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Artwork for Disruptors
Artificial Intelligence
Canada
Climate Change
Clean Technology
Innovation
Productivity
Generative AI
Build Canada
World Economic Forum
Space Economy
Critical Minerals
Creative Destruction Lab
Clean Energy
Quantum Computing
Electric Vehicles
Ag Tech
Cybersecurity
Carbon Markets
RBC
Entrepreneurship

Disruptors, now in its 10th season, has become your front-row seat to Canada’s innovation story—200+ episodes exploring the people, ideas, and technologies reshaping Canada’s future. Each episode, hosted by John Stackhouse, SVP, Office of the CEO at Royal Bank of Canada—and former Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail—cuts through the hype and focuses on what you need to know. This season, we’re l... more

PublishesTwice monthlyEpisodes227Founded8 years ago
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EntrepreneurshipBusinessTechnology

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Artwork for Disruptors

Latest Episodes

Canada has a scaleup problem. We create entrepreneurs, but too many of them feel they need to leave to build world-class companies.

Fred Lalonde is one of the exceptions. He is the founder and CEO of Hopper, the Canadian travel-tech company that use... more

In this episode, John Stackhouse visits Ross on the outskirts of Ottawa to talk with CEO David Ross about how the company grew from a small Canadian manufacturer into a global live-production infrastructure player. They discuss why the economics of l... more

Congestion isn’t just annoying, it's an economic drag. In this episode of Disruptors, John Stackhouse speaks with Kurtis McBride, co-founder of Miovision, about how a Waterloo-built company turned intersection data into a real-time operating layer fo... more

We’re all using AI more, but how many of us actually trust it?

AI is now used by more than a billion people worldwide, but trust in these systems is far from settled. In this episode of Disruptors, John Stackhouse speaks with Yoshua Bengio, Turing A... more

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Recent Guests

David Ross
CEO of Ross Video
Ross Video
Episode: From MLB to Metallica: The Canadian Company redefining live events
Kurtis McBride
Founder/CEO of Miovision
Miovision
Episode: Street Smarts: The Waterloo company tackling global gridlock
Jaxson Khan
Senior fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of Toronto; policy leader; co-author of Sovereign by Design
University of Toronto, Munk School
Episode: AI's power, pitfalls, and potential
Yoshua Bengio
Leading AI scientist, Turing Award laureate; founder of Miele; advocate on AI trust and safety
Miele (Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms); LawZero
Episode: AI's power, pitfalls, and potential
Daniel Debow
Chair of Build Canada board, serial entrepreneur
Build Canada
Episode: REBOOT: Building Canada: A new generation takes charge.
Lucy Hargreaves
CEO, Build Canada
Build Canada
Episode: REBOOT: Building Canada: A new generation takes charge.
Jimmy Wales
Co-founder of Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Episode: Trust at Scale: Lessons from Wikipedia
Jennifer Heil
Olympic Champion in moguls; Team Canada's chef de mission for Milano Cortina 2026; founder/CEO of Revel Health
Revel Health; Canadian Olympic Committee
Episode: Tech Wins Gold: How Canada Can Rebuild Its Olympic Pipeline
David Shoemaker
CEO and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee; former NBA China CEO; former WTA Tennis Tour president
Canadian Olympic Committee
Episode: Tech Wins Gold: How Canada Can Rebuild Its Olympic Pipeline

Host

John Stackhouse
Host of Disruptors

Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars from 482 ratings
  • Weekly listener

    I work in the technology space and Disruptors is on my weekly rotation of podcasts. As a woman in tech, I was delighted to hear the episode from IWD that focuses on some pretty remarkable women in clean-tech. More please!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    LishaMillz12
    Canada2 years ago
  • Great tech pod

    Interested in the Canadian tech landscape? Then this podcast is for you. Highly recommend!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    RVS.08
    Canada2 years ago
  • Awesome Tech Show

    Great podcast on Canadian innovation and technology — great topics and guests. Worth a listen!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Maxtini30
    United States2 years ago
  • My go-to podcast for Canadian innovation

    Love this podcast and John is a great host! It consistently sheds light on innovative topics like new tech and climate action — really insightful with great delivery.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    DGC1999
    Canada3 years ago
  • Big Fan!

    Timely and insightful. An engaging podcast that’s a must listen every week.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    S50LP
    Canada3 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Production and guest quality are consistently high, with practical takeaways for listeners.
The host combines Canadian focus with global relevance, delivering insightful episodes.
Some episodes can feel very technocentric; broader policy discussions could add balance.
Guests are strong, diverse, and industry-leading, making complex topics accessible.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#30
Canada/Business/Entrepreneurship
Apple Podcasts
#144
Canada/Business

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

From MLB to Metallica: The Canadian Company redefining live events
Q: How do you describe Ross Video to people who are not familiar with it?
The host asks for a concise elevator pitch and the guest responds that Ross Video is in the business of keeping famous customers famous through high-end video, emphasizing brand amplification and global reach.
Street Smarts: The Waterloo company tackling global gridlock
Q: How does the company's platform model evolve beyond selling to cities, and how is value captured across multiple buyers?
The platform becomes a trusted source of truth about traffic; buyers range from insurers pricing risk to event organizers and consumer interfaces, with potential B2B2C models and data access as a monetizable asset.
Street Smarts: The Waterloo company tackling global gridlock
Q: Tell us about the origin story of Miovision and how the early work translated into the current platform.
Kurtis discusses co-op experiences, manual traffic counting, and how the data-driven needs evolved into a software-driven platform, including the development of the eye-in-the-sky sensor and the digital twin concept.
AI's power, pitfalls, and potential
Q: How can Canada respond to the push for dominance in AI by larger powers?
By leveraging Canada's AI talent to lead in reliability and safety, pursuing partnerships with governments and enterprises, and supporting organizations like LawZero to develop trustworthy AI that can be adopted across sectors while avoiding a short-term race to model size.
AI's power, pitfalls, and potential
Q: What does AI sovereignty mean in practical terms for Canada today?
It means establishing jurisdictional controls, ensuring data stays within Canada when needed, diversifying to avoid over-reliance on foreign providers, and building a sovereign data and cloud infrastructure strategy that balances openness with security.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About Disruptors

What is Disruptors about and what kind of topics does it cover?

- A thought-provoking Canadian tech and innovation show that features leaders from industry, government, and academia. Episodes tend to cover critical topics like quantum cryptography, ag-tech funding, tech sovereignty, climate-focused investing, and infrastructure for Canada's digital and energy future, often tying global trends to Canadian policy and business strategy. The program stands out for bringing high-profile guests and practical takeaways on how organizations can navigate rapid technological change while safeguarding sovereignty and security. Listeners are likely decision-makers and professionals interested in how technology, policy, and economics intersect in Canada and beyond.

Where can I find podcast stats for Disruptors?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Disruptors. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Disruptors and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does Disruptors get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Disruptors, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for Disruptors?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Disruptors, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does Disruptors have?

To see how many followers or subscribers Disruptors has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to Disruptors?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Disruptors:

1. ARC ENERGY IDEAS
2. Wonk
3. The Decibel
4. Stress Test
5. The Canadian Investor

How many episodes of Disruptors are there?

Disruptors launched 8 years ago and published 227 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Disruptors?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for Disruptors?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Disruptors from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for Disruptors?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Disruptors. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on Disruptors?

Recent guests on Disruptors include:

1. David Ross
2. Kurtis McBride
3. Jaxson Khan
4. Yoshua Bengio
5. Daniel Debow
6. Lucy Hargreaves
7. Jimmy Wales
8. Jennifer Heil

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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