# Blair Halenda

> Blair Halenda is a Chief Technology Officer based in Toronto, Canada, focused on AI Platforms & Engineering Leadership.

I build AI-native platforms and the engineering teams behind them, from the architecture that lets agents work safely with real data to the delivery practices that let 20+ engineers ship faster.

- Website: https://www.blairhalenda.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairhalenda
- Email: b.halenda@outlook.com

## Experience

### Chief Technology Officer, Una AI (Feb 2026 — Present)

AI-Native FP&A Platform, Toronto.

- Defined the platform architecture for AI-native FP&A, so agents can query financial data, generate reports, orchestrate workflows and execute controlled write operations.
- Architected and delivered an MCP platform with 230+ tools in four months.
- Launched an in-product AI assistant with human-in-the-loop review and execution.
- Modernized API architecture and authorization across 117 controllers, extending one security model to REST, MCP and AI workflows.
- Lead AI governance, vendor due diligence and SOC 2 readiness, and represent the company in partnerships, investor discussions and late-stage sales.

### Head of Engineering, Una AI (Oct 2024 — Feb 2026)

AI-Native FP&A Platform, Toronto.

- Established the QA function and structured unit, integration and end-to-end testing, cutting release cycles from six weeks to two.
- Built a browser-based, Excel-compatible spreadsheet with live read/write access to a multidimensional database.
- Implemented isolated environments and approval-gated DevOps pipelines.

### Co-Founder & CTO, U-Rite Technologies (May 2020 — Jun 2024)

CRE Underwriting SaaS, Toronto.

- Scaled a B2B SaaS platform for commercial real estate underwriting to $2M+ ARR, serving 70+ clients across Canada and the United States.
- Led product and engineering for an Excel-native financial modeling platform that let customers underwrite deals 70% faster.
- Supported fundraising at a $10M valuation and secured $250K+ in government grants and tax rebates. Microsoft for Startups and MaRS Discovery District.

### Technical Founder, Instinct IoT (Apr 2018 — Apr 2020)

Retail IoT Analytics, Toronto.

- Delivered a pilot with Microsoft Canada measuring engagement at Xbox displays in Best Buy locations nationwide.
- Built a serverless analytics platform on AWS Lambda, Kinesis and S3 tracking 100,000+ in-store sessions.
- Developed digital signage apps and hardware integrations across Android, Windows, embedded systems and custom circuit boards.

## Selected figures

- 75%: Increase in engineering velocity across 20+ engineers in six weeks
- 230+: MCP tools architected and delivered in four months
- 1hr: Presales proof-of-concept, down from two weeks
- $2M+: ARR scaled as co-founder and CTO of a B2B SaaS platform
- 67%: Reduction in average client onboarding time
- 3×: Faster release cycles: six weeks to two

## Capabilities

- AI & Platform Architecture: AI-Native Platforms, Agentic Systems, Model Context Protocol, Tool Integration, Enterprise SaaS Architecture, Distributed Systems, Cloud Infrastructure, Security & AI Governance
- Engineering & Product Leadership: Engineering Organizations, Developer Productivity, Platform Modernization, Quality Engineering, CI/CD, Product Strategy, Technical Due Diligence
- Technologies: C# / .NET, TypeScript / JavaScript, Python, React, Vue, Node.js, SQL, Microsoft Azure, AWS, Azure DevOps, Claude API

## Education

- B.A.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario)