Canada was the birthplace of modern AI. The foundational research that powers today's generative AI revolution happened here at the University of Toronto, the University of Montreal, and in labs across the country. Yet somewhere along the way, we became spectators to a transformation we helped create.

Today, Canadian businesses lag behind our peers in technology adoption, productivity growth has stagnated, and the promise of AI-driven competitiveness remains largely unrealized. We read constantly about how AI will change the way we do business, but the impact has been slow. Despite billions invested and countless executive presentations promising transformation, most AI initiatives contribute nothing to the bottom line.The problem here isn't the technology, but the approach.

We started Tangent49 because we saw established Canadian businesses caught in the middle - pressured to adopt AI by headlines and competitors, but left without a practical path forward. The big consultancies sell transformation projects that take years and cost millions. The software vendors promise magic-bullet solutions that never quite fit. And meanwhile, real businesses with complex operations, legacy systems, and human-centric workflows are left wondering how any of this applies to them.

We believe there's a better way. A way that starts with understanding, not implementation. That fixes foundations before adding complexity. That treats AI as a multiplier of human capability, not a replacement for human judgment. And that measures success by business outcomes, not technology deployments.

Fix before adding. Process variability and system fragmentation are the true enemies of growth, and AI is only as good as the foundation it sits on. We don't layer automation on top of broken workflows. We partner with leadership teams to diagnose the root causes of friction first, then build solutions that turn operational bottlenecks into competitive advantages.

‍Understand the technology. Despite what we hear everyday, AI isn't magic. Knowing what these tools can do well and where they have real limitations is fundamental to adopting them effectively. We can't just slap a "powered by AI" badge on every system and call it transformation. Meaningful adoption requires rethinking where automation creates value and where human expertise remains essential.

‍Multiply, don't replace. The organizations seeing real returns from AI aren't eliminating people, they're amplifying what their people can accomplish. By building AI fluency across your team and fostering a culture of intelligent experimentation, productivity gains compound. The goal isn't fewer employees doing the same work; it's the same team delivering dramatically more value.

‍ROI first, always. Every recommendation we make is grounded in measurable business impact. We're not interested in impressive demos or theoretical capabilities. We care about time reclaimed, errors eliminated, revenue captured, and competitive position strengthened. If we can't draw a clear line from implementation to outcome, we won't propose it.

The 49th parallel is more than a line on a map. It's the geographic boundary that defines our nation, and a constant that has shaped Canadian identity for over 150 years.

A tangent is a new direction. In mathematics, it's the line that touches a curve at exactly one point before departing on its own path. It represents a moment of inflection, where what was and what could be intersect.

We chose the name Tangent49 because we believe Canadian businesses are at exactly that point of inflection. The AI revolution offers us an opportunity to break from a trajectory of stagnation and chart a new course. One where we're not just adopting technologies invented elsewhere, but building the competitive, resilient, and prosperous businesses our economy needs.

This isn't about keeping pace with Silicon Valley or chasing the latest trends. It's about Canadian businesses finding their own path forward, using these powerful new tools in ways that make sense for our markets, our industries, and our people.

Adam Day founded Tangent49 in 2025 to bridge the gap between complex technology and practical business operations. An engineer by training with an MBA from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, Adam has spent his career translating deep technical capabilities into measurable business value. He co-founded Mayday, an AI-powered scheduling platform acquired by Apple in 2024, and previously led the development of early generative AI products at Ada, where he helped scale the company through significant growth.

This combination of building and scaling AI-first products, raising venture capital, and driving real business outcomes gives Adam a perspective that most consultants lack: he's been on the operator side of the table, making the hard decisions about what to build, what to buy, and what to skip entirely.

At Tangent49, Adam works directly with leadership teams - not as a technologist handing down recommendations, but as a strategic partner who understands that successful AI adoption is fundamentally a business transformation challenge, not a technology implementation project.