Artificial Agency names Greg Canessa as chief operating officer

Artificial Agency, an Edmonton-based AI company, announced the appointment of Greg Canessa as chief operating officer. The company develops AI-powered generative behavior technology for the gaming industry.

Canessa brings over 25 years of gaming industry experience, having held senior executive positions at Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Xbox, GSN (a Sony division), and Google. His role will focus on scaling the company's commercial capabilities to support growing studio adoption of its AI-powered generative behavior engine.

Prior to joining Artificial Agency, Canessa served as president and chief operating officer at blockchain startup Sequence, which was acquired by Polygon Labs in the first quarter of 2026. He also serves on the board of Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, a $200 million initiative to accelerate gaming and entertainment.

Founded by former Google DeepMind researchers, Artificial Agency emerged from stealth mode in July 2024. The company launched the alpha version of its behavior engine last summer, initially available to select studios through a pilot program. The technology enables developers to add AI-driven intelligence to game systems, creating characters, events, and scenarios that respond to players and each other.

In April 2026, the company acquired Reflection Tree, an on-device collaborative planning system for Unreal Engine 5. The company also released product enhancements for its behavior engine, including new character archetypes, multiplayer compatibility, and Unity support.

"Greg is a proven industry leader who brings extensive studio experience and personal passion to the Artificial Agency team," said Brian Tanner, CEO and co-founder of Artificial Agency, according to the company's statement.

Canessa represents the company's first outside executive hire as it moves beyond the pilot phase to work with more gaming studios.

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