RDV Forum 2025
Program

Julien Caudroit

CCO & CBDO, Chief Communications and Business Development Officer

With a decade of experience working with various organizations in the Canadian and Quebec innovation ecosystems, Julien has extensive knowledge and experience in managing innovation and aerospace organizations.
In recent years, Julien has held the position of Vice-President and Partner at Innovitech, an innovation consulting firm, and for many years held a number of management positions within organizations such as the The Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ), the Consortium for Aerospace Research and Innovation in Canada (CARIC), the Green Aviation Research and Development Network (GARDN), the IRT Saint Exupéry Canada (Canadian branch of the Institut de recherche technologique de Toulouse), but also in other sectors such as MEDTEQ+.
Julien has also evolved in governmental and international contexts, with several experiences at the United Nations and Investissement Québec.
Involved today and in the past on various committees and boards, such as the McGill Institute for Aerospace Engineering (MIAE) and the Cercle international des jeunes leaders (CIJL), he is also Administrateur De la Relève (ADR. – Next generation Administrator).

Maud Cohen

Chief Executive Officer

An accomplished manager who is highly valued and respected by her teams and stakeholders, Ms. Cohen brings strategic leadership with accents on innovation, agility, individual development and continuous improvement.
Ms. Cohen holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Polytechnique Montréal (1996), an MBA from HEC Montréal (2004) and a designation as a certified corporate administrator from the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés of Université Laval (2012). She has a brilliant track record in ethics and the sound management of organizations with key missions in our society.
From 2014 to 2022, Ms. Cohen was President and CEO of the Fondation CHU Sainte-Justine. In this role, she oversaw the continued growth of the Foundation, enabling it to engage the community and support the Sainte-Justine university hospital in its pursuit of excellence and its commitment to providing children and mothers with one of the highest levels of health care in the world, now and in the future. Prior to this, from 2009 to 2012, she served three consecutive terms as President of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, making her the third woman to hold this position since the organization was founded in 1920.
Her career also spans the globe. She led major projects in Europe and the United States as a project manager for Walsh Automation Inc. and Walsh Europe Limited. She was also a Director at CGI Group from 2008 to 2011, as well as for Invensys Systems Canada from 2001 to 2007.
At the same time, she has sat on various boards of directors for the past several years. Loto-Québec, Gestion FÉRIQUE and Aéroports de Montréal are among the organizations that have benefited from her expertise. Between 2021 and 2022, she put her experience in scientific governance to use as Chair of the committee of independent experts on the architectural and urban integration of the REM de l’Est.
In 2010 and 2018, Ms. Cohen was named one of Entreprendre magazine’s “100 Women Leaders of the Future.” In 2012, she was named a Fellow of Engineers Canada (FEC) for her commitment to the engineering profession. Also, in 2011, she received the jury’s special award in the category of executive, manager or professional in private enterprise from the Réseau des femmes d'affaires du Québec.

Marie-Pierre Habas-Gerard

Chief Executive Officer

Currently Chief Executive Officer of the industrial consortium Confiance IA, Marie-Pierre Habas-Gerard comes from R&D in Quantum Physical Chemistry as a Ph. D and post-doctoral student at several european universities. She added to her academic DNA, 25 years in the private sector in roles as director of digital transformation programs, AI Practices leader and as an entrepreneur and Associate in a Montreal startup in 2018.
Her approach to AI is pragmatic: AI must be applied to the business challenges of industries and must be a vector of growth for our Quebec and Canadian SMEs. Ethical and trustworthiness issues are intrinsically linked to the AI implementation and its adoption. The need to go beyond R&D in AI, to favor a faster and innovation-oriented approach applied to business performance challenges, to bring together a diverse and multidisciplinary set of industries around common use cases, is obvious to her. Able to challenge the status quo and unite around her vision, she works with industries to propel the creation of pre-competitive tools and to develop methods to qualify and quantify trustworthy AI.

Emmanuel Levitte

Chief Technology and Product Officer

Emmanuel Levitte is CAE’s Chief Technology and Product Officer. Emmanuel leads the global technology teams, shaping the company’s strategic direction to maximize business growth while maintaining CAE’s market leadership. He also drives alignment and integration of Global Technology and Products across CAE’s Civil and Defense & Security divisions, ensuring a cohesive approach to product management and innovation.
Emmanuel’s experience in aerospace spans over 20 years, taking off at Dassault Aviation and advancing through Bombardier before landing at CAE where he has held various leadership roles in Defense & Security, Engineering, and Global Procurement. He also previously diversified his skillset as Principal Product Manager at Amazon, where he managed the entire product lifecycle from concept to launch, sharpening his focus on speed and scaling technology to enhance customer value.
Emmanuel’s academic credentials include an MBA from HEC Montréal, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Sherbrooke University, and a Mechanical Engineering degree from the Arts et Métiers ParisTech engineering and research institute.