Event alongside the Sustainable Finance Summit

AI &
Sustainable Finance

From Research to Impact

Program Photos from the day

Monday, June 1, 2026

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Espace CDPQ

3 Place Ville Marie, Bureau 12350
Montréal, Qc, H3B 0E7

About the Event

A Space for Dialogue Between Research and Industry

Co-organized by the Michael D. Penner Institute, the GAIIA research initiative, Mila, and Finance Montréal, this day brings together researchers, financial institutions, fintechs, and public decision-makers around a common goal: exploring the promises, limitations, and conditions for success of artificial intelligence applied to sustainable finance (ESG, climate, impact, governance and risk).

The event aims to create an open and structured dialogue space, foster a common language across disciplines, and initiate concrete collaborations between research and industry.

This event was part of Montréal’s Sustainable Finance Week, held alongside the Sustainable Finance Summit.

Sustainable Finance Week | Sustainable Finance Summit

A look back

A few moments captured during this day dedicated to the intersections of AI, data and sustainable finance.

Photo credit: Le Studio Pops (Pauline Dufour)

Program for the Day

Simultaneous interpretation available
French ↔ English simultaneous interpretation will be available throughout the event.

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8:30 – 9:00 AM

Welcome and Registration
Coffee, tea, fruit, and pastries

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9:00 – 9:10 AM

Opening of the Day
Welcome address – Manuel Morales & Marcelin Joanis

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9:10 – 10:00 AM

Opening Keynotes
Overview of AI in sustainable finance: promises, limitations, and perspectives

Milla Craig, President and CEO, Millani
Christian Felx, Vice President, Head of Responsible Investment, iA Global Asset Management (iAGMA)
Ario Saeid Vaghefi, AI researcher, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), University of Zurich (Department Finance and Department of Geography), Oxford Sustainable Finance Group

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10:00 – 10:15 AM

Coffee Break

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Panel – Challenges and Opportunities
Discussion among researchers, financial institutions, and innovation actors

10:15 – 11:00 AM

Panel 1: From Aspirational ESG to Operational Risk Mitigation: How AI, Standards, and Investors Are Changing Sustainable Finance (in English)

Rommie Johnson, Technical Director, IFRS Foundation
Sonia Lagourgue, Purpose and ESG Leadership, Georgian
Jeff Marowits, CEO, Keystone
Moderator: Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin, CEO, CIRANO

11:15 – 12:00 PM

Panel 2: AI in ESG Portfolio Integration: Better Signals, Better Decisions, or New Risks? (in French)

Frédéric Godin, Associate Professor, Concordia University
Philippe Laforest, Senior Advisor, Responsible Investment, Desjardins
Adriana Mendez, Senior Director, Sustainable Investment, La Caisse
Moderator: Manuel Morales, GAIIA Director, Penner Institute member, Associate Professor, Université de Montréal

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12:00 – 1:00 PM

Lunch and Special Address
Networking lunch and high-level keynote address

Michael D. Penner, Advisory Partner, Partners Group AG, and Chairman of the Board, Partners Group (Canada)
Maxim Larrivée, Entomologist and Director of the Montréal Insectarium

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1:00 – 3:00 PM

Parallel Sessions

Session A: AI Innovation and ESG
An interactive session led by researchers and practitioners, designed to deconstruct the black-box effect and offer a shared, nuanced, and critical understanding of AI tools. On the agenda:

Discussion: How to launch an AI innovation project in sustainable finance?
- Maryam Molamohammadi, Senior scientist, responsible AI research, Applied Projects, Mila
- Elham Kheradmand, CEO, Lucid Axon
- Moderator : Catherine Beaudry, Full Professor, Polytechnique Montréal, Chairholder, Canada Research Chair in Management and Economics of Innovation
Discussion: Deconstructing a typical AI pipeline (data, models, deployment, governance). Identifying hidden risks: biases, hallucinations, and drift—and best practices for responsible use in sustainable finance.
- Foulémata Tirera, Senior Analyst, AI Solutions, Data, Analytics and Technology Transformation, La Caisse
- Simona Gandrabur, Studio Manager, AI Security, AI Solutions and Technology, Mila
- Moderator: Rheia Khalaf, Mila

Session B: AI and ESG Regulatory Frameworks
AI is transforming compliance analysis in sustainable finance by enabling the detection of greenwashing, the verification of disclosures, and the analysis of message consistency. Discover how to leverage these tools to enhance the rigor and integrity of ESG disclosures, in light of recent research advances and initiatives by public authorities.

Julien O. Beaulieu, Lawyer and Economist, Lecturer at the Université de Sherbrooke, and PhD Candidate at Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Yassine Ben Messaoud, Analyst, Sustainable Finance and International Affairs Department, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), and PhD Candidate, Université Laval

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3:15 AM – 4:00 PM

Demos & Experience Reports
Three concrete presentations of AI solutions in sustainable finance (15 min each)

Ario Saeid Vaghefi, AI researcher, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), University of Zurich (Department Finance and Department of Geography), Oxford Sustainable Finance Group
Davide Pulizzotto, GAIIA
Loubna Benabbou, Professor, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Chair in Artificial Intelligence for Digital, Resilient, Agile and Sustainable Supply Chains, Mila Member

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4:00 – 5:00 PM

Closing & Networking Cocktail
Day summary / Drinks and appetizers

Topics Covered

Opening Keynotes – Mettre la table

An overview of current uses and challenges of AI in sustainable finance. Two keynotes will address key issues (data quality, explainability, model robustness) from both academic and industry perspectives.

Panel – Challenges and Opportunities of AI in Sustainable Finance

A discussion among researchers, financial institutions, and innovation actors around key questions, such as:

How to translate academic advances into operational solutions
Responsible AI and sustainable finance: alignment or tension?
The role of standards, regulation, and ethical frameworks
ntegrating ESG into portfolio optimization

Demos & Lessons Learned – AI in Action

Short presentations (15 min) by startups, scale-ups, internal teams from financial institutions, or research teams. Each demo will cover a real problem addressed, the data and models used, what works and what still needs improvement, and lessons learned.

Lunch and Special Address

A networking lunch followed by an address by a recognized leader in the financial sector, focusing on the strategic vision of sustainable finance and the role of AI in transforming markets.

Afternoon Parallel Sessions

Session A – AI Innovation and ESG

Micro-workshop and roundtable on how to develop an innovation project in AI and sustainable finance, with discussion of risks, biases, hallucinations, pitfalls, and best practices.