Saskatchewan-based innovator sets sights on global market

As a high school student growing up in Saskatoon, Jay Shah (BE’22) dreamed of starting and operating his own consumer tech company.

Today, the University of Saskatchewan (USask) graduate has realized that dream. After completing his Bachelor of Engineering degree at USask in 2022, Shah became the founder and CEO of TrackPoint.ai. His new company creates artificial intelligence (AI) simulations for education and corporate training that can be customized for university classrooms and company boardrooms based on users’ unique needs.

“Whether it’s negotiation practice, sales training, presentations, or interviews—or anything else—our simulations can be tailored to either a curriculum or a course,” Shah said in a recent interview with the Green&White.

TrackPoint.ai is Shah’s second startup; he previously launched Koble—a music platform to connect fans with bands—with fellow USask alumnus Dawson Bacon (BE’22) while they were both undergraduate students in USask’s College of Engineering. After graduating from USask, Shah took on a full-time computer engineering job at Calian in Saskatoon, but he left that role in January 2025 to more fully pursue his entrepreneurship goals.

Shah said his passions are to build companies, create consumer tech products, and see people successfully use the products he’s built. His goals, meanwhile, are to solve real-world issues in “a massive scalable way” and to create a company “that others look up to” because of the company’s culture, the events it hosts, the products it releases, and the areas it expands into, he said.

“Waking up every day gives me a chance to work on that,” he said. “Bonus: I can do something different every day.”

Diving into entrepreneurship during the past few years has also proven to be a great way to satisfy both his curiosity and his ambition.

“A passion and a goal give a reason to do something great,” Shah said.

After graduating from Marion M. Graham Collegiate in Saskatoon, Shah knew he had an important decision to make: where to pursue his post-secondary education. As a high-achieving high school student Shah received admissions offers from various Canadian universities; however, he knew that studying at USask would be the best choice for him “because it felt like a community rather than a university.”

“Visiting USask, talking with professors, and seeing what happens here—from world-class research to commercial innovation—is what led me to join USask,” he said.

Financial support in the form of a prestigious USask scholarship was another benefit for Shah.

“I was fortunate to receive the President’s First and Best Scholarship, which covered all four years of university tuition,” he said. “So, while I was in university, I was able to fully focus on my academics, participating in clubs, and exploring my passions outside of university—like starting my own company.”

Shah was also drawn to USask’s College of Engineering because he was interested in further exploring his technical and problem-solving skills. He found friendship and camaraderie on campus and received ongoing encouragement from his fellow students as well as his professors as a member of the Saskatoon Engineering Students’ Society (SESS). Shah noted that a classmate he met on the first morning of his first day of his engineering classes remains one of his best friends today.

As a USask graduate, Shah continues to see the importance of nurturing relationships and working well with others as he grows his business.

“At the end of the day it all comes down to collaborations and partnerships for me, which has been the focus since Day 1,” he said.

Shah’s interest in entrepreneurship, collaboration, and mentorship ultimately led him to become involved with Opus at USask. Opus, the university’s startup incubator, mobilizes innovation on campus by helping innovators transform their ideas into solutions. Support from Opus is available to people who are interested in building out their business ideas, growing their business skills, or networking with like-minded individuals.

As a USask alumnus, Shah joined Opus in the summer of 2024 and is an Opus member in the i2Market Program level, which provides training, funding opportunities, and access to infrastructure. The ongoing support has been invaluable to TrackPoint.ai and to Shah, and he credits Opus for providing the mentorship, office space, and support that he needed to succeed.

Shah is enthusiastic about the future of tech startups, entrepreneurship, and innovation in Saskatchewan. TrackPoint.ai’s team of three is based at Innovation Saskatchewan’s Research and Technology Park in Saskatoon, and he plans to continue growing the Saskatoon-based team. He values the collaborations he has had with industry partners and USask researchers, and he hopes to employ USask students at his company in the future.

“It’s an interesting collaboration because everyone we work with and everyone that’s ever touched the product, they’re all based in Saskatchewan,” he said.

TrackPoint.ai’s customers to date have include settlement service agencies, colleges, and universities, including USask. In addition to the staff at Opus, Shah has also valued working with faculty, staff, and researchers in several USask colleges as he further develops his AI-powered product.

“None of our collaborations with USask would be at the stage that they’re at if it wasn’t for the Opus program,” Shah said.

“They’ve really been key, both in terms of mentorship and support on the entrepreneurship side for me, personally, and also facilitating some of those discussions with USask professors and departments,” he added.

As a well-spoken and enthusiastic entrepreneur, Shah has represented Opus during meetings with government representatives and external partners, and at tech conferences. Shah is dedicated to connecting with other entrepreneurs and innovators; as a result, he launched a partnership with Innovation Saskatchewan to host monthly networking events for the local innovation ecosystem called Tech Social. Opus has supported Shah in this endeavour as the first partner for the community tech events.

Now, with a new year set to begin soon, Shah’s goal for 2026 is to further expand TrackPoint.ai into the global marketplace.

“The products we’re building, they’re made in Saskatchewan—but they’re not just for Saskatchewan, they’re for the world,” he said.