Rob Langlade
rob@birchtreeinc.com · 519-505-0055 · 105 Merner Avenue, Kitchener, Ontario
Rob is a digital transformation and product innovation leader with more than 20 years of experience turning emerging technology into business advantage. His background spans digital transformation leadership, financial services, entrepreneurship, product strategy, AI governance and hands-on AI solutions development — giving him the ability to operate from boardroom strategy through rapid prototype to agile implementation. He has helped steer a national digital banking platform decision representing ≈ $50 billion in assets under management, led major banking transformation initiatives, founded, scaled and sold a technology company, developed Manulife Bank’s flagship Manulife One Mortgage Calculator, and built more than 30 AI-enabled products and prototypes. His focus is simple: identify where technology can materially improve a business, prove the opportunity quickly, and turn it into a secure, usable solution that delivers measurable outcomes.
Experience
Birchtree Inc.
Director, AI Transformation
March 2026 - Current
Rob leads AI transformation and product innovation initiatives focused on turning real business challenges into practical, measurable solutions. Drawing on his background in digital transformation, entrepreneurship and AI governance, he identifies high-value opportunities, validates use cases, develops business and product strategy, and guides solutions from rapid prototype through implementation and continuous improvement. His work spans intelligent automation, competitive and market intelligence, customer engagement, communication tools, workflow transformation and privacy-focused applications. Each initiative is developed with a strong emphasis on user experience, personalization, responsible AI, security, empathy driven design and measurable organizational value. Rob bridges business strategy, customer needs and technical execution, helping teams turn complex challenges into clear priorities, practical products and scalable capabilities that better serve customers.
Kindred Credit Union Ltd.
Digital Channels Director
January 2022 - March 2026
Led digital channel strategy and transformation across online and mobile banking, with accountability for product roadmaps, platform modernization, vendor partnerships, member experience, competitive gap analysis, analytics, budget planning and cross-functional delivery. Worked across business, technology, risk and executive leadership to identify opportunities, develop business cases and deliver secure, compliant digital solutions. Represented Kindred in national transformation initiatives, including serving on a small expert coalition that selected a digital banking platform representing ≈ $50 billion combined AUM.
Digital Banking Platform Selection
Selected as one of fewer than 10 national credit-union experts to evaluate and select Intellect as a shared digital banking platform, representing approximately $50B in combined assets.
Interac e-Transfer (Business)
Implemented a business e-Transfer solution enabling receipt of up to $25,000 via ANR in under five seconds, supporting the transition from ISO 8583 to ISO 20022 and delivering the initiative in under 90 days.
Lock 'N' Block
Added the ability to lock debit cards when lost, with additional preferences to block ATM, POS, and out-of-country access entirely, giving members full control.
Banking Platform Migration
Led Kindred’s three-year digital banking migration, coordinating delivery across Interac, CGI, Central 1, Everlink, Thirdstream, Flinks and other strategic technology partners.
Online Lending Platform
Evaluated the existing digital lending platform, quantified the opportunity and developed the ROI case used for executive decision-making with the CEO, CTO, VPs and Directors.
Appointment Booking Platform
Implemented Coconut Software, reducing on-premise cost by hundreds of thousands of dollars and increasing branch appointment activity approximately 5× versus the previous contact-form process within one year.
Banking 2SV (Two Step Verification)
Implemented risk-based authentication using server-side AI to determine when additional verification was required based on user activity and transaction risk.
Custom Banking Widgets
Directed the design and delivery of three custom retail and business banking widgets, moving each from concept to production in under 90 days.
Partners / Stakeholder Relations
Built strong relationships across internal teams and strategic partners to gather insight, establish priorities, shape the digital roadmap, and drive meaningful change across the member experience.
AI & Conversational Banking Evaluation
Led evaluation and hands-on prototyping of conversational AI platforms, including Amazon and Google AI platforms, assessing accuracy, customer experience and strategic fit to inform the digital roadmap.
Libro Credit Union Limited
Business Coach
January 2019 - January 2022
Drove business development and coached a portfolio of business owners across four regional branches, combining financial analysis, credit strategy, relationship management and growth advisory. Worked closely with entrepreneurs to identify financing opportunities, manage risk and improve business outcomes through practical, tailored solutions.
Portfolio Management
Managed a $50 million dollar financial portfolio of approximately 500 businesses across four regional branch locations.
Business Owner Coaching
Coached business owners on financing, credit, and growth strategies, translating financial statement analysis into lending opportunities.
Lean Certified
Applied Lean principles to redesign onboarding and lending workflows, including automated EBITDA calculations and lending-application preparation for adjudication teams.
Risk and Credit Analysis
Setup accounts, monitored deposit and loan risk, overdrafts and delinquency, through ongoing financial accounting / analysis.
Cross-Team Referral Network
Referred qualified leads to retail, wealth management, agriculture and commercial specialists across the branch network.
Credit Analysis & Lending Applications
Wrote governmental CEBA apps, letters of credit and analyzed and underwrote lending requests for business owners.
Waterloo Creative Inc.
Founder / CEO
January 2001 - January 2019
Founded and led a custom software and digital product company for 18 years, delivering custom platforms and emerging-technology solutions across financial services, healthcare, government, real estate and other enterprise sectors. Led business strategy, product design, client relationships and end-to-end solution delivery, combining entrepreneurial growth, technical execution and user-centred design to turn complex business needs into working digital products.
Manulife Bank and Manulife Financial
Developed the flagship Manulife One Mortgage Calculator and additional digital solutions as a preferred vendor, translating complex financial-product logic into customer-facing tools.
Ontario Telemedicine Network
Developed digital platforms integrating video and Voice over IP (VoIP) technologies with Polycom to support telemedicine and remote-care delivery.
Ministry of Health
Delivered multiple digital-health solutions in collaboration with Western University, including VideoCare / OTN, ISAN and SWOSS on LARG*net infrastructure.
Newschool Photography Inc.
Designed, integrated and later modernized the online scheduling platforms used to manage University of Waterloo graduation photography.
Activa / Eastforest Homes, Losani Homes
Developed a lead-generation and predictive analytics platform for major homebuilders, contributing to more than $20M in beta-stage development activity.
Southwestern Ontario Stroke Network
Delivered privacy-sensitive technology used in a Return to Work initiative, with privacy considerations reviewed in collaboration with the Privacy Commissioner.
E.D. Smith / Pentax Cameras
Developed digital marketing platforms and campaigns in collaboration with Brighthouse Branding Group.
Hundreds of Additional Portfolio Pieces
Delivered hundreds of additional digital projects for clients including Linamar (for Chrysler), BlackBerry, KRUG and others across multiple industries.
Previous Experience
Reconstruction Supervisor
Managed teams of 25–30 postal workers and led carrier-route reconstruction projects across London, Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo.
1996 - 1998
Client Support / Escalations
Resolved complex technical and billing escalations for a large customer base and trained staff on internal software systems and support processes.
1998 - 2001
Art Director
Led magazine design and production, managed the organization’s website, and supported distribution to approximately 30,000 households each month.
2001 - 2003
Education
Wilfrid Laurier University
1993–1996 + ongoing learning / development
Bachelor's Degree, Faculty of Science | Elected Faculty Representative for 2 consecutive years
To learn more, please visit the portfolio website here: www.RobLanglade.com
*References available upon request