About
We Help Software Teams Build with AI
Last updated: December 1, 2025
Smith Horn Group is a product strategy firm focused on agentic AI. We work with enterprise and mid-market software companies across North America.
Who We Are
Smith Horn Group is a product strategy firm that helps software teams build AI-powered products. We work with product, design, and engineering leaders at companies ranging from growth-stage startups to enterprise organizations.
Our clients include Boeing, Asana, and Cloudinary.
We're not a traditional consultancy that delivers slide decks and disappears. We embed with teams, build alongside them, and stay until the work ships. Whether that's a two-day workshop, a six-month fractional engagement, or a focused product studio sprint — we do the work, not just the advising.
What We Believe
AI products require different thinking
Building AI features isn't like building traditional software. The outputs are probabilistic. The failure modes are different. The user expectations are evolving. Teams need new mental models, not just new tools.
Strategy without execution is worthless
The gap between "AI strategy" and "shipped AI product" is where most teams get stuck. We close that gap by doing the work — running discovery, building prototypes, aligning stakeholders, and shipping alongside your team.
Senior expertise shouldn't require full-time overhead
Not every team needs a full-time VP of Product or Head of AI. But every team building AI products needs senior expertise. Fractional models give you the experience without the commitment.
Founded by Ryan Smith & Sarah Horn
Ryan Smith and Sarah Horn founded Smith Horn Group to help software teams navigate the shift to AI-powered products.
Ryan has delivered agentic AI workshops for product teams at Boeing and Asana, and led fractional product engagements at Cloudinary — taking their Shopify ecosystem strategy from discovery through validated product.
His approach combines hands-on product leadership with deep AI fluency. He doesn't just advise on what to build — he builds alongside teams, runs customer discovery directly, and stays engaged until the work ships.
Based in Canada, working with teams across North America.
How We Work
Workshops
Intensive training sessions that upskill your team on agentic AI. Half-day to multi-day formats. Onsite or remote. Teams leave with frameworks they can apply immediately.
Learn about workshops →
Fractional Leadership
Senior product leadership embedded with your team 10-20 hours per week. We join your standups, run discovery, align stakeholders, and ship. Built for teams scaling without full-time overhead.
Learn about fractional →
Product Studio
End-to-end product development from research to validated prototype. Our Northwood Studio team handles discovery, prototyping, and user testing. Built for teams who need to validate fast.
Learn about studio →
Who We Work With
We work with enterprise and mid-market software companies — typically product, design, and engineering leaders at companies with $2M to $100M+ in revenue. Our clients are building AI-powered products and need hands-on expertise to move from experimentation to production.
Where We Work
Smith Horn Group is based in Canada. We work with teams across North America — delivering workshops onsite anywhere in the US and Canada, and supporting fractional and studio engagements remotely with regular in-person touchpoints as needed.
Let's Talk
If you're building AI products and need senior expertise — whether for a workshop, fractional engagement, or studio project — let's discuss what you're working on.
Book a Call →