The Vanguard Podcast

As Canada's defence ecosystem looks for faster, smarter, and more scalable ways to prepare personnel for increasingly complex operational environments, immersive training technologies are moving from the margins to the centre of readiness planning. In ...

As Canada's defence ecosystem looks for faster, smarter, and more scalable ways to prepare personnel for increasingly complex operational environments, immersive training technologies are moving from the margins to the centre of readiness planning. In this episode of Vanguard Radio, host J. Richard Jones speaks with Raja Khanna, CEO of Lumeto, and Kavi Maharajh, the company's Chief Product Officer, about how Canadian-built AI-enabled simulation is reshaping training across healthcare and defence.
The conversation explores how Lumeto's immersive platform, InvolveXR, is being applied beyond clinical environments into defence medicine, emergency response, medevac preparation, and broader readiness applications. Raja and Kavi discuss the challenge of scaling high-quality training as organizations grow their workforce, the evolving role of AI in simulation environments, and how adaptive learning systems can improve both competency and operational effectiveness.
The discussion also dives into the realities of building dual-use Canadian technology, the importance of scalable and measurable training systems, and how companies like Lumeto fit into Canada's Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) ecosystem. From AI-powered virtual instructors to immersive scenario-based readiness training, this episode examines how emerging technologies are helping prepare the future force.
Whether you are a defence leader, policy-maker, industry executive, or innovation stakeholder, this episode offers an inside look at the intersection of AI, immersive simulation, healthcare training, and national readiness.

In this episode of Vanguard Radio, host J. Richard Jones sits down with Peter Dawe, Vice President of Defence Strategy at Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), to explore why business readiness—not just technology or equipment—is becoming one of the most critical components of Canada's defence and economic security landscape.
Drawing on more than three decades of experience in the Canadian Armed Forces and his current work supporting Canadian SMEs at BDC, Dawe offers a practical and execution-focused perspective on what it really takes for companies to succeed in defence and national-security supply chains. The conversation examines how operational discipline, governance, financial resilience and long-term sustainability often determine whether businesses can compete credibly in complex defence environments.
Jones and Dawe discuss the growing intersection between defence and economic security, the realities facing SMEs entering defence markets, and why supply chains can quickly expose weaknesses in productivity, compliance and execution. They also unpack the role Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses play in strengthening national sovereignty and defence capacity beyond major procurement programs and prime contractors.
The episode provides valuable insight for business leaders, defence suppliers and entrepreneurs considering opportunities in defence-adjacent industries, offering a grounded look at the fundamentals companies need before pursuing contracts in one of the world's most demanding sectors.
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In this episode of Vanguard Radio, host J. Richard Jones sits down with Peter Dawe, Vice President of Defence Strategy at Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), to explore why business readiness—not just technology or equipment—is becoming one of t...

Vanguard Radio host J. Richard Jones welcomes Charlie Tucker, Solutions Engineer, Serco North America, for an in-depth conversation on how Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) training must evolve from isolated systems into a fully integrated enterprise capability. Drawing on Charlie's 15 years supporting modeling, simulation, testing, and acquisition programs in the LVC domain, this episode explores how Serco combines people, processes, and technology to help governments modernize readiness at scale.
Listeners will hear how Serco's service-first heritage shapes its approach to defense training, emphasizing trust, lifecycle partnership, and mission outcomes over standalone products. Charlie explains why successful LVC environments depend not just on software and hardware, but on federation, interoperability, sustainment, governance, and the skilled teams that keep complex training ecosystems operational.
The discussion also dives into Distributed Mission Operations (DMO), secure high-end fight environments, and Serco's experience supporting advanced mission networks such as NMON and JITTC. Charlie shares how synthetic environments can improve operational security, reduce cost and scheduling constraints, and create training scenarios beyond the limits of open-air ranges.
Finally, the episode examines coalition readiness, Common Data Standards (CDS), and the policy frameworks required to enable multinational training. From standards alignment to approvals and governance, Charlie outlines how Serco helps customers build enduring, scalable LVC enterprises prepared for modern multi-domain operations.