Fifteen years inside the handoff problem
After 15-plus years across enterprise networking, cloud, and applied AI, we kept seeing the same failure: the senior who won the work disappeared once delivery started.
// ABOUT
We built the IT firm we'd want to hire.
SMEnode is a senior-only Canadian IT and AI practice. The principal who designs your network is the one who builds and runs it. No handoff chains, no account managers, no junior bench.
// WHY WE EXIST
Why does SMEnode exist?
We started SMEnode because too much enterprise IT is sold by one team, scoped by another, and delivered by whoever's free. We wanted the opposite: one principal engineer who owns the problem from the first call to production, with your data kept in Canada.
// 01 // 02 A practice built the other way around
So we kept SMEnode small and senior on purpose. The person who designs your system is the one who builds it, runs it, and answers the phone.
// WHAT WE BELIEVE
What do we believe?
Three principles shape how we deliver. The engineer who designs your system also builds and runs it, every engagement is led by a senior with fifteen-plus years in production, and your data stays in Canada under PIPEDA and Bill C-26 from day one.
No handoff
The engineer who designs your system builds and runs it. Principal accountability from kickoff to handover, with weekly demos and documented decisions.
Senior-only, on purpose
We kept the practice small and senior. Every engagement is led by a principal engineer with 15-plus years in production, not a junior bench behind an account manager.
Canadian-first
Your data stays in Canada. We build CCSPA-aligned controls for regulated supply chains and design for PIPEDA and Bill C-26 from day one.
// CREDENTIALS
What makes us qualified?
Our authority is verifiable, not asserted. Every capability is one connected practice around a single principal, and each node links to the work that proves it.
- Certifications1
- Technologies8
- Compliance4
// LEADERSHIP
Who leads your engagement?
Every engagement is led by a principal engineer. The founder sets the bar: CCIE-grade certifications and 15-plus years across enterprise networking, cloud architecture, and applied AI.
Saeid Ghobadi
Founder and CEO
// FAQ
Questions we get asked
Straight answers to what teams ask before an engagement begins.
The principal engineer you meet is the one who designs, builds, and runs your system. No handoff to a junior bench, no account managers in between. Every engagement is led by someone with 15-plus years in production networking, cloud, and applied AI.
No. SMEnode is senior-only on purpose. The person who scopes your work is the person who delivers it. We kept the practice small so one principal engineer owns your problem from the first call through to production and run.
Enterprise networking, cybersecurity, cloud and data centre architecture, compliance, DevOps and automation, and applied AI. We work across these as one connected practice rather than siloed teams, so the same principal can reason about your network, your cloud, and your controls together.
In Canada. We design for Canadian data residency from the start and build CCSPA-aligned controls for regulated supply chains, with PIPEDA and Bill C-26 in scope from day one.
Our engineering is CCIE-grade, and we build to SOC 2, ISO 27001, PIPEDA, and Bill C-26. Authority is verifiable, not asserted: every capability maps to the service that puts it to work.
The same principal who designed and built it runs it. There's no handoff to a separate operations team once you sign off. You keep direct access to the engineer who knows your environment, from delivery through to ongoing operation.
We're based in Toronto and work with organisations across Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, including Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver. We also support cross-border work into the United States.
One call with an architect, not a sales team. We scope the problem together, agree on the work, and the same principal who designed it builds and runs it.