In celebration of International Women’s Day in March, CIBC’s Future Now Program hosted its first “Women in Tech” event. The initiative provided CIBC team members with insights and hands-on experiences around emerging trends and technology, demonstrating the bank’s commitment to empowering and advancing women in technology.
With industry leaders from banking, technology, and innovation across Canada in attendance, the event offered unique opportunities for women in technology to grow their professional networks by engaging with top technology leaders, networking, and sharing diverse perspectives from their careers. Leaders provided guidance, support, and valuable career advice and insights through one-on-one mentorship chats.
Attendees also had the chance to experience emerging technology through interactive stations hosted by Meta and Microsoft. Meta showcased their mixed reality technologies, highlighting how various components come together to create immersive experiences. Microsoft provided hands-on training with their AI co-pilot, demonstrating its capabilities to improve productivity and creativity at work.
A highlight of the event was the panel discussion featuring executives from some of the top global technology companies sharing their experiences and diverse backgrounds, while emphasizing that there is no standard career path in any industry, especially technology. Panellists included Noelle Ibrahim, PhD., Technical Sales Executive, Quantum Computing at IBM; Ozge Yeloglu, VP of Data Enablement, Advanced Analytics and AI at CIBC; Sarah-Anne Birdsell, Global Executive Solutions Lead, Meta Reality Labs Executive & Non-Profit Solutions at Meta; and Tarah Johnston, General Manager, Global Advisory and SI Partners at Microsoft. Topics discussed included effective leadership, managing work-life balance, and leveraging diversity to build thriving teams.
Approximately 1,000 employees attended the event, both in-person and virtually, making it a valuable experience for many of our current and future women in tech leaders at CIBC.
