Earlier this week, Vancouver-based Intellistake Technologies Corp. appointed tech entrepreneur Shelly Murphy to its advisory board. Murphy, known for co-founding Arizona’s DesTechAZ innovation event alongside Apple’s Steve Wozniak, is set to provide strategic guidance as Intellistake starts to refocus its business on converging the realm of blockchain technology with AI.
Company CEO Jason Dussault believes Murphy’s deep expertise in emerging technologies and education makes her “an invaluable addition” to the board, adding: “Her forward-thinking approach aligns perfectly with our mission to integrate decentralized artificial intelligence (dAI) and digital currencies.”
Bringing veteran leadership to the table
A quick look at Murphy’s resume shows that she brings over 25 years of leadership experience spanning finance, education, and tech innovation. She is currently the CEO and Managing Partner at GSD Group, the venture consultancy behind Atari Hotels, while also serving as Foundation Chair of Wozniak’s Woz Innovation Foundation, reflecting a career spent at the nexus of technology and social impact.
At Intellistake, Murphy is expected to leverage her broad network of resources as well as her background in blockchain and cryptocurrency systems to help design dApps requiring energy-efficient data infrastructure. Following Intellistake’s recent change of business from its former life as a food products company, Murphy’s stands to help drive new initiatives
ranging from the development of custom AI software for industrial clients to operating blockchain validator hardware that supports AI networks, and investing in AI-focused digital currencies.
Moreover, it bears mentioning that her appointment follows other similar strategic moves by Intellistake to solidify its presence within the AI-blockchain arena. For instance, just last week, the company added Mario Casiraghi, CFO of the SingularityNET Foundation, to its advisory board.
Standing at the intersection of AI and the blockchain
Intellistake’s rapid evolution into a dAI and crypto-focused firm comes amid a broader movement that has seen these technologies converge and give birth to several novel offerings. In practice, Intellistake plans to maintain a curated portfolio of blue-chip AI cryptocurrencies and operate staking nodes and blockchain infrastructure in-house.
By handling technical tasks like digital asset custody and validator operations internally, the company says it will offer streamlined, compliant exposure to this fast-growing sector.
What does this mean for the tech landscape at large?
Recent industry surveys show that over 75% of institutional investors plan to increase their crypto holdings in 2025, with 59% intending to allocate more than 5% of their portfolios to digital assets. Retail adoption is climbing as well with about 40% of American adults now owning some form of cryptocurrency, up from 30% just two years ago — with many of these individuals branching out beyond Bitcoin into alternative digital assets.
In this broader context, Intellistake is positioning itself to bring two seemingly disparate realms together in the hopes of yielding significant opportunities for itself. By focusing on decentralized AI networks, where blockchain-based systems distribute AI computing tasks or governance, the company hopes to capitalize on an emerging class of digital assets that support artificial intelligence projects (for example, tokens associated with decentralized computing power or AI data marketplaces).
And, while industry experts believe that bridging AI and crypto requires not only technical know-how but also reliable energy and computing infrastructure, as AI algorithms can be resource-intensive. Intellistake’s strategy includes ensuring its blockchain operations are powered as sustainably as possible, in line with its goal to be a “clean power” provider for the digital economy.
With Murphy’s background in both tech innovation/sustainability and her extensive contacts, ranging from education networks to energy and data firms, the company gains a seasoned advisor adept at forging high-impact alliances. Therefore, as dAI applications and digital currencies continue to grow in prominence, the company and its new advisors seem intent on ensuring Intellistake’s investors won’t miss out on what could be the next big chapter in the digital economy’s growth story.
