Rea Hailley is the CEO and co-founder of New Idea Machine, a Calgary custom software and AI automation agency serving small business owners worldwide. She's on a mission to help small business owners make smarter technology decisions and avoid costly mistakes.
Track record
- Spent 20 years in B2B strategy and business development
- Grew a Shopify e-commerce portfolio to $90 million in one year
- Built the revenue division at Calgary Comics & Entertainment Expo
Today
- Leads New Idea Machine with CTO AL Del Degan (33 years building software)
- Teaches business owners to build with AI in the AI for Business bootcamps
- Rebuilt the company's website with AI; four weeks later, ChatGPT recommended New Idea Machine first to an ideal client
Articles by Rea
- Does Your App Need a Security Review? A Guide for Business Owners (September 2026)
- Custom Software Development for Small Business Owners: How It Actually Works (August 2026)
- App Developer Keeps Delaying Deadlines? What the Pattern Means (August 2026)
- Software Development Running Over Budget? Where the Money Went (August 2026)
- AI Agents for Business: What Two Real Builds Taught Me (August 2026)
- How We Rebuilt Our Own Website for AI Search (August 2026)
- Rebuild or Repair? How to Tell If Your App Can Be Salvaged (July 2026)
- How to Get Your Code Back From a Development Agency (July 2026)
- My App Developer Disappeared. Now What? (July 2026)
- The Vibe Coding Trap: Why Agencies Dismiss AI-Built Products (and Why They Are Wrong) (July 2026)
- She Spent $150,000 Before Finding Us (July 2026)
- We Built a Clone of a Lawyer. Now He Is Semi-Retired. (July 2026)
- They Predicted $75 Million. Here Is Why You Should Run. (July 2026)
- How to Validate Your App Idea Before You Build It (2026)