SASKATOON — Maverick Tarasoff knows that artificial intelligence is still in its early stages, but believes it will play a crucial role across industries, from health care and manufacturing to transportation and agriculture, which is one of Saskatchewan’s major economic drivers.
Tarasoff said AI has advanced rapidly in recent years, and its growth toward everyday use is only beginning. He is a systems architect, an executive team member, and a co-founder of the Saskatoon technology firm CortexForge Consulting Inc., an AI systems consultancy founded in 2025.
“There's so much capability with AI. It's something that will continue to grow. AI right now is still in its infancy, and for the amount that it's increased in the last year or two, who knows where we'll even be in five years,” Tarasoff said.
He believes that Saskatchewan businesses should focus on solving practical problems rather than chasing new technology trends, especially as CortexForge seeks to grow with companies and organizations that align with its work and find the right problems to solve.
“Another piece to that, for sure, is the agentic AI, ensuring that we create a foundation for that structure and governance, so that it provides lasting value to organizations. I take all the scattered workflows and systems, then make sure everything's aligning from top to bottom of the organization,” said Tarasoff.
Tarasoff said CortexForge has developed applications and demonstration systems for industries including health care, transportation, logistics, manufacturing, property management, animal care and field operations. CortexForge has also been featured on tech content websites.
His role involves connecting systems and workflows across organizations so that information flows from front-line operations to senior leadership. Each client receives a custom-built platform rather than a standardized package, and they do not offer the same solution twice.
“What you see on our website is what we call our demonstrator systems. It gives you an idea of what we can work with. Every organization we work with is unique. We build it from the ground up to match your organization, providing scalable, long-term value for clients,” said Tarasoff.
He added that as AI becomes more capable, governance and ethics will become increasingly important, since many systems can become unreliable when exposed to too much information, and he addressed concerns that AI could replace workers.
“A big focal point is ensuring that as AI gets smarter, it's still providing a structured response. We prevent that by making it really strictly controlled, really focusing on that governance of AI, so that it can only do what it is architecturally built to do,” said Tarasoff.
“A lot of organizations get pushed with the idea that you need to have the most advanced AI. I disagree with that. Start small, start with this simple, tangible outcome. Organizations should focus on incremental improvements, rather than thinking they need to have the most advanced AI.”
He said that cybersecurity and data sovereignty are also emerging concerns as AI becomes more widespread, while one of the industry's biggest challenges is avoiding a future where companies become increasingly dependent on subscriptions for both software and AI services.
“There is a lot of fear with AI. We see that with the cybersecurity world especially, and that's why data sovereignty, I believe, is going to become a big focal point for the next possibly decade, just because of how fast and rapid that growth has been,” said Tarasoff.
“Previously, if you wanted software, you had to get it as a subscription. Now we're saying we can build it, and the client will own it. We’re at risk as a society of going back to software-as-a-subscription, but now it's going to be AI-as-a-subscription. And now you're doing double. That's double the dependency.”
For Saskatchewan industries navigating rapid technological change, Tarasoff believes the message is simple: looking ahead, the goal is not to replace people but to ensure AI remains a tool that enhances human decision-making.
