Ali Abbas Hirji

Ali has over 15 years of experience in developing and leading teams at various stages of the IT development lifecycle. He spearheaded the growth of Durham College’s Cybersecurity Innovation Center along with their AI and Cybersecurity labs – he led the deployment of applications and infrastructure in line with ISO 27001 and NIST frameworks and prepared processes for SOC 2 level clearances. 

Ali held senior roles at the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network ( ORION )  in projects related to remote connectivity, the implementation of technical training, enhancing access to critical applications and more. Leading teams of up to 65 staff members, Ali has demonstrated leadership in the cyber domain and has established a reputation province wide for his expertise and initiative. Ali is the host of various tech shows including Power Hour, a panelist for numerous forums including the CISO Forum Canada and a highly acknowledged lecturer at many institutions across Canada. As well as being a seasoned member of the Cyber community, Ali has led the deployment of tabletop exercises for the province of Ontario and is consistently invited to deliver cyber training programs across various sectors. 

Most recently, Ali was retained to lead the cyber training division of the Youth Employment Services and lead programming to train and enhance skillsets of learners in cyber.  Along with pursuing his PhD, Ali enjoys lecturing at related courses at Seneca College, Georgian College, Toronto School of Management, University of Fredericton, and Algoma University to name a few.

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