Annika spent a decade across banking, fintech, and venture capital, including roles at Capital One and RBC, before moving into early-stage startups.
She now builds with AI every day from the non-technical operator's side, and is known for making complex shifts practical for people without engineering backgrounds.
Matthew is a founder with successful exits of his own. Previously he spent seven years in enterprise AR/VR, including as CTO of ArborXR.
He has built and launched products end to end, from early idea through production. He is the rare engineer who is as good in a room of executives as he is in a codebase.
We were friends for years before we started Northbound. By then, we had already spent a lot of time swapping ideas, pulling apart problems, and seeing the same opportunities from two very different sides.
Annika comes at AI as an operator: will this be genuinely useful, and will people actually use it? Matthew comes at it as an engineer and product builder: what is the real problem underneath the request, and how do we build something that holds up?
Northbound works because both questions stay in the room. Our clients get the two of us directly, and every idea gets tested against the business and the build from day one.
Annika asks whether it matters and whether people will use it. Matthew asks what it will take to make it real and reliable. We work through both at the same time.
Being friends makes directness easier. We test each other's assumptions before asking a client to trust them, and we'll say when an idea needs more work — or no AI at all.
The people in the first conversation are the people doing the work. There is no handoff between the relationship, the recommendation, and the build.
Tell us where AI feels stuck — team adoption, a workflow driving everyone nuts, or a product idea that needs technical shape. We'll help you figure out what's actually worth doing. And if AI isn't the answer, we'll say so.
Bring us the problem
