Panel 3 Speakers
Home / Conference / KCIS 2026 / panel 3
Moderator
Mercedes Gilroy
Founder & executive Producer, Coin Edge Consulting
As Founder and Executive Producer at Coin Edge, Mercedes Gilroy works closely with technically ambitious founders commercializing deep tech and dual-use technologies, with a special focus on building the Canadian quantum ecosystem. An unapologetic interrogative explorer with an eye for talent, she convenes specialists across market operations, business intelligence, scientific communication, design, business development, and sales strategy to support the challenging transition from advanced research to effective business leadership and commercial success.
Mercedes is also a passionate convener and moderator, bringing together stakeholders from academia, industry, and government to discuss the development and regulation of dual-use technologies for both civilian and military markets. As an optimistic nihilist, philosophical adventurer, and intentional meaning maker, Mercedes is always on the lookout for exceptional humans with whom to solve interesting problems.
Panelist
Matthew da Mota
Canadian Shield Institute
Matthew is Research Director at the Canadian Shield Institute, where he leads work on national security and emerging and disruptive technologies (EDTs), including defining dual-use technologies to guide government investment, charting what Canada needs to build a dual-use defence industrial base, mapping chokepoints and international partnership opportunities in Canada's EDT supply chains, and building resilience against cognitive and information domain warfare.
He is a NATO Defense College Next Generation Futures Fellow and a Fellow at Queen's University's Centre for International and Defence Policy. Previously at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), he led research on international AI risks and governance. He holds a PhD in comparative literature exploring how historical narratives are used to construct political power and how they shape our understanding of knowledge and truth.
Panelist
Jessica West
Senior Resercher, Project Ploughshares
Dr. Jessica West is a Senior Researcher at Project Ploughshares and a leading voice on space security and global governance. She works at the intersection of emerging technologies, conflict, and peacebuilding, and is actively engaged in United Nations processes shaping the future of outer space security.
Panelist
Duncan McSporran
Co-Founder and Managing Director, Vimy Forge
Duncan is a founder and Managing Director of Vimy Forge, Canada’s national defence accelerator, supporting Canadian SMEs to develop, commercialize and scale sovereign capabilities for defence and national security. A former British Army officer, he served for more than 24 years, including secondments with the US Army at the National Training Center and the Canadian Army Combat Training Centre. Following military service, Duncan led operations at the University of New Brunswick’s high-speed impact testing laboratory, managing research for clients including NASA, CSA, MDA, Boeing Phantom Works and Airbus. He later co-founded Kognitiv Spark, serving as COO and helping grow the company into an internationally recognized mixed-reality business.
A founding board member of ACADA and member of UNB RIDS-AI’s Advisory Board, Duncan is an advocate for Atlantic Canadian talent and opportunity. He and his wife Naomi raised their three children in Fredericton, where he has volunteered in youth rugby and short-track speed skating.
Panelist
Lt Col Bruce Horsefield
Senior British Army Liason Officer, NDHQ
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Horsefield CEng FIMechE is the Senior British Army Liaison Officer to the Canadian Army and speaks at KCIS in a personal capacity. Since 2023 he has worked inside the Canadian Army, including contributing to its AI concept and capability roadmap. Commissioned into the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in 1992, he has spent 25 of his 35 years of service delivering large programmes. He led the recovery of a £1.1bn UK Ministry of Defence logistics transformation that was heading for a £200m overrun, and wrote a NATO standardisation agreement adopted by all 32 member nations. His international service includes a NATO joint force command, an exchange posting with the US Department of Defense and three years as lead British military adviser to the Jordanian Armed Forces. On operations he served in Afghanistan with the UK Commando Brigade equipment support group and has also served in Northern Ireland and Kosovo. A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, he holds a postgraduate diploma in defence acquisition management from Cranfield University and is completing an MSc in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of York.