# Neilda Gagné

> Architecting AI Builder Ecosystems at AGI Ventures Canada  | 8x Hackathon Producer | Forty Under 40

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/neilda

I've spent over a decade inside builder communities watching what actually makes them work and what quietly kills them.

My background is in UX, product, and operations. I worked at Sephora, led interaction design at Bank of America where I shipped their first Apple Watch app, founded a startup in XR, and most recently worked with Masterpiece X in operations and product at the intersection of 3D and AI.

But the thread running through all of it is builders. The people who show up, build in public, share what they know, and make each other better in the process.

I co-founded AGI Ventures Canada in Ottawa after joining a small monthly AI meetup and seeing what was possible. What started as a room of builders sharing what they were working on grew into a community of over 1,700 people through word of mouth alone. Along the way we added weekly co-hacking sessions, Canada's first AI pop-up hacker house, hackathons, and a growing applied AI consulting practice that helps Canadian companies adopt AI in a human way.

I call myself an ecosystem architect, not a community builder. The distinction matters. Community is one piece of a much larger puzzle. Ecosystem is the whole thing: the culture, the roles, the partnerships, the invisible infrastructure that keeps builders building long after the event ends.

I believe collaboration beats competition, that the best builder communities are built on observed values not invented ones, and that the most important innovation in tech right now is happening in small rooms, not big companies.

If you build, you belong.

## Work Experience
### Co-Founder & Chief Ecosystem Officer @ AGI Ventures Canada
Jan 2025 – Present | Canada
Helping Canadians and Canadian businesses accelerate AI adoption in a human way. 

agiventures.ca

### COO @ CreativeTeam.ai
Jan 2024 – Present

### Head of Product Operations @ Masterpiece X
Jan 2022 – Present
Leading operations for WorldEngen, the AI-powered scene editor that helps 3D teams build worlds up to 50x faster.

https://masterpiecex.com/worldengen

### Research Fellow @ Contrary
Jan 2022 – Jan 2023
Published work:
➤ Notion - https://research.contrary.com/reports/notion
➤ Miro - https://research.contrary.com/reports/miro
➤ Loom - https://research.contrary.com/reports/loom
➤ Canva - https://research.contrary.com/reports/canva
➤ Whatnot - https://research.contrary.com/reports/whatnot
➤ Vercel - https://research.contrary.com/reports/vercel
➤ Webflow - https://research.contrary.com/reports/webflow
➤ Mutiny - https://research.contrary.com/reports/mutiny

### Venture Capital Fellow @ Alumni Ventures
Jan 2021 – Jan 2022
Venture Fellow with Westwood Ventures and Blockchain Fund at Alumni Ventures Group.

### Principal @ Untapped Ventures
Jan 2021 – Jan 2022
Strategic Advisor & Team Leader for Fundraising and Portfolio Development

https://www.untapped.ventures/

### Founder & CEO @ MindGlow (acquired by Sisu VR)
Jan 2017 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area
*Acquired 2022*

MindGlow uses the immersive experience of VR to train employees to know what to do in emergencies, starting with active shooter training. Our training mission is to save lives through empowerment and engagement.

### Graduate Student Mentor @ University of Southern California
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021
UX & Product Design Instruction & Mentorship

### Nasdaq Milestone Maker @ Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area
Selected Entrepreneur for Elite Startup Program

### Oculus Launch Pad Fellow @ Oculus VR
Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Menlo Park, CA
Emerging Leader in VR Development

### XR Studio Fellow @ Mozilla
Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco, CA
Selected participant for the XR Studio hosted by Mozilla. Collaborated with 32 other indie/industry professional in the XR / AI space. 

http://xrstudio.co/

### Sr. UX/UI Designer @ SEPHORA
Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Bay Area
Led design of Sephora’s Omnichannel “Store Companion” Product

### Designer in Residence @ General Assembly
Jan 2016 – Jan 2016
Mentorship & Instruction in UX Design

### VP, Mobile Interaction Designer @ Bank of America
Jan 2015 – Jan 2016
Led Design for Bank of America’s First Apple Watch App


## Education
### Bachelor of Arts - BA in Political Science and Public Affairs
UCLA

### Master of Science - MS in Integrated Design, Business, and Technology
University of Southern California

### Generative AI Nanodegree
Udacity

### Software Product Management Certificate in Product Management
Product School

### User Experience Design Immersive in Digital Marketing
General Assembly

### VR Development
Upload VR


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neildapacquing
- Portfolio: http://www.neilda.com/

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Source: https://flows.cv/neilda
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/neilda/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-13