Privacy, cybersecurity, and AI governance for consumer audiences, corporate leadership, and technical teams. Keynotes and interactive workshops available across Canada and internationally.
A series of clips from three recent conference appearances.
Five keynotes and workshops across privacy, cybersecurity, and AI governance. Select the one that fits your event below for full details, outcomes, and booking information.
How to Protect Your Data in a World That Won't
Practical data protection built from a real 2013 identity theft. No jargon, no alarm bells.
Full details ↓Mastering GRC in the Age of Unstoppable Innovation
Governance that keeps pace with innovation and AI rather than blocking it.
Full details ↓Strength, Flexibility, and the Art of Control
A live physical demonstration where governance and compliance come off the spreadsheet and onto the stage.
Full details ↓The Refactor You Didn't Budget For
The privacy obligations already hiding in your codebase that your dev team has never seen.
Full details ↓Why Privacy is a Product Discipline
Privacy obligations that exist in contracts your product team has never seen, built in from the start.
Full details ↓Not every event needs a keynote.
Shorter, more conversational sessions for internal teams, through to full-day masterclasses for technical leaders.
See all formats ↓Ross Saunders is a CIPP/E-certified privacy and cybersecurity keynote speaker based in Toronto, with over 20 years of experience. He has delivered keynotes across Canada, South Africa, India, and internationally, earning a 4.74 out of 5 speaker rating at ITWeb Events. Past-President, Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa. Board member, Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.
How to Protect Your Data in a World That Won't
Based on the theft of Ross's own identity in 2013, this keynote walks audiences through their data rights and the practical steps that actually protect them. No jargon, no FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt), no pretending the problem is bigger than it needs to be.
Mastering GRC in the Age of Unstoppable Innovation
Most governance frameworks are written for the world as it was. Racing Regulation is for organizations that need compliance to keep up with how fast the world is actually moving, covering AI governance, shadow IT, and building policy structures that adapt rather than block.
Also available as a 60-to-90-minute complementary workshop for teams that want to apply the frameworks to their own environment.
Strength, Flexibility, and the Art of Control
This one-of-a-kind keynote takes governance, risk, and compliance off the spreadsheet and onto the stage. Literally. As a different type of podium rises on stage, so does a new way of thinking about the risks and controls that shape organizational decisions. This is not a slide deck. It is a live experience, built move by move, where the theory and the physicality unfold together in real time.
Along the way, we challenge a few assumptions: about what risk looks like, about where resilience comes from, and about how the most powerful frameworks began at the margins, pioneered by people who were dismissed, doubted, and underestimated, before the rest of the world caught up.
The Refactor You Didn't Budget For
Privacy is a development problem. Most engineering teams just don't know it yet, because the contracts that created those obligations sit in folders that Legal and Sales own. This keynote maps exactly where privacy intersects with the development lifecycle, using real scenarios and war stories from teams that found out the hard way.
Why Privacy is a Product Discipline
Many teams expect privacy to be handled by the security program or covered by legal and compliance. The reality is that privacy obligations often exist in contracts the product team has never seen, and they need to be built into the product lifecycle long before Legal gets involved.
Across Research, Design, Development, Testing, Launch, and Operations, there are privacy considerations that shape product quality. The earlier they're addressed, the less they cost when a user exercises their rights, a design challenge emerges, or the product scales.
A 45-to-60-minute session for internal teams who want to get up to speed without clearing a full day. Conversational format, Q&A-heavy, topics drawn from the keynote library. Works well for teams that have questions they have never had a proper forum to raise.
Enquire about a Learning Lunch →Custom sessions built around the people in the room, not a generic compliance script. Dev teams get different content than marketing teams, who get different content than product or leadership. The material comes from actual workflows, not a standard slide deck repurposed for everyone.
Enquire about Team Training →For CTOs and Chief Privacy Officers at software-heavy and AI-heavy organisations who've outgrown the overview. SDLC controls, AI governance, and multi-jurisdiction compliance built for technical leaders, not the boardroom.
Learn more →
"Your contribution was nothing short of transformative, and the positive feedback from our attendees confirms it. Your session resonated deeply, earning a remarkable 4.74 out of 5 speaker rating. Many highlighted how engaging, thought-provoking, and enriching your presentation was."
Ntando Sibanda, Senior Conference Producer, ITWeb Events
"I cannot emphasize the level of professionalism he brings to his presentation, the attention to the finest of details - and of course the evident preparation. Finding speakers who really know their subject matter can be daunting - finding speakers who are as well versed in presentation skills as they are in their field is exceedingly rare."
Craig Pedersen, Fraud and Cybercrime Investigator
"Ross acted as emcee at my CISO Africa Live event and was an absolute asset. He has a wealth of knowledge to share on ICT security, and kept the audience fully engaged throughout, including in the chat rooms. His energy made a very serious topic fun and exciting, and I would highly recommend him to any organization looking to generate delegate participation and interest."
Jacqui E'Silva, Conference Producer, CISO Africa Live
"I learned more from Ross in 20 minutes than I've learned from many people in 3 hours. Clear, helpful and well-prepared. I've already taken action on your ideas."
"Ross's presentation was insightful and brought simplicity to a subject often seen as complex. He provided practical examples practitioners can emulate."
"Excellent speaker that keeps the crowd engaged with real-world practical scenarios and application of his training."
"Absolutely enjoyed this session. Many key and practical takeaways, looking forward to operationalising the learnings."
Ross is a Toronto-based speaker available for keynotes, workshops, learning lunches, and role-based training sessions across Canada and internationally. A speaker kit is available for download. To book Ross for your event, complete the speaking enquiry form or email us directly.