Chata.ai is proud to share that Kelly Cherniwchan, our CEO and founder, has been named a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Prairies Awards.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program recognizes the individuals behind ambitious, high-growth companies — leaders who build something genuinely new and create lasting impact for their teams, customers, and communities. It's a distinction given to the entrepreneur, not the company, and we couldn't be happier to see Kelly's work recognized at the regional level.

What Is the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Program?

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year program has been celebrating bold, visionary entrepreneurs for decades. Each year, it honours leaders who push boundaries, challenge convention, and build companies that genuinely make a difference — not just for their customers, but for their industries and their communities.

Finalists are evaluated on a range of criteria: entrepreneurial spirit, purpose and impact, growth and innovation, and the ability to inspire others.

From a Bold Idea to a Growing Platform

Kelly's path to this recognition has always been guided by one idea: data is only useful when it's easy-accessible and trustworthy. That conviction is the foundation of Chata.ai. From the beginning, the goal has been to make complex data understandable to anyone who needs an answer — without requiring them to write code or learn a query language. Just as important is how those answers are produced. Chata.ai is built on deterministic AI prone to hallucination, because the people who rely on data to make real decisions can't afford a wrong answer dressed up as a confident one.

It's that combination — accessible, conversational, and genuinely trustworthy — that sets Chata.ai technology and Kelly's work apart, and it's a big part of what this nomination celebrates.

What started as a vision has grown into a platform used by businesses across multiple industries, with a team of passionate people who show up every day to make it better. Kelly has been at the centre of that growth — relentless in his focus and commitment to the mission.

To Everyone Who Made This Possible

Every customer who trusted Chata.ai early, every partner who believed in our technology, and every member of the team who turned that idea into reality is part of this milestone.

Being named a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Awards in the Prairies region is validation — of the problem we’re solving, of the way we’re solving it, and a reminder that this work matters.

What's Next

Recognition is a moment to pause and appreciate the journey — but the work continues. Chata.ai remains focused on the same mission that got us here: making trustworthy, conversational access to data the standard, not the exception.

We're continuing to expand Chata.ai's capabilities across industries, deepen integrations with the data stacks our customers already use, and push the boundaries of what proactive, deterministic analytics can do for enterprise teams.

Congratulations, Kelly, from all of us at Chata.ai.

To learn more about the program, visit ey.com/ca/eoy.