How R8dius’ Shauna McAllister Brings Indigenous Lens to Tech

Shauna McAllister, a sales leader at Canadian services firm R8dius, is helping reshape how technology companies think about Indigenous representation, data sovereignty, and responsible AI as demand for infrastructure and services accelerates across Canada.

We spoke with McAllister about her experiences in technology and what she hopes the future looks like for communities and companies alike.

How Indigenous identity shapes McAllister’s approach to technology services

To McAllister, being able to speak about her Indigenous background and culture is an opportunity hard-won. She reflects on her first few years in technology as difficult because she felt forced to perform a standard by which she put aside her culture to be a “proper professional woman.”

Now, she sees an opportunity to show others that being proud of you culture and capable in your career are not opposites by any means.

“I truly believe representation matters. I want not only the youth, but someone looking for a change or reentering the workplace, to know they can do this because it’s been done before,” McAllister said.

Indigenous Tech Conference highlights investment gaps and opportunity

McAllister was also one of several tech leaders who took part in the Indigenous Tech Circle’s Indigenous Tech Conference on January 20 in Vancouver.

“There’s very little money going into Indigenous-led companies, and we felt we needed to change that,” ITC CEO and founder Ryan St. Germaine told Channel Insider. 

“And that’s where the Venture Challenge started because there’s a very big difference between creating your own table and inviting folks in as opposed to asking for permission to join others and to walking down an investment path that doesn’t necessarily make sense for Indigenous founders at all stages,” St. Germaine continued.

McAllister said the event was a wonderful opportunity for her and others to not the be the only Indigenous person in the room, as many so often are in wider tech circles, but that the real work will come in bringing the ideas forward to a broader audience.

How Deloitte-backed R8dius operates as a majority Indigenous-owned provider

McAllister joined the R8dius team as a sales leader after a decade-long career working for vendors including IBM, Cognizant, and Google Cloud. To her, the company is an example of the power a shared mission can have on business success.

“I really enjoyed my time at those companies, and I certainly learned quite a lot and I saw technology change in a lot of ways,” McAllister said. “But I was really looking for something a little more purposeful, and I have found that with R8dius.”

R8dius is a professional services, technology implementation and managed services business. The company was born out of the reconciliation action plan formulated by Deloitte’s Canadian business.

“Deloitte was one of the first companies to have a plan identified, but they weren’t making the strides they thought it would, and they said well we do tech well, so why don’t we find a way to do that,” McAllister said.

So, Deloitte invested in getting the provider off the ground. R8dius is now 51% Indigenous-owned, with Deloitte retaining the minority stake in the business. McAllister says around 80% of the team identifies as Indigenous.

“A lot of our team didn’t grow up connected to their culture, and now we canfully show up in the workplace as ourselves. Being here is like a real step forward for many of us,” McAllister said.

That, McAllister emphasized, does not mean that R8dius isn’t also capable from a technical perspective.

“At the end of the day, R8dius is a technology company with top resources and a wonderful team. And then, by the way, we’re also Indigenous,” said McAllister. “You shouldn’t hire us ‘just’ because we’re Indigenous. You should hire us because you need the technology and services we can provide.”

Why data sovereignty and AI are top of mind for McAllister and many others

One of the most prominent topics at the Indigenous Tech Conference and, according to McAllister, for many Indigenous communities across Canada, is that of data sovereignty. 

As AI demand accelerates the need for data centers and additional compute, the physical nature of storing and managing the data is bringing a new technology footprint to Indigenous lands.

“If you look at compute, that unfortunately, historically, doesn’t go through downtown cores – it comes through and on Indigenous lands,” St. Germaine told us before the conference. 

“Now more than ever, Indigenous folks have more equal power in terms of what happens on those lands. So with compute needs and infrastructure, there’s going to have to be a relationship and reciprocal opportunities that create real value and balance the impact because Indigenous folks feel the brunt of any environmental change that happens in their region,” St. Germaine continued.

“Since contact, colonialism has taken so much from us, and capitalism continues that cycle,” McAllister said. “We should be protective of our sovereign rights, but that shouldn’t stop progress, either.”

McAllister added that she has seen the power of technology throughout her career, and can’t help but wonder how past generations would approach today’s conversations.

“We talk a lot about our ancestors and our matriarchs in our culture. I think a lot about what they would think about the technology we have today,” McAllister said.

What allyship in tech looks like as Indigenous voices push for inclusion

As McAllister, St. Germaine, and many others have noted, Indigenous voices alone will only be able to accomplish so much when it comes to the challenges and opportunities in technology over the next few years.

McAllister encourages non-Indigenous professionals to consider how they can incorporate Indigenous people, thoughts, and practices into their approach to work without feeling like they are simply checking a box or fulfilling a corporate responsibility.

“It’s not so different from networking, really, which everyone in business is familiar with. I think what matters is listening with a different ear and just finding opportunities to fill a need with individuals or companies that also happen to be Indigenous,” McAllister said.