​Salima Bhimani — Alphabet's First Chief Strategist (Google), York Alumna, Author of 'Invent Now - The Next Leap in Moonshots'

​(Schulich VIP powered by Desjardins)

​We are excited to continue our Schulich Startups VIP Series with an exclusive session featuring Salima Bhimani, one of Canada’s most influential entrepreneurs and investors.

SALIMA BHIMANI, PhD is a moonshot architect, entrepreneur, and builder who partners with CEOs, global institutions, and bold innovators to unlock world-changing solutions and opportunities at scale—spanning multi-billion dollar enterprises to small agile ventures.

🎁 The first 150 attendees will receive a signed copy of Salima's new book, Invent Now: The Next Leap in Moonshots.

What She'll Talk About
As Alphabet's (Google) first Chief Strategist for Responsible Technology, Business, and Leaders, Salima worked with pioneers shaping moonshot ventures including Waymo, DeepMind, Wing, and Google X — living both the brilliance and the limitations of how world-changing solutions get built. That experience shaped her new book, Invent Now: The Next Leap in Moonshots (Wiley, on sale August 17, 2026), which argues that AI has collapsed the cost and complexity of building sophisticated systems — shifting the real bottleneck from "Can we build it?" to whether we have the vision and audacity to see opportunities others miss. Expect a conversation on her framework for who gets to build the next generation of moonshots, and how ecosystem-scale ventures can now be triggered for a fraction of what they once cost.

​About the Book
Invent Now introduces "The Third Space" — an invitation to build the next generation of moonshots by tapping into globally distributed human genius rather than the traditional innovation elite. Through seven capacities she calls "the Moonshot Dojo," readers spar with ideas like defying inherited assumptions (drawing on examples like Iceland's geothermal bet and the Open Insulin Project) and "The $100K Moonshot" — a thought experiment on how collapsing tech costs mean moonshots can now be triggered for $100K rather than $10M.

​What is a Schulich VIP Session (sponsored by Desjardins)?

​Our VIP sessions provide an intimate and thought-provoking conversation with some of the most influential figures in Canada’s innovation and investment ecosystem. This session will offer attendees a rare look at Canada’s current challenges around talent, capital, and IP retention — and an honest conversation about what needs to change.

​About Salima Bhimani & 10XResponsibletech

​SALIMA BHIMANI, PhD is a moonshot architect, entrepreneur, and builder who partners with CEOs, global institutions, and bold innovators to unlock world-changing solutions and opportunities at scale—spanning multi-billion dollar enterprises to small agile ventures.

​As Alphabet’s (Google) first Chief Strategist for Responsible Technology, Business, and Leaders, she worked with pioneers shaping moonshot ventures including Waymo, DeepMind, Wing, and Google X. Salima co-founded a drone detection venture and today serves as CEO of 10X Responsible Tech and is a Senior Fellow at AI2030.

​With a 25+year career spanning major tech companies, government, education, nonprofits, and startups across continents, she has shaped global thinking on the confluence of frontier tech—including AI—society, and the future of human purpose and opportunity, alongside leaders from NASA, the United Nations, and international governments.

Salima holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Studies (Women and Globalization) from York University (2000–2002).

​Event Details

​📅 Date: Monday, November 09, 2026

​⏰ Doors Open: 5:00 PM EST

​🎤 Keynote & Q&A: 6:00 – 7:45 PM EST

​🤝 Networking Reception: 7:45 – 9:00 PM EST

​📍 Location: Schulich School of Business (Keele Campus)

​Registration

​Due to the exclusive nature of this event, registration is essential. Please ensure your attendance if you register. If you are unable to attend, kindly cancel your registration at least 48 hours in advance so we can accommodate others.

​This event is powered by Desjardins.

​The Schulich Startups VIP Series is generously sponsored by: North Horizon Holdings, Zeifmans, the City of Toronto, and R&D LLP.