
Natalie holds a MSc in Management Information Systems from the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on financial fraud, cybercrime, and AI safety. She is currently developing agent-based simulations to assess how AI/ML systems can improve users’ ability to detect and prevent financial fraud. She is also building a multi-agent AI system to support the collection, analysis, and sharing of fraud reports across law enforcement and financial institutions.
Herman Kwok – AI Solution Engineer at Onehsn
Herman is a AI Solution Engineer focused on how AI is transforming operations and decision-making. He has launched and scaled B2C brands end-to-end and built AI automations that streamline workflows and improve efficiency as teams grow.
🗓️ Program Schedule:
🌀 11:00 AM – Arrival & Networking
Doors close at 11:15 AM sharp - we’ll be running a focused program and won’t be able to let attendees in after that.
🎙️ 11:20 AM – 11:30 AM – Welcome
Opening remarks, a brief introduction to the meetup theme, and an overview of the day’s schedule and speakers.
🎙️ 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Speaker 1: Pawel Z – Dense Neural Memory: A Nobel Prize Winning Idea
The memory mechanism at the heart of modern AI didn't come from nowhere. Pawel traces the evolution of neural memory representations - from Hopfield Networks, recognised by the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, to the attention mechanisms driving today's large-scale AI systems. A technical but accessible talk for anyone who wants to understand how modern AI actually works, not just what it does.
🎙️ 12:05 PM – 12:35 PM – Speaker 2: Natalie Chu – AI in Cybersecurity
Natalie will speak about the impact of AI on financial services and financial fraud, with a focus on cybercrime, detection, and prevention.
🕛 12:40 PM – 12:50 PM – Break
🎙️12:50 PM – 1:25 PM – Speaker 3: Herman Kwok – AI in Business
Herman will share how he has implemented AI in his business over the past year, focusing on practical applications that have driven real results, along with where he sees this trend evolving next.
🎙️1:25 PM – 1:30 PM - Winning App Showcase: Vibe Coding 101 Mini Hackathon
🌀 1:30 PM – 2:00 PM – Networking
Connect with fellow attendees, speakers, and organizers over ideas and conversation.
🧠 About the Host:
Nimitha Gopinath is a Research Assistant at Simon Fraser University. With a background in engineering, she helps shape VAM! events that make emerging AI topics accessible, practical, and relevant to the community.
🌟 Founder of VAM:
Issam Laradji is a Research Scientist at ServiceNow, Adjunct Professor at UBC, and Founder of VAM! Through VAM, he helps build spaces for the AI community to connect, learn, and share practical knowledge.
✨Sponsor
Thank you to Illuminate Universe and Alina Huang for sponsoring this event and supporting the VAM community.
About Northeastern University
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experiential lifelong learning. With 13 campuses across the U.S., U.K., and Canada, over 320,000 alumni, and more than 3,800 partners worldwide, the global university network serves as a platform for scaling ideas, talent, and solutions. Located in the heart of downtown, the Vancouver campus offers a wide range of master’s-level tech degrees, including pathway programs that allow students with non-STEM backgrounds to pursue a graduate degree in tech.
Looking forward to having another powerful AI meetup!
🫧 Bubblies will be served.
🐾 Final Notes: The space is not pet-friendly, but service animals are welcome. Bicycles are not allowed inside the building.