New Idea Machine builds custom software, AI enabled apps, and workflow automation for startups and growing businesses.
Currently, the software development industry is not built to support founders. It is expensive, slow, and risky. If this continues, founders will keep failing before they even launch.
We built New Idea Machine to support founders through every step of the entrepreneurial journey in a way that makes the greatest impact.
We don’t like what we’re seeing in the software development industry. So we choose to do things differently:
We didn’t set out to open a software dev agency. That changed on a walk one afternoon.
Al, my co-founder, was sharing his frustration about businesses getting overcharged and misled by dev firms. He had seen it firsthand at Calgary Airport Authority, City of Calgary, and DC Bank. I gave him my usual no-nonsense response: “Why don’t you do something about it?”
To my surprise, he said, “Only if you do it with me.”
I had to step up to the challenge. I was happy at Shopify and had a solid portfolio, but I have a soft spot for entrepreneurs. That’s how New Idea Machine was started.
From day one, we built the kind of company I would recommend to family. A place where I know they will be strategically guided and supported so they have the best chance at succeeding.
– Rea Hailley | Co-founder
One of our first clients was Shannon Philipps, founder of Unbounded Thinking. He was just starting out and needed a dev agency. He was quoted six figures and 12-month contracts. He met us at a networking event where we asked what his monthly budget actually was. We built a plan around that number and automated his entire system. Today, his company is global.
Vera Ilnyckyj came to us wanting to build a custom social platform. We sent her to Circle and Slack instead. It was $100 a month versus a $60,000+ build. She needed to validate her community first. We will build custom when it actually makes sense.
Kelly Hall, CEO at Vermillion Power Technologies, reached out because she needed an expert developer who could hit the ground running. We introduced her to one of our lead builders on a fractional basis. This gave her team high-level industry expertise without the overhead or delay of a full-time hire. By working with us, she also qualified for Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credits that cover 33% of the cost.
We are a team of builders who understand both business and tech. Our background combines deep enterprise experience from organizations like the City of Calgary and DC Bank with the high-growth product mindset of Shopify.
Rea brings 20 years of experience in B2B strategy and business development. She specializes in identifying market opportunities and building scalable revenue systems. At Shopify, she grew her e-commerce portfolio to $90M in one year. At Calgary Comics & Entertainment Expo, she built and scaled the entire revenue division.
She’s on a mission to help non-technical founders make smarter technology decisions and avoid costly mistakes.
Al is a serial entrepreneur, mentor, and teacher. With 33 years of software development experience, he’s worked with organizations such as The Calgary Airport Authority, The City of Calgary, DC Bank, and Travel Alberta. Al uses A.I.- assisted development to handle repetitive coding tasks, allowing one developer to deliver what traditionally required a team of five.
His approach cuts project timelines by 50-75%, delivering enterprise-grade solutions faster and at lower cost—while maintaining industry and security best practices.
Tony is an entrepreneur and educator with 30 years building enterprise software systems. He’s led control system implementations, large-scale migrations, and full-stack web and mobile applications with advanced GIS integration. He’s built real-time data processing systems, analytics platforms, and deployed machine learning in production environments.
He also teaches full-stack development, training the next generation of A.I.-enabled developers.
Justin specializes in A.I. systems and production machine learning. He helps companies turn industrial data into A.I. systems that save millions annually. He built a zero-to-acquisition ML platform that optimized global water desalination facilities, cutting energy costs by 5% and making drinking water more affordable worldwide.
He teaches PyTorch fundamentals to process engineering teams, has presented at PyData Calgary, and has spoken at PyCon US for three consecutive years.
Lucia spent 35 years in hospitality, building people skills and grace under pressure, before making a deliberate pivot into tech and completing an intensive software development education in 2025. Since then, she has taken to development with enthusiasm and dedication, working across the full stack on live production applications. Most recently Lucia stepped up to help bring the LIBI Podcast Application across the finish line, contributing UI improvements and sophisticated features, all while leveraging A.I.-assisted development to ship production-quality work with confidence and speed.
Connor is working toward his CPA designation and manages New Idea Machine’s internal books. Eight years in cadets built the discipline and precision that accounting demands. He brings that same dedication to every ledger, reconciliation, and report, keeping the finances organized so the team stays focused on building.