Bensly Pierre
Build systems. Grow communities. Ship impact.
Programmer at Acres Enterprises building practical AI-enabled tools. I care about workflow-first automation, tech equity, and designing systems that include rather than exclude.
5+
Orgs Led
120+
Events
200+
Mentored
BC Lieutenant Governor's Medal Nominee
Inclusion, Democracy & Reconciliation · 2025
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
Youth Development · 2022
Top Student at Clement Howell High
"The Magnificent Three" · 2019
Cayman Islands Commandant's Commendation
Inclusive Education · 2022
TRUSU Award of Excellence
Campus Life · 2024
Dean's List
7x Academic Excellence · 2021-2025
Published Research on Google Scholar
Oracle Database Performance · 2024
Peer Mentor of the Month
Community Building · 2024
BC Lieutenant Governor's Medal Nominee
Inclusion, Democracy & Reconciliation · 2025
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
Youth Development · 2022
Top Student at Clement Howell High
"The Magnificent Three" · 2019
Cayman Islands Commandant's Commendation
Inclusive Education · 2022
TRUSU Award of Excellence
Campus Life · 2024
Dean's List
7x Academic Excellence · 2021-2025
Published Research on Google Scholar
Oracle Database Performance · 2024
Peer Mentor of the Month
Community Building · 2024
BC Lieutenant Governor's Medal Nominee
Inclusion, Democracy & Reconciliation · 2025
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
Youth Development · 2022
Top Student at Clement Howell High
"The Magnificent Three" · 2019
Cayman Islands Commandant's Commendation
Inclusive Education · 2022
TRUSU Award of Excellence
Campus Life · 2024
Dean's List
7x Academic Excellence · 2021-2025
Published Research on Google Scholar
Oracle Database Performance · 2024
Peer Mentor of the Month
Community Building · 2024
Hello World → Real World
From the islands to the interior, building systems that make life easier.
I've been building things for as long as I can remember—software, systems, and communities. My story starts with curiosity (and a keyboard), and it's still powered by the same instinct: see the problem clearly, then build something that makes life easier for other people.
From a young age, I was taught to live by the motto 'service above self.' Growing up in the Turks and Caicos Islands, this mantra shaped my worldview. It guided me through years of public service—from becoming the youngest training officer in the Caribbean Cadet Corps to leading the Duke of Edinburgh Award Program and representing marginalized youth on the Government's Alternative Education Council.
When I arrived at Thompson Rivers University in 2021 after pandemic delays, the campus was still recovering. Rather than adjusting my expectations, I made a decision: to become the change I wished to see, and help rebuild the TRU community from the ground up.
Today I'm a Programmer at Acres Enterprises, where I focus on streamlining how teams work—shipping internal tools, integrating systems, and helping move a company-wide AI strategy from idea to execution. I love the moment when a tool stops being a prototype and becomes part of someone's everyday workflow.
Outside of work, I serve as an executive member of the Caribbean Diaspora Society of Kamloops, continuing the community leadership that defined my university years. I care deeply about tech equity: who gets included by our systems, who gets left out, and how we design tools that treat people fairly.
Technology should feel like home—accessible, welcoming, built for the people who use it.
5,100 km
Islands to Interior
Workflow First
Start with the bottleneck, not the technology. Build for adoption.
Community-Centered
Leadership is consistent across contexts—teams, clubs, diaspora.
Governance by Design
Name risks early. Build guardrails as part of the system, not after.
Equity as a Feature
Who gets included? Who gets left out? Design for fairness.
Trajectory at a Glance
From campus builder to industry programmer—and where I'm headed next.
Youth Leadership & Campus Builder
Built leadership foundation in Caribbean, then transferred skills to campus community building.
- Youngest Training Officer in Caribbean Cadet Corps
- Led Duke of Edinburgh Award Program
- Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
- Founded ACSA & OuiSpeak French Club
Research, Leadership & Industry
Deepened expertise through research roles and a 10-month internship at Trimble.
