Onyx AI Labs was founded by C. Michael Gibbs to bridge the gap between what AI can do and what businesses actually need it to do. With eighteen years of enterprise automation and seven years focused specifically on AI governance—spanning financial services, risk management, and compliance—we've watched the same pattern repeat: businesses of all sizes struggling to get AI past the demo stage and into production.
That's our focus. We build AI systems that are accurate, verifiable, and actually useful for the people who depend on them. The methods we've developed serving major financial institutions—verification pipelines, audit trails, controlled deployments—now benefit businesses at every stage. Enterprise-grade rigor, without the enterprise overhead.
Whether you're a growing company deploying your first AI workflow or an established firm scaling agentic systems safely, we bring the same depth of expertise and production discipline.
We're also active contributors to the AI governance space — publishing research on model verification, compliance automation, and safe deployment practices. As agentic AI tools like OpenClaw put more power in more hands, we believe the companies helping businesses adopt AI have a responsibility to get governance right from the start.
Our approach comes from building AI for the most demanding environments—banking, compliance, risk management. That means every client gets systems that are more reliable, more secure, and easier to scale. You don't need to be an enterprise to benefit from enterprise-grade thinking.
You get running systems, not slide decks. Every engagement ends with AI working in your environment—tested, monitored, and ready for your team to use.
Permissions, audit trails, data separation, and human approval where it matters. With tools like OpenClaw making AI agents more accessible, safe deployment has never been more important. We build the controls in from the start.
Founder and CEO | SureStep & Onyx AI Labs
Eighteen years building enterprise automation for regulated industries, including seven years leading AI governance initiatives. Founded SureStep IT Inc. in 2009, expanding from Canada to international operations serving major financial institutions.
Has been bringing AI capabilities to governance, risk, and compliance since 2019—long before the current wave made AI a boardroom topic. Leading the development of production AI systems that enterprises can trust, audit, and defend to their regulators.
Supported by a network of AI engineers, data scientists, and domain specialists across our global offices.
Our methods are proven across some of the world's most demanding organizations—and we bring that same discipline to businesses of every size.
Toronto • New York • Singapore • Amsterdam • Dubai
Start with a conversation—no pitch decks, no pressure. We'll help you figure out where AI can make the biggest difference in your business.
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