Advisory
Business strategy, AI governance, Quebec Law 25 compliance and custom platforms, from analysis through launch.
Strategy simplifies.
Technology delivers.
Maël Houck is an entrepreneur and a business strategy and technology expert, with deep experience in governance, teaching and public policy. He makes complex problems simpler, then uses technology to turn the answer into something real.
Speaking · Advisory · TrainingContact Maël
Complex problems, concrete solutions.
Organizations bring Maël in to clarify a strategy, adopt AI responsibly or train their teams. He works with private companies, public bodies and nonprofits across Canada.
Speaking
Talks, workshops and event hosting on AI, technology, entrepreneurship and civic engagement.
Training
Hands-on training built around each team’s actual tasks, in person or online.
Selected engagements
Engagements delivered by Elite Consultation. Clients are named with their consent.
Automated analysis reports
For the Central Region’s search and rescue program, an AI platform analyzes incident data and drafts the analysis reports, ready for review.
Replaces about 1,500 hours of manual work a yearAI governance framework
A team survey, meetings with leadership, then a 14-section policy adopted by the organization. Mandatory team training followed.
Policy delivered in five weeksPlatform and training
For the Service de la culture, des loisirs, du sport et du développement social: a funding management platform, then training on Microsoft Copilot and Excel.
A client that keeps coming back« Je tiens à souligner la qualité du produit développé par Élite Consultation, qui a permis la mise en place d’une solution d’intelligence artificielle. Cette initiative contribue de manière notable à accélérer la production des rapports d’analyse liés au système de recherche et sauvetage maritime. »
“I want to highlight the quality of the product developed by Elite Consultation, which made it possible to put an artificial intelligence solution in place. This initiative contributes significantly to speeding up the production of analysis reports for the maritime search and rescue system.”
At a glance
10companies founded, co-founded or co-owned since 2018
1,500hours of manual reporting replaced each year for the Canadian Coast Guard
600+ocean lifeguards trained by SN Hawaii since 2000
An entrepreneur’s record, in full.
Maël has founded, bought and sold companies. Some grew, others were sold or closed. All of them are listed here, with how they turned out.
Elite Consultation
Founder and Director of Digital Services
A technology consulting firm. It guides organizations through AI adoption, from governance to training, and builds custom platforms.
eliteconsultation.ca
Observantia
Founder
A Quebec Law 25 compliance platform, launched in 2026. It makes Quebec organizations’ privacy obligations clearer and easier to meet.
observantia.ca
Elite Medic
Co-founder: strategy, sales and platform
A first aid supplies distributor serving all of Canada, with hundreds of products and thousands of customers.
elitemedic.ca
Elite Rescue
Co-founder
Elite Medic’s training division: lifesaving, first aid and consulting. Over the years, the team has trained thousands of people.
SN Hawaii
Co-owner, with Andrew Lawee
Founded in 2000, SN Hawaii runs National Lifeguard ocean waterfront training on Oahu’s North Shore. Accredited by the Lifesaving Society and recognized by the ILS, it has trained more than 600 lifeguards.
snhawaii.com
Elite Travel Group
Co-owner
A travel agency that runs SN Hawaii’s trips, among others. Andrew Lawee is its agent and manager, and Maël built its website.
elitetravelgroup.ca
Affiche Expert
Co-founder and co-owner
Professional and safety signage sold online in Quebec, with a self-serve configurator for each industry.
afficheexpert.comPast ventures
Sold, handed over or closed. Maël has also led several transactions, on both the sell side and the buy side. Not every venture works out, and this record shows it.
Imprime tes plans
Large-format printing of construction plans and sewing patterns. Co-owner, in charge of the technology platform.
SoldProfitable at the time of sale.
Agence JCN
Digital and print marketing, web development and hosting. Co-owner with Christian Raymond and Mathieu Lapalme.
Handed overTransferred to another company during a restructuring, since Elite Consultation already offered web development.
Racing Printer
Printing for car racing: stickers, tents and flags. Co-owner, in charge of the technology platform.
ClosedResults stayed below expectations. The effort went into the other ventures instead.
Clinique Finance
Accounting services. Maël was the largest shareholder, with a third of the shares.
SoldHis shares were sold to another shareholder.
On stage, in workshops or as host.
Maël gives talks and workshops and hosts events, in French and in English.
Lifesaving Society annual forum
Talk: “Raising standards without adding to the workload: AI for trainers and managers” (in French).
Quariera, AXTRA’s annual conference
Workshop: “When artificial intelligence meets emotional intelligence: rethinking the human in the digital age” (in French), co-led with Bérénice St-Martin for Quebec’s network of employment counselling centres.
G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, New Delhi
Member of the 47-person Canadian delegation of young entrepreneurs led by Futurpreneur.
YMCAs of Quebec annual general meeting
Master of ceremonies.
Topics: AI and governance, Quebec Law 25, technology adoption, entrepreneurship, youth civic engagement.
Invite Maël to speakAdoption has to hold after the consultants leave.
Every Elite Consultation engagement follows four steps.
Governance
The framework, the risks, who owns what and the ground rules are set from the start.
Documentation
The organization’s processes, data and knowledge are documented.
Training
Teams are trained around the actual tasks of each role.
Launch
Rollout happens in stages, with human review and continuous improvement.
Social causes are close to his heart.
Public policy, inclusion and civic participation: Maël has volunteered since the start of his career, often on boards of directors.
Co-founder and Board Chair, CITMN
The Centre d’innovation en technologies multimédias et numériques uses technology to reach vulnerable people and help them take part in community life and the workforce.
Board Chair, Civic Circles
Founded in Toronto as Books, Art, Music (BAM) Collective, it uses art and culture to help equity-deserving groups take part in civic life. Maël oversaw its 2025 incorporation. Its programs received the Mayor of Toronto’s Community Safety Award in 2024.
Board member, Tribùt
A CITMN project: an immersive multimedia fresco of Black history in Quebec and Canada, from 1604 to today. Presented in Laval, Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Gatineau, it has reached thousands of people.
Lifeguard training in Togo
As a volunteer, he led the first international lifeguard training ever held in Togo, in Aného, with FETONAS. Local media covered it.
Prime Minister’s Youth Council
He worked directly with federal ministers and senior officials, including on blood donation by men who have sex with men, youth political engagement, COVID-19 vaccination, voting rights and the reintegration of people released from prison.
Op-ed, The Hill Times
Co-author, with Steve Morgan and Haleema Ahmed, of a case for public pharmacare covering everyone in Canada, whatever their age, job or income. Read the article
Youth Strategy Committee, YMCAs of Quebec
A member from the committee’s creation, strengthening young people’s voice within the YMCAs of Quebec.
Education
2026–2028Executive MBA
Université de Sherbrooke
Université de Sherbrooke
2022Nonprofit governance training
Collège des administrateurs de sociétés
Collège des administrateurs de sociétés
2014–2017DEC in Science
Champlain College Saint-Lambert
Champlain College Saint-Lambert
Wide-ranging interests.
Skydiving, ocean lifesaving, travel, languages, cycling, running, coffee and motorcycles. Travel above all gives him the distance to look at complex problems from several angles.
