Idaho Technology Council Announces 2026 Hall of Fame Inductees, Idavation™ Award Finalists and Keynote Speaker Gary Sorrentino, CIO, Zoom

ITC partners with Coeur d'Alene Regional Chamber to host iTECH Summit Inland Northwest

Introducing: Mike Mallon, Founder & Fractional CIO, HimalAlan, LLC Describe the business/organization you work for: HimalAIan LLC is a Meridian, Idaho startup building CrAIg™, enterprise middleware that governs AI activity across multiple systems. As companies deploy more AI agents, those agents increasingly step on each other's decisions without anyone noticing until real damage is done. CrAIg detects those conflicts before they execute and gives leaders a way to see and stop the cost before it lands. What inspired you to start your own business, or why did you decide to work for this specific organization? After 20+ years in enterprise technology leadership, including serving as CIO for a major West Coast seafood distributor, I saw the gap firsthand: every AI tool a company adopts is built to optimize its own corner of the business, but nothing is built to watch the space between them. That gap is where real financial exposure hides, and I started HimalAIan to close it. What sets this business apart from others in the industry? Most AI governance tools compete with the AI systems already in place. CrAIg doesn't. Our positioning is "Not competing. Completing." We sit in the space between existing systems and catch the collisions no single tool is built to see. What challenges have you faced as a business owner or employee, and how did you overcome them? The biggest challenge has been building everything solo. Engineering, fundraising, patent strategy, business development, all of it, at once, without a team to share the load. I've overcome it the same way I'd tell any operator to handle a hard problem: break it into pieces that can each be moved forward independently, prioritize ruthlessly, and use every relationship and resource available rather than trying to do it all in isolation. What advice would you give to someone looking to join your industry? Don't wait for the market to hand you permission. If you've spent years watching a problem from the inside, the way I watched it from my experience in enterprise systems and technology, trust that domain knowledge enough to act on it. The technical build is hard, but it's rarely the hardest part. The harder part is staying in motion on funding, partnerships, and structure every single day, even when the feedback is slow or silent. About the Idaho Technology Council The Idaho Technology Council (ITC) is a member-based organization that champions innovation and collaboration to grow Idaho’s economy through technology. Representing a dynamic and growing community of entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and policymakers, ITC connects vision with action to position Idaho as a hub for innovation and opportunity. Learn more at www.idahotechcouncil.org . Connect with Mike on LinkedIn HERE Check out HimalAlan, LLC HERE

Protecting Yourself from Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Powered Imposter Scams – Tips from KeyBank

Introducing: Jeanne Allen, QA Engineer II, Destination Pet Describe the business/organization you work for: Destination Pet is a company that provides pet services like boarding, daycare, house sitting, and dog walking and grooming. I work on the Yourgi app, which is the online portal for booking appointments for your pets. What inspired you to start your own business, or why did you decide to work for this specific organization? I decided to work for Destination Pet because the team there is incredible, and I felt like I could make a difference and help the company grow. What sets this business apart from others in the industry? They really care about their customers and try to make every pet service something to remember. What challenges have you faced as a business owner or employee, and how did you overcome them? Working for a tech startup can be hard because the infrastructure isn't set up for development. I enjoy helping set up this infrastructure, so I'm working with the team to make their processes more efficient and enhance communication across teams. What advice would you give to someone looking to join your industry? Be curious and excited to learn. With QA, software development, and devops, there's so much to learn, and being curious is an essential part of the job. About the Idaho Technology Council The Idaho Technology Council (ITC) is a member-based organization that champions innovation and collaboration to grow Idaho’s economy through technology. Representing a dynamic and growing community of entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and policymakers, ITC connects vision with action to position Idaho as a hub for innovation and opportunity. Learn more at www.idahotechcouncil.org . Connect with Jeanne on LinkedIn HERE Check out Destination Pet HERE