- Junior Developer Intern at Trimble Inc.
- Research Coach & Learning Strategist at TRU
- Published research on database archiving and biometric authentication
- Co-President of Afro-Caribbean Students Association
Programmer & AI Strategy at Acres
Shipping internal tools and advancing AI adoption at a construction enterprise.
- Advanced company AI Strategy to ~65% completion (under budget)
- Shipped Field Evaluations Portal, Support Desk v5.0, BD Agents
- Integrated Canva Autofill API for proposal automation
- Established Jira & Git infrastructure for standardized development
Graduate Studies & STEM Leadership
Pursuing graduate school while building STEM initiatives across Canada and the Caribbean.
- Graduate studies in AI/Computing
- Speaking on Digital Bias & AI governance
- STEM initiatives for underrepresented youth (Canada & Caribbean)
- Mentoring the next generation of builders
Built, Shipped, Adopted
Real systems solving real problems. From internal platforms to AI experiments.
For selectors: Click any project for Challenge → Approach → Impact breakdown.
Currently Working On
Microsoft PL-900
65%Power Platform Fundamentals certification to formalize low-code platform expertise
AI Product Management
40%Microsoft's professional certificate on building and shipping AI-powered products responsibly
Graduate School Applications
25%Exploring MSc programs in AI/ML with focus on responsible AI and governance
Company-Wide AI Strategy Execution
Acres Enterprises
Challenge
The organization needed to move from AI vision to practical implementation across multiple teams and workflows.
Approach
Led execution of the 2025–2027 AI Strategy, prioritizing high-impact, low-friction use cases. Built prototypes, measured adoption, and documented learnings to scale what works.
Impact
- Advanced strategy to ~65% completion ahead of schedule
- Delivered under budget while expanding scope
Performance Evaluations Portal
Acres Enterprises
Challenge
Performance review workflows were fragmented across spreadsheets and emails, making it difficult for field staff to submit reviews and HR to track completion.
Approach
Designed and delivered a centralized portal that enables field staff to complete performance reviews digitally, with automated routing to HR and real-time tracking dashboards.
Impact
- Streamlined performance review submission for field staff
- Enabled HR to track review completion in real-time
BD Agents – AI Lead Generation
Acres Enterprises
Challenge
Business development relied on manual lead research—time-consuming, inconsistent, and hard to scale.
Approach
Built an AI-powered lead generation system using open data sources and APIs. Automated prospecting with configurable qualification criteria.
Impact
- Automated lead identification from public data
- Freed BD team from hours of manual research weekly
Proposal Builder + Canva Integration
Acres Enterprises
Challenge
Creating client proposals required manual data entry into design templates—hours of work per proposal with frequent inconsistencies.
Approach
Integrated Canva Autofill API into proposal workflow, enabling automatic population of templates with project data. Piloted with key stakeholders before rollout.
Impact
- Reduced proposal creation from hours to minutes
- Eliminated manual data entry errors
PhishGuard – BERT Phishing Detection
TRU Research Project
Challenge
Phishing emails remain a major security threat, and existing filters miss sophisticated attacks.
Approach
Developed a Chrome extension leveraging BERT for real-time phishing detection in Gmail. The model analyzes email content, headers, and behavioral patterns.
Impact
- Real-time threat detection with 94% accuracy
- Seamless Gmail integration via Chrome extension
MemberIQ – Membership Portal & Oracle Archiving
TRU Directed Study (UREAP Funded)
Challenge
Membership management required better tooling, and large Oracle databases needed efficient stale data management.
Approach
Built a React-based membership portal applying my UREAP-funded Stale Data Detection Framework research to optimize database archiving and reduce storage costs.
Impact
- Applied academic research to production system
- Streamlined membership workflows
How I Think About AI
Workflow-first AI that removes friction, earns trust, and treats people fairly.
