U of T Guide to Toronto Tech Week
Desjardins Speaker Series:
How to Build a $100B Company, Brick by Brick
Tuesday May 26 | 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Join Reynold Xin, Co-founder of Databricks, a San Francisco-based data and AI infrastructure startup valued at over $130B and one of the fastest-growing tech startups in history. Reynold is a proud U of T alumnus (BASc in Engineering Science) who 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.
This signature event will discuss:
- Origin story of the company and advice for young founders
- How to effectively commercialize research and what has changed since 2013 when Databricks was founded
- Trends, opportunities, and threats in the field of big data and artificial intelligence
- Lessons learned from a life spent in Silicon Valley
- What Canadian business leaders, innovators, investors, and government need to do to compete
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.
Topics explored will include:
- Lessons learned from multiple startups created and experience working as a customer service agent
- How time spent at U of T informed and inspired an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Reflections on where agentic AI is heading and which industries it is set to have the largest and most immediate impact on
- How Mike uses agents personally and advice for leaders on how to walk the talk to drive AI adoption
- What Canada needs to do to seize the AI moment and advice for business leaders and government
In Person
Livestream
U of T x Toronto Tech Week
Lawn Party
Tuesday May 26 | 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Join us at the University of Toronto’s St. George campus for a lawn party following the speaker series — equal parts science fair and carnival with a healthy dose of networking! Connect with innovators, learn about the companies driving Toronto’s tech growth, and enjoy light snacks from our very own U of T-affiliated companies.
Separate registration is required.
U of T Affiliated Events
May 25, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Toronto Tech Week x University of Toronto Mississauga Computer Science Project Showcase
May 25, 4:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Courtside Capital: Where Tech Meets Sports – Brampton Innovation District x Brampton Honey Badgers
May 25, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
The Founder Signal: Stories & Content for Growth | Panel & Studio Sessions
May 25, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Monday Girl x Soho House Toronto: Women Shaping the Future of AI Power Panel
May 26, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Start Up Here Innovation Showcase 2026: Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus
May 26, 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Interactive Viewing Party: Desjardins Speaker Series: How to Build a $100B Company, Brick by Brick
May 26, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
The Burnout Invoice: What It’s Costing Your Tech Team And the Tools to Fix It
May 27, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Creative Destructive Lab Super Session 2026 (Private)
May 27, 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The Founder’s Canvas: A Creative Strategy Workshop for Technical Founders Stuck on a Startup Problem
May 27, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
From Pilot to Clinic: Deploying Voice AI in Healthcare (Reliability, Compliance, ROI)
May 27, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Accelerating AI Startups in 2026: Insights from Founders, Operators, and Investors
May 28, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Commercializing AI-for-Science: A breakfast connecting inventors, builders, and investors
May 28, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Carta: Engineering the Future of Private Markets (Tech Talk and Happy Hour)
May 29, 2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
The AI Collective | Ontario Hackathons, Yours to Discover @Toronto Tech Week
