About Llama Research

We are a private AI service company for regulated enterprises. We help teams audit where AI fits, deploy multi-agent systems under real governance, and keep sensitive data under their control.

Private AI Multi-Agent Systems AI Governance Regulated Industries

Who we are

Llama Research (llamaresearch.ai) is a Toronto-based AI transformation firm focused on private deployment, agent architecture, and operational governance. We work with companies that cannot treat public AI APIs as a default — finance, payments, government-adjacent, and other regulated environments.

Positioning in one line: Private AI. Secure Data. Trusted Intelligence.

Built by operators, not observers

Llama Research was founded by two operators with a combined 40+ years building and scaling fintech companies. We co-built Carta Worldwide — a MasterCard-certified digital payments platform across Canada, the UK, and Morocco — then took that playbook to the Caribbean with Island Pay, securing the Bahamas' first payment service provider license and MasterCard principal membership.

We have lived the full lifecycle: founding, regulatory scrutiny, compliance programs, infrastructure scale, and exits. That operator background shapes how we design AI systems — with audit trails, human gates, and fail-closed controls as defaults, not afterthoughts.

Frank Svatousek, C.Dir

Founder & Principal

3x founder with successful exits and 25+ years across fintech, digital assets, and governance. Former CEO of Island Pay; co-founder of Carta Worldwide. Chartered Director (McMaster), MBA (Windsor), CAMS. Builds AI governance frameworks and agentic automation systems at Llama Research.

Geoff Smith

Founder & Principal

0-to-1 builder in complex regulated environments. As COO at CiNKO, built stablecoin payments infrastructure across Latin America and the Caribbean. At Island Pay and Carta Worldwide, shipped platforms under real compliance and scale pressure. Brings build-vs-buy clarity and implementation discipline to Llama Research clients.

What we do

If you need a demo theater, we are the wrong firm. If you need systems that survive diligence, audits, and production load — talk to us.

Start with the writing

Email: hello@llamaresearch.ai · Toronto-based · Serving North America, the Caribbean, and beyond.