EXCELLENCE AWARDEE: WealthTech Service Provider of the Year

FocalAI

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John L. Connell

Founder & CEO

John L. Connell is Founder and CEO of Focal AI. He began his career at Microsoft, managing a $1 billion P&L for Office 365 and contributing strategically to the company’s landmark acquisition of LinkedIn. He later joined a San Francisco video-conferencing startup acquired by Dialpad, invested in enterprise SaaS and AI/ML at a $5 billion AUM venture fund, and was the first business hire at a voice AI/compliance startup he helped scale to $36 million in funding. John studied finance and management information systems at the University of Texas, with early experience in wealth management at Merrill Lynch and equity trading at Jefferies.

:John L. Connell

Founder & CEO

Focal AI is the AI meeting assistant purpose-built for Canadian financial advisors. It goes beyond AI note-taking, automating meeting prep, real-time notes, CRM and planning-tool data entry, and personalized follow-ups, with science-backed performance coaching built into every client conversation. The result: advisors reclaim over 15 hours a week and serve up to 30 percent more clients without adding headcount. Advisors at leading firms and networks, including Manulife, IPC (Investment Planning Counsel), Financial Horizons, and others, trust Focal AI for enterprise-grade security and compliance. Focal AI runs on a Toronto-based Azure data centre, keeping Canadian client data in Canada. Focal AI uses visible meeting bots to help your advisors comply with PIPEDA’s implied-consent requirements and reduce exposure to fines of up to $100,000, a risk bot-less providers may leave unaddressed. Focal AI never stores audio or video, uses stateless models so client data is never used for training, and is SOC 2 Type II certified (Trust Centre). What sets Focal AI apart is what happens after the conversation. Through our agentic services, Focal AI uses work closely with firms to deploy and embed AI agents directly into existing workflows, where they self-manage tasks teams currently handle manually. Firms can modernize without replacing the tools their advisors already rely on. Why top Canadian advisors select Focal AI: • Recognized as a WealthTech Service Provider of the Year Excellence Awardee at the 2026 WP Awards, hosted by Wealth Professional Canada • “With Focal AI, I’m saving an hour to an hour and a half per meeting.” Ed Van Der Kooi, CFP®, CIM®, EPC™, Investment Planning Counsel (IPC) • “When we started using Focal, we got almost a full day back in our work week.” Christian Battistelli, Senior Wealth Advisor, Unified Advisory Group, Assante Financial Management Focal AI works as an overlay across the tools advisors already use, so firms gain AI capability without disrupting their tech stack. Bilingual transcription and support for over 99 languages enable advisors to serve clients in English and French across every province. For firm leaders, the math is simple: time-saving is table stakes; the real value is performance. Focal AI helps every advisor operate like the firm’s best, become more present in client meetings, more consistent in follow-through, and more effective at growing committed assets. Focal AI turns every advisor into a top performer.

Jerry Bai

Co-Founder & CPO

Clay Stupi is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Focal AI, with over 15 years of experience scaling enterprise software, fintech, crypto, and high-growth consumer platforms. His background includes driving multimillion-dollar revenue through enterprise integrations at DocuSign, developing compliance solutions adopted by financial institutions and regulators, and building infrastructure designed to perform under massive demand. Clay has guided engineering teams through rapid expansion and complex regulatory environments, consistently delivering reliable systems that support business growth at scale.

Clay Stupi

Co-Founder & CTO

Clay Stupi

Co-Founder & CTO

Steven Miller

Growth & AI Marketing Lead

Jerry Bai is Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Focal AI, bringing a rare blend of product strategy, design, and technical depth for compliant enterprise software. Before Focal AI, he led product lines generating over $300 million in annual revenue and shipped core enterprise and regulatory features at Microsoft, Yelp, and Chainalysis, working with highly regulated institutions including BNY Mellon and the US government. He has also led product and design teams at seed and Series B startups, driving 0-to-1 initiatives across functions. Jerry graduated with distinction from the University of Waterloo in systems design engineering and has lived in Toronto, New York, and San Francisco.

Jerry Bai

Co-Founder & CPO

Steven Miller leads growth and AI marketing at Focal AI, with over 8 years driving growth for companies including Uber and Instacart. Most recently, he was part of the Afore Founder in Residence Program, where he worked with Fortune 500 companies to create generative-AI television advertisements. At Focal AI, Steven brings a data-driven, experiment-led approach to scaling demand among financial advisors and wealth management firms across the US and Canada.

Steven Miller

Growth & AI Marketing Lead