NanoAi has assembled a leadership team spanning special operations, global-scale engineering, science and defense logistics. Following the establishment of its Dallas-Richardson Op Center, that team is now supporting the platform ahead of laboratory testing. Founder Video released alongside this news release.
Highlights
- Leadership team spanning special operations, global-scale engineering, science and defense logistics now in place at NanoAi's Dallas-Richardson Op Center ahead of laboratory testing
- NanoAi leadership team led by Founder, Chairman and CEO Craig Micklich, a 12-year U.S. Navy SEAL veteran, who would join the Intellistake Board upon closing
- Chief Technology Officer brings more than 35 years of experience and has led global engineering teams of more than 600 people, with senior roles at Microsoft and Novell, where he led development of the NetWare operating system
- Chief Technology Officer has partnered with NASA Ames Research Center and with enterprises such as BMW, General Motors, Honeywell, Delta and Disney on machine learning, blockchain and connected-systems projects
- Incoming Chief Scientific Officer directing the scientific refinement and validation of NanoAi's sensing technology, including its extension into the Gentex Ops-Core RAILINK program
- Alan "Buzz" Fink, Vice President, Logistics and Quality, founded a contractor that supported U.S. Special Operations Command across a 13-year contract lifecycle
- Founder Video featuring Mr. Micklich released with this news release
VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 6, 2026 /CNW/ -- Intellistake Technologies Corp. (CSE: ISTK) (OTCQB: ISTKF) (FSE: E41) ("Intellistake" or the "Company"), today announced its acquisition target NanoAi Technologies Inc. ("NanoAi") has assembled the leadership team behind its standoff detection platform within its newly established Op Center in the Dallas-Richardson area of Texas, bringing together special operations, global-scale engineering, scientific and defense logistics experience. The Company also released a Founder Video featuring NanoAi Founder, Chairman and CEO Craig Micklich.
On August 19, 2026, the Company announced that NanoAi had signed a lease for the Op Center, a dedicated facility to scale its engineering, quality and operations teams. That release established the infrastructure. This release introduces the people inside it. With the facility and the team in place, NanoAi is preparing for laboratory testing at the Op Center.
NanoAi is the subject of the Company's previously announced proposed acquisition that remains subject to closing conditions. Founded by Craig Micklich, a 12-year U.S. Navy SEAL veteran, NanoAi develops proprietary sensing technology designed to detect trace airborne threats at standoff distance, in real time, without physical contact, across wearable, drone, robotic, vehicle and fixed platforms for defense, law enforcement and critical infrastructure applications.
Leadership Forged in Special Operations
Craig Micklich is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of NanoAi Technologies. A 12-year U.S. Navy SEAL veteran, Mr. Micklich identified the gap in real-time airborne threat detection from direct operational experience and built the platform to address it. He has led the technology and business since 2018, taking it from a bench-level experiment to a full-stack sensing platform with active defense and commercial partnerships.
Mr. Micklich is a service-connected disabled veteran and lifetime member of the UDT/SEAL community. He is a co-author on the peer-reviewed research underlying the core technology.
His full background, including his senior capital markets roles at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley and his rescue work following Hurricane Katrina, is detailed in the Company's August 11, 2026 news release.
Under the definitive agreement between the Company and NanoAi dated August 3, 2026 (the "Definitive Agreement"), Mr. Micklich and a second NanoAi nominee will join the Intellistake Board upon closing.
The Founder Video: The Mission Behind NanoAi
Released alongside this news release, the Founder Video features Mr. Micklich telling the NanoAi story in his own words. As a Navy SEAL, he relied on his eyes, his ears and his teammates, and there were threats they could not see or hear. NanoAi was built to sense those threats sooner. Defense is NanoAi's primary vertical. The same purpose extends across other verticals, including border security, law enforcement and first responders.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/U-rsSMXai4A
Engineering Leadership Proven at Microsoft and Novell
NanoAi's Chief Technology Officer is a technology executive with more than 35 years of experience building engineering organizations, shipping products, and taking emerging technologies from prototype to market. He has led global engineering teams of more than 600 people and has founded or co-founded more than six startups.
As Vice President of Engineering at Novell, he led development of the NetWare operating system, the company's flagship product at roughly $450 million, and managed 600 engineers, project managers and engineering managers across the United States, Europe and India.
At Microsoft he shipped four products on time and under budget as a Product Unit Manager. As Director of Strategic Partner Alliances for a $1.8 billion division, he delivered the division's offerings through hardware OEMs including Dell, HP, Fujitsu and Hitachi.
At Microsoft, he also worked as a Principal Architect and Senior Director on the company's most forward-looking initiatives. He designed disaggregated GPU, memory and compute platforms for the Azure Horizon 2 incubation. He partnered with NASA Ames Research Center on next-generation airspace management and with enterprises such as BMW, General Motors, Honeywell, Delta and Disney on machine learning, blockchain and connected-systems projects.
