# James Neufeld

> James Neufeld is the Canadian founder and CEO of samdesk, the Edmonton-based real-time crisis detection and situational awareness company he founded in 2013. His career began in radio and broadcast technology, including work in Bolivia and Norway, before moving into newsroom software and operational risk alerts.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at samdesk
- **Organizations:** samdesk, never.no, Council of Canadian Innovators
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Known for:** Founded samdesk in 2013 and developed the business from newsroom collaboration software into crisis detection and situational awareness., Led samdesk through a C$13.5 million Series A in 2021., Built a newsroom customer base that included AP, Reuters, Financial Times, Press Association and The Guardian by 2016.

## Career timeline

- **Age 13** — Participated in research, planning and technical infrastructure for a Bolivian radio network.
- **Before 2009** — Worked in Canadian community radio and became head of interactive broadcasting; subsequently joined never.no in Norway as a product specialist.
- **2009** — Spoke at Streaming Media Europe on multi-screen convergence.
- **2011-2014** — Served on the IBC Technical Papers Committee, according to his public LinkedIn profile.
- **2013** — Founded SAM, later known as samdesk.
- **2014** — SAM publicly launched its collaborative social media curation product from Startup Edmonton.
- **2016** — Spoke at the International Journalism Festival; speaker biography also recorded service on the University of King’s College Journalism Advisory Board.
- **2021** — Led samdesk as it raised a C$13.5 million Series A led by McRock Capital.
- **2024** — Joined the Council of Canadian Innovators with samdesk.
- **2025** — Samdesk extended Canadian neighbourhood alerts through Nextdoor and appointed Jon Feldman as CRO.
- **2026** — Discussed defence technology in Edmonton and on Fed Gov Today; samdesk announced a MAIAR partnership in August.

## Achievements

- Founded samdesk in 2013 and developed the business from newsroom collaboration software into crisis detection and situational awareness.
- Led samdesk through a C$13.5 million Series A in 2021.
- Built a newsroom customer base that included AP, Reuters, Financial Times, Press Association and The Guardian by 2016.
- Listed among security task force participants in Canada’s Q1 2026 AI strategy engagement report.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Samdesk announced its partnership with MAIAR on August 11, expanding access to UK defence and government buyers.
- **2026-03** — Appeared on Fed Gov Today to discuss AI, information infrastructure and military readiness.
- **2026-03** — Joined a March 3 defence technology discussion at Edmonton Unlimited alongside Callie Lissinna and Christopher Cassin.

## Links

- Website: https://jamesneufeld.tumblr.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesaneufeld/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/jamesaneufeld

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-neufeld
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21