Background
Haaris brings an unusually diverse professional trajectory to the School of Accounting and Finance, having built careers across software engineering, enterprise consulting, product management, and entrepreneurship before finding his home in academia.
His path has consistently traced the intersection of technology and business. He began as a self-taught developer, founding Creativum, a web development agency that was acquired by Site Dudes Group in 2014. He then joined Deloitte's Assurance & Advisory practice, where he gained business experience that cemented his understanding of how businesses operate at scale and revealed his passion for technology's role in transforming traditional processes.
This dual fluency led him to Deloitte Digital, where he served first as a Software Engineer and later as Technical Product Manager for Auvenir, a B2B SaaS platform automating the financial audit process. In that role, he led a product team of 13, managed development across 75+ engineers, and drove the platform from MVP to beta, ultimately securing enterprise clients generating significant revenue. He has also held technical roles at fintech startups, including Nest Wealth, with both companies later being acquired.
Haaris holds a postgraduate degree in Computer Science, with thesis research applying large language models to detect cyberbullying, work that has been evaluated by major technology companies for AI-based content moderation. His teaching and research interests center on artificial intelligence applications in business, the integration of emerging technologies into accounting and finance, and the evolving relationship between technology and organizational decision-making.
His active entrepreneurial ventures include Blackframe AI Consulting and Professor Town.
Education
- Wilfrid Laurier University
- Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
- University of Essex
- Masters of Science (MSc) Computer Science
Professional Experience
Industry Experience
- Senior Software Engineer, Nest Wealth Asset Management
- Technical Product Manager, Deloitte Digital
- Software Engineer, Deloitte Digital
- Senior Consultant, Deloitte Canada (Assurance & Advisory)
Courses Taught
- AFM241 – Impact of Technology on Business
- AFM244 – Business Analytics 3
- AFM341 – Accounting Information Systems
- AFM347 – Cybersecurity
- AFM415 – Special Topics (Data Analytics)
Service, Volunteer, and Professional Organizations
School of Accounting and Finance
- Screening/Recruiting Committee
- UWCISA Member: Case Competition Organization, Panel Moderation, Social Media Committee
- Emerging Technology Advisor
- Tax Educators Symposium Presenter
University of Waterloo
- New Technologies, Pedagogies, and Academic Integrity Standing Committee
- Manhattan International Business Analytics Competition (MBAC) Coach
- March Break Open House Representative
- Ontario DECA Workshop Developer and Presenter
International
- International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEAI) – Member