Imagine growing delicious, nutritious mushrooms—but needing years of experience to get it right. That's the challenge Justin Cheng wants to solve with his company, Mycro Harvest.

The problem

Traditionally, mushroom farming relied on years of accumulated wisdom, an invisible barrier for aspiring growers. Cheng knew AI held the key. It could analyze vast data sets, identify patterns and ultimately guide even novice farmers towards optimal mushroom production. 

But, building an AI team or even working with AI could be… complex. 

"We faced several challenges, both with developing our imaging system and just getting world-class AI talent on our team,” Cheng said.

The solution

Enter Good AI, a Communitech program designed to help founders navigate the world of AI responsibly.

"I first heard about it through Communitech," Cheng said. "They were advertising it and we jumped on the opportunity right away."

Good AI's focus on ethical AI resonated deeply with Cheng. 

"Our application of AI could be one of the most meaningful," he said. "What could be more important than producing food reliably?"

The perfect match

The Good AI program helped Cheng overcome challenges by assisting in recruitment and putting him in touch with Ample Insight, a leading Toronto-based AI consulting firm.

"Laura Fadrique from the Good AI team did a really good job with the intake process," Cheng said. “She understood what we needed and then found a suitable partner. That was one major strength that the team was able to execute on quickly.”

Through the program, Cheng quickly found local talent. 

“GoodAI helped us execute on an engagement with local contracting talent that otherwise wouldn't have been possible,” he said. “We were able to work with experts in their respective subjects to execute on our R&D project more efficiently, without sacrificing internal engineering resources.”

The collaboration between Cheng, Good AI and Ample Insight yielded tangible results.

“Working with Ample Insight was a pleasure,” Cheng said. “We saw a direct improvement of some of the machine learning tools or models that we use in-house.” 

Beyond the technical advancements, Cheng valued the collaborative spirit.

“Right from the start, they had a very organized meeting structure, outlined exactly what they would need from us and built out a detailed roadmap,” he said. “This meant we knew exactly what to expect, when to expect it and what the deliverables would be at the end of the program.”

Cheng also plans to expand Mycro Harvest’s AI capabilities. 

“We plan to expand our AI capabilities as we get our product into the hands of more customers and expand our feature list,” he said.

Looking back, Cheng has no hesitation in recommending Good AI to other founders. 

"The process was quick," he said. "Our partner was professional and it was a relatively painless process, which isn't true for a lot of grants. I would like to give my kudos to Ample Insight. They really hit it out of the park with the project that we did with them. I would be happy to work with them again."