While many executives cling to the safety of established industries, Shahbaaz thrives in the "Wild West" of emerging markets. He cut his teeth in the rigorous machinery of Salesforce where he learned the science of enterprise growth, but he made his name applying that discipline to the chaotic world of cannabis and startups.

His philosophy is simple: "No one is coming to save you." This self-reliance has made him the go-to strategist for companies facing an existential crisis. When Kind Magazine was just a print publication in a digital world, he transformed it into a global events empire. When Spiffy saw its restaurant market evaporate overnight during COVID, he pivoted the entire company to cannabis education which led to a successful acquisition.

Now serving as VP at Blaze, Shahbaaz is merging his two worlds of Cannabis and Tech to build the AI-powered infrastructure that will define the next generation of retail.