He brings hands-on architecture depth together with the operating discipline needed to lead technology at a company that builds both hardware and software. At NanoAi, that experience applies to building the engineering team, setting engineering practices for software and hardware, and setting the technical direction that turns breakthrough science into a dependable product.
Scientific Leadership Over the Core Technology
NanoAi's incoming Chief Scientific Officer is already actively engaged in the company's scientific program to propel its core technology forward. Ahead of laboratory testing, this role is central to the scientific development, validation and advancement of the sensing technology. In this capacity, he will:
- Direct the scientific refinement of the company's proprietary sensing formulations and underlying detection mechanisms.
- Shape research protocols, validation strategies and data quality standards.
- Guide the platform's extension across defense, health and industrial applications, including the Gentex Ops-Core RAILINK program (Gentex Corporation's headborne helmet platform, for which NanoAi holds a development license agreement; see the Company'sAugust 11, 2026 news release and Gentex'sJune 16, 2025 announcement).*
- Evaluate product testing outcomes, performance claims and manufacturing readiness.
- Represent the company's science to partners, investors and the research community.
- Lay the groundwork for the scientific team and roadmap to be led as Chief Scientific Officer.
* Gentex Corporation, headquartered in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, describes itself as a global leader in personal protection and situational awareness solutions for defense forces, emergency responders, and industrial personnel. Its Ops-Core helmet systems are in service with United States and allied forces, and Gentex has supplied U.S. Special Operations Command since that command's activation in 1987.¹
Defense Logistics and Quality Proven With U.S. Special Operations Command
Alan "Buzz" Fink serves as NanoAi's Vice President, Logistics and Quality. Mr. Fink brings more than two decades of hands-on logistics, government contracting and supply chain experience built across multiple founded businesses and advisory work with defense contractors. He oversees the end-to-end logistics, supply chain and procurement functions that support NanoAi's detection platform from sourcing through delivery, while building the quality frameworks, documentation standards and qualification processes required for commercial and defense-grade deployment.
Mr. Fink founded and operated multiple companies, including Tactical Air Operations, Inc., a civilian company contracted to provide static line and freefall parachute training in support of U.S. Special Operations Command. Under his leadership, Tactical Air Operations delivered training across a 13-year contract lifecycle, with Mr. Fink managing the full logistics and supply chain backbone of the operation, from equipment procurement to vendor sourcing to scheduling, before the business was sold.
His career spans the full discipline of government contracting, including bid preparation, teaming agreements, pre-award and post-award conferences, the appeals process and full contract administration. As the platform advances toward testing and deployment, that experience governs how it is sourced, documented and qualified to the standards defense and commercial customers require.
Jason Dussault, Chief Executive Officer of Intellistake, commented:
"This is a milestone for NanoAi and for Intellistake. In defense, credibility is earned by people, and the team Craig has assembled reflects that. Front-line operational experience, engineering leadership proven at global scale, the science behind the sensor and defense-grade logistics, all under one roof. Teams of that depth are rare at this stage of a company's life. This is the team that developed the technology, and as we work toward completing the proposed acquisition, it is a central part of what we see in NanoAi. With laboratory testing ahead, we intend to report each milestone as it is reached."
Craig Micklich, Chief Executive Officer of NanoAi Technologies, commented:
"The technology speaks for itself. It is designed to detect trace airborne threats at standoff distance, in real time, without physical contact. Behind that technology is the team. I am proud of the people we have brought together. Everything is now in place to test and prove this platform. Different threats, same purpose. Sensing danger sooner."
Laboratory Testing Ahead
With the Op Center and the leadership team in place, NanoAi is preparing to commence laboratory testing of its platform at the Op Center. The Company expects to provide further details as testing begins and to report results as milestones are reached.
Transaction Status
The proposed acquisition of NanoAi was announced on August 4, 2026 and upon completion, NanoAi will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intellistake. Completion remains subject to customary conditions, including completion of satisfactory due diligence (including verifying title to the intellectual property of NanoAi), completion of the audit of financial statements of NanoAi, the Company maintaining a minimum cash balance of $2 million, and no objection from the Canadian Securities Exchange. Closing is targeted within 60 days of the definitive agreement and subject to satisfaction of closing conditions therein. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed on the terms currently contemplated, or at all.
Source
¹ https://www.gentexcorp.com/news/gentex-awarded-contract-for-ussocomcoxswain-helmet-system/
About NanoAi Technologies
NanoAi Technologies is a defense technology company developing a proprietary standoff sensing platform capable of detecting explosives, ammunition and narcotics across wearable, drone, robotic, vehicle and fixed-mount deployments. Combined with artificial intelligence, swarming capabilities and real-time geolocation, each sensor delivers results simultaneously to operators in the field and the task force.
