Clear answers on AI for Canada's business leaders.
Every episode, Veeam Software Canada's Rick Byrne takes one overwhelming thing about data and AI and makes it make sense.
No jargon, no product pitches. Just honest stories, simple analogies, and the perspective of someone who's been in the room with hundreds of organizations figuring this out.
Built for the people responsible for decisions about AI without living in it every day.
Canadian stories. Canadian context. Canadian reality.
You'll leave feeling less behind, more clear, and ready to make one better decision.
AI, Unpacked is produced by Veeam Software Canada.
Are You Architected for Portability, or Are You Trapped?
If you had to move your data somewhere else tomorrow, could you do it? And how fast?
Most Canadian organizations went cloud-first for speed. Then conditions changed. Platform costs climbed, sovereignty rules tightened, and operational resilience expectations came into full effect. In this episode, Rick Byrne sits down with Chris McDonald, Senior Systems Engineer at Veeam, to unpack why so many by-the-book strategies quietly became traps. And how to find out whether yours is one, in about an hour, not a year.
You'll learn:
• Why "cloud-first" was never supposed to mean cloud-forever, and the harmless day-one decisions that quietly remove your ability to change your mind
• The distinction most leaders miss: residency answers where your data is; sovereignty answers whose laws govern it
• What getting trapped actually costs — the move that should take weeks and takes nine to twelve months instead
• Three questions to ask your team Monday morning to uncover hidden dependencies before a boardroom does
Chris McDonald is a Senior Systems Engineer at Veeam — the technical resource Veeam's engineering teams across Canada lean on for design and architecture.
AI, Unpacked delivers clear answers on AI for Canada's business leaders. New episodes every month — subscribe so you don't miss one.
Brought to you by Veeam Software. Learn more
(https://www.veeam.com/)
21 Aug 2026
If You Got Hit Tomorrow, Could You Recover Clean?
The question that decides whether your business survives a ransomware attack isn’t if you have backups. It’s whether you could actually recover from those backups, under pressure, in a way you can prove to a regulator.
In this episode, host Rick Byrne sits down with Ray Umerley of Coveware by Veeam, a two-time ransomware survivor who now works roughly 50 cases a month. Together they walk through what the 3:30 a.m. phone call really looks like, why the first thing that fails is usually the team and not the system, and why resilience has more in common with managing a forest than buying a bigger hose.
In this episode:
Why “do we have backups?” is the wrong question, and what proven recoverability means instead
Inside the 3:30 a.m. call: what actually happens in the first 48 hours of a ransomware event
Why incident response, backup and continuity teams meeting for the first time mid-attack is the norm, not the exception
The forest-fire frame for resilience, and the one question to ask your team this week
Featuring Ray Umerley, Field CISO at Coveware by Veeam. Hosted by Rick Byrne, Director of Systems Engineering, Veeam Canada.
Coveware, now part of Veeam, publishes a free quarterly report on what they’re seeing across hundreds of real ransomware cases.
Read the latest at coveware.com/blog.
#Ransomware #CyberResilience #DataProtection #CanadianBusiness #Cybersecurity #BackupAndRecovery #Veeam
Show Notes & Resources
Coveware by Veeam — quarterly ransomware reports: https://www.coveware.com/blog
Bill C-8, An Act respecting cyber security (Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act): https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/45-1/c-8
Veeam: https://www.veeam.com
Concepts referenced: proven recoverability vs. assumed recoverability; DFIR (digital forensics and incident response); full timed restore testing vs. tabletop exercises
Guest: Ray Umerley, Field CISO, Coveware by Veeam
Host: Rick Byrne, Director of Systems Engineering, Veeam Canada
27 Jul 2026
You Want AI. But Can You Trust the Data Feeding It?
Canada’s largest banks are deleting data on purpose — at the board level — before AI gets anywhere near it. Do you know why?
In this episode of AI, Unpacked, host Rick Byrne (Director of Systems Engineering, Veeam Canada) sits down with Ben Hui, Global SME for Data and AI at Veeam, to unpack why “is the AI safe?” is the wrong question — and why the real question is whether your data is safe to feed to AI.
In this episode:
The governance gap: 72% of Canadian organizations call responsible AI a top priority — 36% have no governance function to manage it (PwC Canada)
“Data rot”: the forgotten folders, unaudited permissions, and expired records that turn toxic the moment AI reads everything
The insurance company whose HR chatbot exposed compensation and disciplinary records to executives — on day one
Two Monday-morning questions every leader should ask before scaling AI
Guest: Ben Hui, Global SME for Data and AI at Veeam — inside Canadian organizations working on exactly this problem every day.
AI, Unpacked delivers clear answers on AI for Canada’s business leaders. New episodes every couple of weeks. Follow on Spotify and YouTube — search AI, Unpacked.
#AIUnpacked #AIGovernance #DataSecurity #CanadianBusiness #ResponsibleAI #Veeam
Show Notes & Resources
PwC Canada, Trust in AI report (February 2026) — survey of 220 senior decision makers at Canadian organizations
Securiti, now part of Veeam — securing your data so your AI can be trusted: securiti.ai
Veeam — the Data and AI Trust Company: veeam.com
Connect: Rick Byrne and Ben Hui on LinkedIn
6 Jul 2026
Where Does Your Data Live? The Question Canadian Boards Are About to Ask
Do you know where your data is? Most Canadian business leaders can’t answer that question — and their boards are about to start asking.
In the premiere episode of AI, Unpacked, host Rick Byrne (Director of Systems Engineering, Veeam Canada) sits down with Derran Guinan, Veeam’s Field CTO for the Americas, to unpack why nobody actually knows where their data lives, why “it’s in Canada” might not mean what you think, and the one thing about data residency almost no one gets right.
In this episode:
Why breach victims sometimes aren’t notified for two to three years — and what that reveals about most organizations
The “easement” hiding in your data estate: data residency vs. data sovereignty, and the US CLOUD Act
Canada’s new rules — Bill C-8 and the proposed PIPEDA replacement — and the question both start with
A free, this-week action: three vendors, one afternoon with your legal team
Guest: Derran Guinan, Veeam’s Field CTO for the Americas
AI, Unpacked delivers clear answers on AI for Canada’s business leaders. Follow on Spotify and YouTube — search AI, Unpacked.
Show Notes & Resources
PIPEDA — Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada, 2000)
Bill C-8 — An Act respecting cyber security, enacting the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act (Royal Assent June 2026)
Bill C-36 — the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act, the proposed replacement for PIPEDA (tabled June 2026)
US CLOUD Act — Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act
Veeam — the Data and AI Trust Company: veeam.com
29 May 2026
Feeling Behind on AI? You're Not Alone — Welcome to AI, Unpacked
Are you feeling behind on AI? So is almost every Canadian business leader. Your CIO wants a plan, your board is asking harder questions, and the data keeps piling up. But, nobody handed you the playbook.
AI, Unpacked is a new podcast from Veeam Software Canada, hosted by Rick Byrne, Director of Systems Engineering.
Every episode takes one overwhelming thing about data and AI and makes it make sense. No jargon, no sales pitches, just honest stories, simple analogies, and the perspective of someone who's been in the room with hundreds of Canadian organizations figuring this out.
This season we will:
Cut through the noise of hype, shifting regulations, and weekly headlines
Give Canadian business leaders honest, practical answers built for the Canadian reality
Help you leave each episode less behind, more clear, and ready to make a better call
Follow AI, Unpacked wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
Let's make sense of it together.
Contact AI, Unpacked
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