Desjardins Speaker Series: How to Build a $100B Company, Brick by Brick
University of Toronto's Desjardins Speaker Series joins Toronto Tech Week's citywide lineup celebrating and connecting builders across Toronto!
Join Reynold Xin, co-founder of Databricks, a San Francsico-based data & AI infrastructure startup valued at over $130B and one of the fastest growing tech startups in history. Reynold, a proud U of T alumnus (BASc in Engineering Science), will share his story of a founding team that turned a research project into a business with a global footprint, over 8,000 employees and thousands of enterprise customers.
Joining Reynold on stage will be Mike Murchison, CEO of Ada - the agentic customer experience company. Mike is a serial entrepreneur and proud U of T alumnus (B. Sc. Cognitive Science, Psychology and Human Computer Interaction). A Forbes 30 Under 30 winner, Mike envisions a world where every company is managing customer-facing AI Agents that deliver a new standard of personalized experience at scale.
Moderated by award-winning business journalist Amanda Lang, Reynold and Mike will share the evolution of data and AI, lessons from founders, and what Canada needs to do to seize the AI moment through the perspective of two proud U of T alumni.
This event is open to:
Founders and entrepreneurs in tech
Corporate innovation leaders and investors
Tech researchers and practitioners
Students and professionals interested in tech innovation
Industry partners seeking tech collaboration opportunities
Registration is required due to limited capacity. If you can't make it in person, register for the livestream. There is also a viewing party on the U of T St. George campus at the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus. Register here.
This event is presented by:
Celebrating Toronto Tech Week:
Toronto Tech Week is a citywide celebration of the people building what’s next. From May 25–29, 2026, founders, investors, and builders come together for hundreds of community-led events across Toronto, connecting tens of thousands of people around Canadian tech. Torontotechweek.com.