Latest Schulich + CI Financial Panel Explores Digital Assets
Schulich students participated in a thought-provoking discussion on the transformative potential of digital assets with industry thought-leaders this past week. Titled Navigating the World of Blockchain, Digital Assets, and Cryptocurrency, the panel discussion is part of an ongoing experiential education partnership between with CI Financial which provides Schulich students exclusive access to internships, real-world projects, and industry events.
The panel was moderated by Schulich Professor Pauline Shum Nolan and featured three unique perspectives from Kambiz Vatan-Abadi, Chief Innovation Officer at CI Financial; Hashim Mitha, Chief Executive Officer of MeetAmi; and Sarah Morton, Chief Strategy Officer of MeetAmi.
Vatan-Abadi delivered a presentation on the fundamental concepts behind digital assets, which included blockchain theory, cryptography, and hashing. Vatan-Abadi’s presentation featured a live demonstration of the hashing process and thoughtful audience questions. The students who provided outstanding answers were awarded with copies of Vatan-Abadi’s favourite business books.
Mitha and Morton’s presentations drew upon their experience guiding wealth management advisors through the digital asset landscape. Mitha explained how blockchain technology could be applied across a variety of industries using illustrative personal stories. Morton dove into the development of blockchain theory and concluded with the state of current adoption.
“The collaboration between Schulich and CI Financial is a great example of how Schulich is creating strategic partnerships with industry-leading companies to provide experiential learning opportunities for Schulich students, as well as panel discussions and networking events like this evening’s forum,” said Schulich Dean Detlev Zwick.