Our Starter Company Plus program is funded by the Ontario Government and delivered by the Small Business Centre of Barrie, Simcoe County and Orillia. The program is designed to help entrepreneurs start, grow, or buy a business. Participants receive mentorship from experienced business professionals, valuable training and networking, and the opportunity to pitch for up to $5,000 in micro-grant funding.
The Small Business Centre team is excited to share the companies they had the chance to work with this spring.
Meet Dawson Sewell and Dilbert Ratio Group Inc.
Dilbert Ratio Group Inc. (DRG), founded by Canadian automation veteran Dawson Sewell, designs, builds, and optimizes a unified AI Operating System that layers generative-AI automations, secure integrations, and governance across every department of a growing business. With a proven, six-phase delivery model—Discovery, Architecture, Build, Launch, Continuous Optimization, and Governance—DRG prioritizes each automation by projected hours saved and cost reduced, then tracks real-time ROI on live dashboards. A flexible monthly retainer supplies a dedicated bank of developer hours for enhancements and proactive monitoring, ensuring the platform evolves as new models and tools emerge. By turning isolated AI experiments into enterprise-grade, modular workflows, DRG frees thousands of staff hours while future-proofing operations for sustainable growth.
Interview with Dawson
- What inspired you to start your business?
After a decade automating processes inside tech startups, Dawson saw promising AI pilots die in “proof-of-concept purgatory.” He launched DRG to give scaling companies a clear path from idea to enterprise-grade AI Operating System—with measurable ROI at every step.’
- What services/products do you offer?
• End-to-end AI Operating System architecture and build-out
• Generative-AI automations prioritized by time/cost impact
• Live ROI dashboards translating hours saved into dollars
• Flexible monthly retainer: developer hours for enhancements, prompt tuning, and monitoring
- What makes your business unique?
DRG owns the entire lifecycle—strategy, secure API integrations, governance rails, and continuous optimization—so clients avoid fragmented vendors and achieve compounding gains. The modular framework lets new tools plug in without “rip-and-replace” rebuilds.
- How did you come up with your business name?
“Dilbert Ratio” riffs on the comic strip’s satire of workplace inefficiency—a reminder that DRG’s mission is to flip that ratio in favour of productivity—while “Group” reflects a collaborative network of AI engineers and advisors.
- Most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself so far?
Teaching the mechanics of AI has become as fulfilling as building it; client workshops revealed an unexpected talent for demystifying complex tech to non-technical teams.
- One piece of advice for new founders?
Anchor every feature or service to a numeric ROI metric; clear financial impact accelerates buying decisions and builds trust.
- What is a dream opportunity or collaboration?
Embedding DRG’s modular AI Operating System inside a Fortune 500 digital-transformation program to showcase how mid-market agility can coexist with enterprise scale.
- What do you hope to achieve from the Starter Company Plus program?
Fine-tune DRG’s pricing, strengthen grant-funded R&D for governance tooling, and widen the firm’s mentor network to support national expansion.
Explore Dilbert Ratio Group Inc. Today
To learn more about Dawson Sewell and Dilbert Ratio Group Inc., you can visit the website or reach out via email at me@dawsonsewell.com. Follow Dawson on LinkedIn to stay informed about his services.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dawsonsewell
Website: dilbertratiogroup.com
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Learn More About the Starter Company Plus Program
To learn more about the Starter Company Plus program, reach out to the Small Business Centre of Barrie, Simcoe County & Orillia today at smallbusiness@barrie.ca or 705-720-2445, or visit the program info page.