To find out more about NanoAi Technologies, please visit: www.nanoaitechnologies.com
About Intellistake
Intellistake Technologies Corp. (CSE: ISTK) (OTCQB: ISTKF) (FSE: E41) is an AI infrastructure and technology company developing AI agents, enterprise software and data infrastructure designed to turn real-world information into actionable intelligence, including its Austen AI platform and production AI-agent deployments. The proposed acquisition of NanoAi is intended to expand the Company's technology platform into AI-enabled defense, advanced sensing, autonomous systems and connected soldier technology.
For additional information, visit www.intellistake.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information contained in this news release includes, but is not limited to, all statements regarding the proposed acquisition of NanoAi and its anticipated benefits; NanoAi's technology and development activities, including the anticipated integration of NanoAi's sensing technology with RAILINK-equipped platforms and the anticipated nature, extent and timing of development work with Gentex; potential applications of NanoAi's sensing platform; the anticipated evolution of headborne and soldier systems; anticipated market opportunities; the Company's artificial intelligence capabilities; the potential benefits of combining Intellistake's artificial intelligence infrastructure with NanoAi's sensing technology; and the expected contributions of the NanoAi team.
In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "intends", "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "would", or "might" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain assumptions regarding, among other things, the Company will continue to have access to financing until it achieves profitability; the Company and NanoAi satisfy all conditions necessary to close the proposed transaction; the maintenance in good standing of NanoAi's license and development collaborator status with Gentex; the parties' ability to develop, test, integrate and commercialize their respective technologies; the continued development and adoption of AI-enabled defense systems; the ability to establish and maintain customer, development and strategic relationships; the technology and blockchain industries in which the Company intends to focus its business in will grow at the rate and in the manner expected; the ability to attract qualified personnel; the success of market initiatives and the ability to grow brand awareness; the ability to distribute Company's services; the Company creates strategies to mitigate risks associated with cryptocurrency price fluctuations; the Company remains compliant with all applicable laws and securities regulations and applicable licensing requirements; the Company engages and collaborates with local experts, as necessary, to address jurisdiction-specific matters and ensures compliance with foreign regulations to avoid penalties; the Company addresses any potential cybersecurity threats promptly and effectively; the ability of the Company to develop its technology, acquire customers and have revenue; the ability to successfully deploy the new business strategy as a result of the change of business. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, they may be incorrect.
Forward-looking information is based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable as of the date of this news release, including: the completion of the proposed acquisition and the satisfaction of applicable closing conditions; the availability of financing on acceptable terms; the maintenance in good standing of NanoAi's license and development collaborator status with Gentex; the parties' ability to develop, test, integrate and commercialize their respective technologies; the continued development and adoption of AI-enabled defense systems; the ability to establish and maintain customer, development and strategic relationships; the ability to obtain any required regulatory approvals; the Company's ability to protect and commercialize its intellectual property; and general economic, market and industry conditions.
Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks related to general business, economic and social uncertainties; failure of the Company and NanoAi to satisfy all conditions necessary to close the proposed transaction; failure to raise the capital necessary to fund its operations; failure of NanoAi's technology will achieve the performance characteristics contemplated, successfully complete development, testing or integration with RAILINK-equipped platforms; failure to achieve commercial adoption or generate revenue; inability to create strategies to mitigate the risks associated with cryptocurrency price fluctuations; the costs of regulation in the digital asset industries increase to the extent that the Company is no longer generating sufficient returns for shareholders; failure to promptly and effectively address cybersecurity threats; insufficient resources to maintain its operations on a competitive basis; and the actual costs, timing and future plans differs expectations; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; the inherent risks involved in the cryptocurrency and general securities markets; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory, or at all; a decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Company's operations; the Company's success may depend on the continued involvement of key personnel, including advisors, whose involvement cannot be guaranteed; institutional adoption of decentralized AI infrastructure remains uncertain and may not occur at the pace or scale anticipated; evolving regulatory frameworks, including those related to AI (such as Canada's proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act) and prediction markets, may impose additional compliance burdens or restrict certain business activities; valuation figures are based on publicly available market data and internal assessments at the time of the referenced transactions and may not reflect current or future valuations; the volatility of digital currency prices; the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions, liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties; delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals; failure to attract qualified personnel, labour disputes; and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators.
Although the Company has attempted to identify factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update forward-looking information.
Market size and growth figures referenced in this news release are third-party industry estimates provided for contextual purposes only. Such estimates may differ materially depending on market definition, methodology, geographic scope and forecast assumptions, and should not be interpreted as forecasts of Intellistake's or NanoAi's future revenues, market share or financial performance. Statements attributed to Gentex or other third parties are based on publicly available materials, and the Company has not independently verified such information.
SOURCE Intellistake Technologies Corp.
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Company Contact: Alice Cherrington, VP of Communications, contact@intellistake.ai, +1 (888) 480-5052