I'm not interested in AI for AI's sake. I care about useful AI—the kind that quietly removes friction, saves time, and strengthens decision-making without getting in the way. My approach is workflow-first: identify the bottleneck, design for adoption, and ship in small increments that earn trust. Then scale what works.
01My AI Principles
Workflow first, model second
Start with the problem people actually have. The best AI solution is one that fits naturally into existing work patterns.
Integrate where people already work
Context drives adoption. Build in the tools teams already use—don't ask them to context-switch.
Ship small, learn fast, scale responsibly
Earn trust through iteration. Big bang deployments create resistance; small wins create momentum.
Governance by design
Name risks early—bias, transparency, safety. Build guardrails as part of the system, not as an afterthought.
Equity is a feature
Ask who gets included and who gets left out. Design for fairness from day one.
02What I'm Exploring
Internal Tools & Bias
How does bias show up in the enterprise tools we build for our own teams? What guardrails can we design early?
Diaspora Perspectives in AI Conversations
Bringing underrepresented voices—especially from the Caribbean diaspora—into the mainstream AI governance discussion.
AI Helpers That Support Human Judgment
Building AI that augments decision-making rather than replacing it. The human stays in the loop.
Practical AI Strategy Execution
Bridging the gap between AI vision documents and shipped, adopted tools. The messy middle of AI transformation.
More thoughts on AI, equity & building systems.
I'm starting a Substack to share deeper dives on practical AI, tech equity, and lessons from shipping real systems. Subscribe to get notified when it launches.
Talks That Ship Insight
Practical talks on AI, governance, and tech equity—grounded in real project work.
Digital Bias & AI
How Our Tools Can Include or Exclude
“What if bias isn't just in the training data, but in the default settings we never question?”
More Topics
Practical AI Strategy: From Vision to Shipped Workflows
Most AI strategies sit in slide decks. This talk is about the messy middle—how to actually execute AI transformation through workflow-first design, small wins, and adoption-focused iteration.
IT leaders, product teams, operations managers
- Framework for identifying high-impact AI use cases
- How to build adoption momentum through incremental shipping
AI Governance for Builders: Guardrails Without Slowing Down
Governance doesn't have to kill velocity. This talk shows developers and product teams how to bake transparency, bias checks, and safety guardrails into the development process—not bolt them on after.
Developers, technical leads, product managers
- Governance checkpoints that fit agile workflows
- Practical bias detection techniques during development
Tech Equity in Everyday Product Decisions
Equity isn't a special initiative—it's a lens for every product decision. Drawing from diaspora perspectives and community experience, this talk helps teams see exclusion patterns and design for belonging.
Product teams, UX designers, community organizations
- How to identify exclusion in product design
- Bringing underrepresented perspectives into product decisions
For conference organizers & podcast hosts: For conference organizers & podcast hosts: Bensly brings a unique combination of hands-on implementation experience and equity-focused perspective. His talks are practical, grounded in real project work, and accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences. He's especially effective at bridging the gap between AI hype and AI reality.
Press, Research & Presentations
From published research to keynote presentations—my work in action.
In the News
ThePower in Unity: Strength Through Community
Jan 2025
TRUSU2024 Awards of Excellence Winners
Apr 2024
Sun"Magnificent Three" Makes History
Jul 2019
GovGlobal Entrepreneurship Week Winner
Nov 2023
Published Research on Google Scholar
Oracle Database Performance Research
Presentations & Research
TRU Research Hub Online Learning Modules
Learning Strategist & Research Assistant · 2024-2025
Digital resources supporting students in developing research competencies including literature reviews and methodologies.
In a Nutshell: Biometric Authentication Based on Digital Signature Dynamics
TRU In a Nutshell Research Showcase · 2025
Archiving What Matters: Access-Pattern-Based Data Tiering in Oracle
TRU Undergraduate Research & Innovation Conference · 2024
Systems Thinking the Toxic Drug Poisoning Crisis in Kamloops
Map the System Campus Finals · 2025
More Than Code
Building technology is only part of my story. Building communities, bridging cultures, and creating spaces where everyone belongs—that's the work that drives me.
