Toronto, Canada / CEO · Investor · AI Trainer

Shane Skillen

I read humans for a living — and teach machines to do the same. CEO of Hotspex Group. AI trainer to boardrooms and governments. Investor in the Canadian companies building what's next.

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Hotspex Group AI Trainer Cohere Midori-Bio Heli-Skiing Golfer Father Husband AI Addict Hotspex Group AI Trainer Cohere Midori-Bio Heli-Skiing Golfer Father Husband AI Addict
01 — The operating system

Two instincts, one operator.

For more than two decades I've built a company around a single question: what do people actually feel — beneath what they'll admit in a survey. That's Hotspex. We map the emotional landscape of brands and turn it into decisions worth millions.

Now the same instinct points at machines. I train executives, teams, and government leaders to stop fearing AI and start compounding with it — and I back the founders building the frontier, from Canada outward.

EQReads humansEmotion measurement · Hotspex Map™
AITrains machinesWorkshops · governments · boardrooms
$$Backs buildersCohere · Midori-Bio · Heli-Skiing
02 — What I do

The day job, twice over.

↳ 01 / Operator

Hotspex Group

CEO of a consumer-insights firm that measures the emotion behind every brand decision. Our proprietary Hotspex Map turns how people feel into where a brand should play and win.

Emotion measurement Brand strategy Right Space™
H
↳ 02 / Translator

AI Training

I take rooms full of skeptical, busy leaders — from executive teams to federal departments — and leave them fluent: confident with the tools, clear on the risks, and shipping real work the same week.

Executive workshops Public sector Applied, not theory
AI
03 — Where I put conviction

An investor in Canadian bets.

[ 01 ] CohereFrontier AI Canada's enterprise AI champion — building the foundation models and infrastructure that put secure, sovereign intelligence into the hands of business. [ 02 ] Midori-BioSustainable biotech Bioscience replacing the harsh chemistry in everyday products with something the planet can live with — clean performance, biodegradable by design. [ 03 ] Great Canadian Heli-SkiingBackcountry · alpine Untouched powder in the Selkirks and beyond. A bet on the kind of experience that can't be digitized — and a very good excuse to keep skiing.
The throughline
Every decision is an emotion wearing a spreadsheet.
What do people
really feel?
04 — Off the clock

When the laptop closes.

Golfer

Chasing a number that doesn't care how your quarter went.

Skier

Happiest off-piste, where the only signal that matters is the next turn.

Father of three

Ryder, Chase & Bodie — the real performance reviews.

Husband

Married to Cabrina. The best decision I never modeled.

05 — Open line

Let's build
something real.

shane.skillen@hotspex.com →
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