Think Bigger: How AI is Reshaping Staffing, IP Strategy, and R&D Funding for Startups

Episode notes

In our latest episode of What the Tech , we sat down with Anuj Rastogi, Managing Director at Backstretch, to discuss how AI is fundamentally reshaping product development, intellectual property creation, and staffing strategies across Canada's innovation ecosystem. After two decades in the digital agency world, Anuj made a complete pivot into talent acquisition and executive search. He's become a familiar face across Canada's startup community (attending 38 events in 2025 alone), giving him a front-row seat to how AI is changing everything about how companies build products, create defensible IP, and staff their R&D teams; insights that matter deeply to businesses maximizing access to government funding like SR&ED tax credits. Boast accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai ,

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