"Service above self" — the motto that has guided my journey
For award selectors: This section highlights my commitment to inclusion, democracy, and reconciliation—demonstrating impact that extends far beyond technical work. Nominated for the 2025 BC Lieutenant Governor's Medal.
5+
Organizations Led
Founded & presided
10+
Years in Leadership
Since 2014
120+
Events Hosted
Cultural, academic & social
1,500+
Community Engaged
Students, youth & professionals
Inclusion
Executive Member
Caribbean Diaspora Society of Kamloops
2025 – Present
Founding Member & President
Afro-Caribbean Students Association (ACSA)
2022 – 2025
Founder & President
OuiSpeak French Club
2024 – 2025
Democracy
Two-Year Term on TRUSU Student Caucus
Represented student voices in university governance, contributed to policy decisions affecting student welfare.
Open Press Advisory Board Member
Championed open access education and affordable learning materials—dismantling barriers to knowledge.
Open Education Working Group
Supported equity in education through promotion of open educational resources inclusive of diverse perspectives.
Government's Alternative Education Council
Turks & Caicos: Advocated for equitable education access for non-traditional and underserved learners.
Reconciliation
First Nations Emergency Response Capstone
Applied TechApplied computing expertise to improve disaster response infrastructure in Indigenous territories affected by natural disasters.
Research Hub Modules with Indigenous Perspectives
ResearchCo-developed online research modules that intentionally amplify marginalized and Indigenous voices.
Student-as-Partner Fellowship
FellowshipIntegrated reconciliatory learning models and Indigenous perspectives in student-led knowledge production.
AI Workshops with Kamloops Innovation
Community TechDelivered community workshops demystifying AI for underserved communities—bridging the digital divide.
Additional Leadership
Future Student Ambassador
Thompson Rivers University
Guided hundreds of prospective students including Indigenous students through campus tours, creating the welcoming experience I never had.
Youngest Training Officer & Regimental Sergeant Major
Turks and Caicos Islands Cadet Corps
Youngest training officer in the Caribbean Cadet Corps. Led Duke of Edinburgh Award Program. Responsible for training, development, and welfare of 200+ cadets. Certified in Moral Reconation Therapy.
Research Coach & Mentor
TRU Research Hub
Mentored undergraduate students through research methodology, ethics applications, and scholarly writing. Guided capstone projects and supported students navigating their first research experiences.
Resilience & Purpose
“There were difficult days, but never a day where I questioned my purpose.”
All of this while helping lead more than five communities and supporting over 200 youth and students across youth programs, campus, and diaspora spaces.
5+
Communities Led
200+
Students Supported
In Action
Queen Elizabeth Medal
Black History Month Gala
ACSA Executive 2025
AfroTech 2024
Cultural Identity
Capstone Mentorship
OuiSpeak President
AI Workshop
Research Mentor
TRU Graduate 2025
ACSA Executive 2024
Black Odyssey Speaker
Learning Strategist
Food Bank Volunteer
Acres Site Visit
Looking Ahead
My journey is far from over. I'm pursuing graduate studies while building STEM-based initiatives across Canada and the Caribbean—ensuring that underrepresented youth, especially those who never imagined themselves in computing, can find their place, just as I found mine.
Let's Connect
Whether you're looking for a speaker, exploring a collaboration, or just want to have a conversation about AI, equity, or diaspora in tech—I'd love to hear from you.
Prefer email?
bensly20@gmail.com
Click to send an email
How We Can Connect
Speaking & Panels
Keynotes, workshops, panel discussions, and podcast appearances on AI, tech equity, and practical implementation.
Collaborations
Open to meaningful collaborations on projects that align with my values—especially at the intersection of tech and community.
Mentorship
Happy to chat with early-career developers, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds navigating their path in tech.
Conversations
Sometimes the best opportunities start with a simple conversation. If something resonates, reach out.