ABOUT TRAVIS
I bring two decades of experience across Indigenous engagement, government, mining, telecommunications, and infrastructure in Northern Canada, along with hands-on enterprise AI work. I’ve seen technology projects succeed or fail based on more than the technology. Governance, procurement, staffing, and the needs of people doing the work matter just as much. That experience shapes how I help organizations plan and use AI.
THE SHORT VERSION
I’m Travis Schindel, founder of Travis Consulting. For the last several years I’ve led enterprise AI enablement inside large Canadian operations. For the two decades before that I worked in Indigenous engagement, government, mining, and telecom across the North. Travis Consulting brings all of it to your organization.
My career started in Nunavut, auditing the financial integrity of Inuit-led municipalities. It ran through the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. Then two diamond miners, seven years inside Canadian telecom infrastructure, and now enterprise operations and AI enablement.
Two things held true the whole way. Technology is never the point; the people using it are. And the communities I worked with in Nunavut and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region taught me to listen first, decide by discussion, and work with what’s on hand. That shapes every engagement.
WHAT EXPERIENCE TAUGHT ME
The chapters below tell the story. These are the three things it taught me.
01 · WHERE PROGRAMS FAIL
Projects can stall because the buying process, governance, or day-to-day workflow was not considered early enough. I start with the people and conditions around the work, then choose the tools.
02 · HOW TO DESIGN
Every organization has limits on time, budget, connectivity, staff capacity, and data use. A useful plan accounts for those limits at the start.
03 · WHOSE SIDE OF THE TABLE
My background includes audit, environmental review, procurement, and operations. I bring that perspective to vendor choices: what does the tool do, what does it cost, what risks does it add, and what happens after the contract ends?
INDEPENDENCE
Before I accept any engagement, it goes through a documented conflicts check, the same discipline law and accounting firms apply before taking on a client. I look at who you are and who else I have obligations to. Then I ask whether anything could affect the work or how it is viewed. If a conflict can’t be managed, I decline the work or refer you to someone good.
Independence also shapes what I sell. I take no commissions or referral fees from Microsoft or Anthropic. If another commercial relationship could affect a recommendation, I name it next to that vendor whenever it makes your shortlist, and I disclose it before you decide.
Anything that could bear on my objectivity for your specific engagement is disclosed to you in writing before scoping. Engagement letters set out the relevant confidentiality and conflict terms.
CAREER PROOF, AT A GLANCE
TWENTY YEARS, IN FOUR CHAPTERS
The full CV is on a separate page. These are the four chapters that matter for the work I do now.
CHAPTER 01 · 2007–2010
Municipal inspector for the Government of Nunavut. I audited the financial, legislative, and administrative performance of five predominantly Inuit municipalities. Then community-project manager at the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, where I led consensus-based consultations across six Inuvialuit communities. The Nunavut work was guided by the Government of Nunavut’s Inuit Societal Values.
CHAPTER 02 · 2010–2014
Executive Advisor and Head of Communications at the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. Acting Executive Director when needed. Then contracts and procurement leadership at two diamond miners. I directed major contract portfolios across the Snap Lake, Gahcho Kué, and Ekati mines.
CHAPTER 03 · 2015–2022
Seven years across Canadian telecom. Process planning, customer service, and senior project management. Earned PMP®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and a Project Management Certification in these years. Led the Northwestel business unit that delivered the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link. That was a multi-year northern infrastructure build across the NWT. Led a national IT infrastructure refresh program across Bell’s franchise network. Represented Canada at SpaceOps 2018 in Marseille on space-exploration technology.
CHAPTER 04 · 2023–PRESENT
Senior operations work inside large Canadian infrastructure. Capital-project portfolios, Indigenous-relations program work, and enterprise AI pilots across business units. Hands-on with AI assistants and agentic workflows. Hands-on, too, with what it actually takes to deploy AI where procurement, audit, and data-residency rules are strict. That is the experience behind how Travis Consulting scopes engagements. Built to survive procurement, and built to leave a team that can run without me.
CREDENTIALS & ONGOING LEARNING
PMP® and “Project Management Professional” are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) is a registered mark of Scrum Alliance, Inc. Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples® is a registered mark of Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. Marks are used here to identify Travis’s own certifications; their use does not imply endorsement of Travis Consulting by any of these organizations.
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
If your organization is deciding what to do about AI, tell me what is on your mind. We can work out whether a conversation or a defined project would help.
OPERATOR-FIRST PRACTICE · NORTH VANCOUVER, BC · BUILT TO LEAVE
