IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum

Training talents for the era of stablecoins and agentic AI. A one-day Calgary forum convening the practitioners, founders, and researchers charting what comes next at the edge of finance and AI.

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Indigo Room

Alt Hotel, University District

Calgary, Alberta

RSVP for July 28 →

Speakers.

Practitioners working at the edge of stablecoins, payments, and agentic AI, in the room to co-design the program.

Brian Ford headshot

Brian Ford

VP & Head, Business Solutions & Digital Assets

ATB Financial

Kevin Zhang headshot

Kevin Zhang

Co-Founder

Loon

Youssef Harkati headshot

Youssef Harkati

Founder & CEO

BrightOnLABS

Jade Alberts headshot

Jade Alberts

Marketing Director

Blockchain Insurance Inc.

Koleya Karringten headshot

Koleya Karringten

Executive Director

Canadian Blockchain Consortium

Julie Brunias headshot

Julie Brunias

Cybersecurity Team Lead & AI Champion

Videotron

Felipe Priuli headshot

Felipe Priuli

CADD Program Director

Tetra Digital Group

Mohamed Zohiri headshot

Mohamed Zohiri, LL.B, LL.M

Legal Counsel

Alberta Securities Commission

Jiayu Zhou headshot

Jiayu Zhou

Professor of AI

School of Information, University of Michigan

Steve Drew headshot

Steve Drew, PhD, PEng

Associate Professor, Schulich School of Engineering

University of Calgary

Marius Zoican headshot

Marius Zoican

Associate Professor of Finance · Canada Research Chair in Financial Technology

Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

Photos.

Scenes from the forum on July 28, 2026. Click any photo to view it at full size.

IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 1 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 2 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 3 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 4 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 5 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 6 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 7 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 8 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 9 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 10 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 11 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 12 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 13 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 14 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 15 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 16 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 17 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 18 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 19 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 20 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 21 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 22 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 23 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 24 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 25 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 26 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 27 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 28 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 29 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 30 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 31 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 32 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 33 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 34 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 35 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 36 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 37 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 38 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 39 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 40 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 41 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 42 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 43 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 44 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 45 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 46 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 47 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 48 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 49 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 50 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 51 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 52 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 53 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 54 IEEE Stablecoin and Agentic AI Forum photo 55

Program.

The full-day schedule for Tuesday, July 28, 2026 in the Indigo Room at the Alt Hotel, University District.

8:30 – 9:00

Registration and Coffee

9:00 – 9:10

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Anders Nygren and Henry Leung · Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary

9:10 – 9:30

Stablecoins and Digital Assets Industry in Alberta

Brian Ford · VP & Head, Business Solutions & Digital Assets, ATB Financial

9:30 – 9:50

Next-generation Banking with Canada's Regulated Stablecoin

Kevin Zhang · Co-Founder, Loon

9:50 – 10:10

CADD in Practice: Bringing Canada's Stablecoin to Market

Felipe Priuli · CADD Program Director, Tetra Digital Group

10:10 – 10:40

Coffee Break

10:40 – 11:00

Regulating Fiat-Backed Stablecoins: The Canadian Framework

Mohamed Zohiri, LL.B, LL.M · Legal Counsel, Alberta Securities Commission

11:00 – 11:20

Introduction to Canadian Bitcoin Consortium and Blockchain Insurance

Koleya Karringten · Executive Director, Canadian Blockchain Consortium

11:20 – 12:05

Panel: Getting into the Stablecoin Business. Where the Industry Is Heading

Kevin Zhang, Brian Ford, Felipe Priuli, and Mohamed Zohiri · Moderated by Jade Alberts, Marketing Director, Blockchain Insurance Inc.

12:05 – 13:10

Lunch and Networking

13:10 – 13:40

AI Agents: It's All Fun and Games Until Money Moves

Youssef Harkati · Founder & CEO, BrightOnLABS

13:40 – 14:00

Retail Investors in the Age of AI

Marius Zoican · Associate Professor of Finance, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary

14:00 – 14:20

Opportunities in Blockchain and Agentic AI

Jiayu Zhou · Professor of AI, School of Information, University of Michigan

14:20 – 14:50

Coffee Break

14:50 – 15:05

Agentic Marketplace

Steve Drew · Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary

15:05 – 15:35

Securing Generative and Agentic AI: Lessons from the Red Team

Julie Brunias · Cybersecurity Team Lead & AI Champion, Videotron

15:35 – 16:20

Panel: The Future of Agentic AI. How Young People Can Enter and Shape the Market

Youssef Harkati, Marius Zoican, Jiayu Zhou, and Steve Drew · Moderated by Henry Leung

16:20 – 16:25

Closing Remarks

Organizing Committee

Organizers.

Henry Leung headshot

Henry Leung, PhD, FRSC, FCAE, FIEEE, FSPIE

Professor, Schulich School of Engineering

University of Calgary

Dr. Leung's research spans AI, data analytics, the Internet of Things, machine learning, robotics, and signal and image processing. He is a Fellow of IEEE, SPIE, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Royal Society of Canada. He is a recipient of the 2024 Killam Research Excellence Award.

Steve Drew headshot

Steve Drew, PhD, PEng

Associate Professor, Schulich School of Engineering

University of Calgary

Dr. Drew's research spans distributed systems, privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), and blockchain. He was a final winner of the NSF/NIST Privacy-Enhancing Technologies Challenges. He received the Best Paper Award at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Autonomous and Trusted Computing.

Sponsors.

We would like to thank IEEE's Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society, ATB Financial, and the University of Calgary's Schulich School of Engineering for sponsoring this event.

Open for Discussion.

A question we want to work through together, connecting Alberta's fintech employers with the next generation of engineering talent.

Co-designing fintech talent training
Because of Alberta's friendly cryptocurrency regulations, many prominent digital-asset companies such as Loon and Stablecorp have their headquarters registered in Alberta. What talent-training programs can universities design to build the skills these fintech leaders need in Canada? Starting with small steps such as a certificate program or minor, co-designed with industry, this would provide convincing proof that our graduates are capable of working at fintech companies.

Why this matters.

Stablecoins are quietly rewriting payments, and agentic AI is rewriting how work gets done. Canada has no curriculum for the engineers, researchers, and operators who will have to ship at that intersection, so this day is where we draft it.

Direct access to stablecoin thought leaders
A full day in working conversation with the practitioners, researchers, and policy voices shaping how stablecoins move money in Canada and globally, so attendees leave with relationships, not slides.
Entrepreneurship pathways unique to Alberta
Alberta currently offers Canada's most accommodating regulatory and banking environment for fintech and blockchain ventures, so founders and prospective founders can explore concrete support, capital, and partnership pathways from idea to launch.
A pipeline into industry roles
The room includes banks, payment processors, AI labs, and infrastructure firms hiring at the stablecoin and agentic AI intersection, so students and early-career engineers connect directly with internship and employment opportunities.

Volunteers.

Guojun Tang

PhD Candidate

University of Calgary

Yunkai Bao

PhD Candidate

University of Calgary

Jiajun Wu

PhD Candidate

University of Calgary

Yingxuan Cao

PhD Student

University of Calgary

Jialin Yang

PhD Student

University of Calgary

Eugene Leung

High School Student

Alt Hotel Calgary
University District

482 McLaurin St NW Calgary, Alberta · T3B 2X9, Canada
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