/Start Smart. Stay Strategic.
About TheStrategicMind
We’re a passionate group of practitioners dedicated to helping small and medium-sized businesses build real understanding, practical knowledge, and effective AI strategies — not hype, not tool recommendations, and not jargon.
Most SME leaders know AI matters. Very few know where to start. We exist to close that gap.
/about
Why We Exist
Across hundreds of businesses, the story is the same. Smart, capable leaders — people running real companies, managing real teams, under real pressure — feel overwhelmed by AI. Not because they aren’t intelligent enough, but because almost everything written about AI assumes you already speak the language, have a technical team, or can afford expensive consultants.
Most SME leaders have none of those things. They have a business to run and a growing worry that if they don’t figure AI out, they’ll be left behind.
We’ve watched AI programmes stall again and again — and it’s rarely the technology that fails. It’s the absence of a clear direction, the lack of organisational readiness, and the people side of change. That’s not an AI problem. It’s a leadership and strategy problem.
TheStrategicMind exists to fix that. Strategy first. Tools second.
Mission
We help SME leaders turn AI into measurable business value through a clear, practical framework, plain-English guidance, and real-world expertise that goes beyond tools and hype.
/Core Values
Strategy Built with Integrity, Community, and Clarity
/Meet the Founder
Paul Thorne
Eighteen months ago, I started asking why so many businesses struggle with AI — not because the technology is difficult, but because they lack clear direction. Most start with tools, run a few experiments, and get no lasting results because strategy is missing.
I built The Strategic Mind after seeing capable leaders left without a real pathway. That became a framework, practical tools, and the foundation of this work.
For over 17 years, I’ve led large-scale transformations across Canada and the UK, including early enterprise rollouts of Agentic AI and complex change in highly regulated environments. Across industries and scales, the same issue kept appearing: success depends less on technology and more on strategy, governance, and readiness.
Today, my focus is enterprise transformation and AI governance, bringing that experience to SMEs who deserve a clear, disciplined path to value. Strategy first. Tools second.
/The Minds Behind the Mission
Our Advisory Team
We’re building an advisory team — not for show, but because real AI adoption is hard. SME leaders deserve more than a platform that hands them tools and wishes them luck. So we’ve brought together experienced, relatable advisors who cover every dimension of what successful AI adoption actually takes: deep, real-world expertise, made practical.
Every advisor on our team runs or has run a business of their own. They understand what it means to operate one — not just to advise on it.
April Facey
April brings 33 years of organisational change experience — not in theory, but in boardrooms and on the floor at organisations including Motorola Solutions, the BC Academic Health Sciences Network, and STEMCELL Technologies. She has led supply chain transformations, ERP rollouts, and enterprise-wide programmes where getting the human side right was the difference between success and failure.
Her philosophy is simple and powerful: business readiness comes before change. Get the culture, the processes, and the people ready, and everything else follows. April doesn’t just consult — she teaches, coaches, and builds capability in-house so teams can carry the work forward long after she’s gone.
At TheStrategicMind, we believe AI adoption isn’t a technology problem — it’s a people and strategy problem. April is proof of that belief.
Senior Advisor, Change & Business Readiness
Peter Buckley
Peter brings 26 years of experience in technology and cyber risk, most recently as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at HSBC Canada. He played a lead role in the cyber security requirements for the RBC/HSBC merger — the largest bank merger in Canadian history — delivering a flawless integration with zero cyber or data incidents.
Today, Peter is focused squarely on agentic and AI risk and governance. This isn’t someone applying old thinking to a new problem; he’s working on the frontier of where AI risk is heading right now. His approach is pragmatic and proportionate, always connected to business priorities: the right level of resilience for your business — not fear, not paralysis.
Peter also runs Buckley Cyber Consulting Inc., so like everyone on our advisory team, he understands what it means to run a business, not just advise one.
Senior Advisor, Technology & Cyber Risk
Wayne Badan
Wayne is Director of Cybersecurity at Onex, one of Canada’s largest investment firms, where he leads cyber risk strategy, governance, and security operations. He holds CISSP and C|CISO certifications and serves on the Advisory Board for the TorontoCISO Chapter of the Inspire Leadership Network.
Before Onex, Wayne spent years at Deloitte leading cyber maturity assessments and strategic risk consulting for financial services and healthcare organisations. He also held senior project management roles at HSBC and Thomson Reuters, giving him deep experience across regulated industries.
Wayne bridges executive cyber strategy with hands-on security operations — he doesn’t just understand risk in theory, he builds and runs the programmes that manage it. For SMEs navigating AI adoption, his expertise ensures security is built in from the start, not bolted on after.
Senior Advisor, Cyber Security
Jordan Redford
As co-founder of Bespoke AI Solutions, Jordan lives the reality of AI adoption for small and medium-sized businesses every day. He has spent over two decades leading product development and digital transformation — including senior roles at HSBC — and brings a rare mix of strategic thinking and hands-on technical delivery.
He also co-created AI WorkPlace, a model-agnostic enterprise AI platform that grew from a single client engagement into its own product and company.
Jordan’s mission is simple: build technology that adapts to people, not the other way around. That’s exactly why he’s here. We’re building for SME leaders, not technologists — and Jordan understands both sides.
Senior Advisor, Technology & AI
/The Principles Behind Our Approach
What We Believe
Strategy before tools.
Direction first, technology second.
Clarity over hype.
Plain English, practical steps, honest guidance.
Readiness before change.
Get your people and processes ready, and adoption follows.
A real pathway, not a product.
From your first question to measurable ROI.
Ready to Start Smart?
Most SME leaders know AI matters. Very few know where to start. The Strategic Mind gives you the framework, tools, and expert guidance to move forward with confidence.
Get in Touch
Whether you're exploring AI for the first time or trying to move past stalled initiatives, we’ll meet you where you are. Share a bit about your business and what you're looking to solve, and we’ll come back with a clear, practical next step.