Built the AI. Ran the business. Learned the hard way.
This isn't a generic "AI 101" talk. It's a small, hands-on evening with a founder who spent 15+ years in Tech big & small building AI products, now using her experience to build a Tech startup and leverage AI for her own Viet coffee Phin & Go Cafe in Toronto West.
The real lessons, the mistakes, and what actually works when you're trying to turn one-time customers into regulars.
Capped at 20–25 people, so it stays a conversation, not a lecture.
👤 Who this is for
Small business owners, managers, and anyone hands-on in running day-to-day operations — retail, food & beverage, services, e-commerce. No AI experience needed. Bring your questions, not your slides.
🔑 What you'll walk away with
A clear, no-hype answer to "should I actually be using AI in my business?"
A practical checklist for evaluating any AI tool before you adopt it (data, privacy, evaluation)
Hands-on experience writing your first real prompts
A seat in a community of local owners doing the same thing you are.
🕐 Agenda
5:30 – 6:00 PM — Networking
6:00 – 6:30 PM — AI's role in getting your customers to come back
6:30 – 7:00 PM — Case study: What I wish I knew about AI before running a business
7:00 – 7:30 PM — Hands-on practice and checklist
7:30 – 8:00 PM — Q&A and join our merchant community
🎤 Your Host
Katie Duyen Nguyen is the Co-Founder of Retify, helping independent restaurants, cafés, and small businesses build direct sales channels on Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp — no app, no signup friction, checkout in two taps.
Before founding Retify, Katie built AI and data products from the inside:
A Founding AI Product Manager at Murror (a genAI startup in healthcare),
Leading Global Data & Analytics initiatives at Unilever, and driving product strategy as a Regional Logistics Product Manager at Lazada - an Alibaba company
She's also the Regional Director of Business Development at CyStack, a cybersecurity company, so she brings both an AI-builder's and a security-first lens to how small businesses should actually think about adopting AI.
She was among Top 100 mentor in ADPList 2026, specialized in Product Management & AI,
She also a community builder - host, speaker and judge on several tech events in Toronto focus on AI security, AI implementation, AI evaluation.
She's not here to sell you a tool. She's here to share what she wishes someone had told her.
Guest Mentor
Paola Santiago is a product manager turned founder who has spent close to a decade building SaaS products across governments, enterprises, and startups.
Through her consulting practice, PS Product Person, she's helped small and mid-sized businesses put AI into their own workflows and shipped AI-assisted products for clients.
She's also the founder of Lunan, an AI-powered platform for property teams, and co-founder of Curio Builder's Hub, where she runs hands-on AI workshops for non-technical audiences.
We’d like to extend a special thanks to our venue partner, Scadding Court Community Centre. Located at Dundas and Bathurst, Scadding Court is a vibrant community hub dedicated to supporting local residents, small businesses, and community innovation through diverse programming, youth initiatives, and local micro-entrepreneurship projects like Market 707. We’re thrilled to host tonight’s event in their space.
