Most economies talk about innovation but quietly waste their most valuable asset, experience. In this episode of Localization Fireside Chat, I sat down with David Smith, CEO of Elderberry.work, to unpack one of the biggest hidden problems in modern business, the underutilization of experienced professionals and the economic damage caused by ageism. David’s career spans environmental science, venture backed startups in Silicon Valley, executive leadership roles, and sustainability leadership inside large Canadian corporations. After being let go as vice president of sustainability when a new CEO removed the role, he saw firsthand how easily experience gets discarded by corporate systems. That moment, combined with the disruption of COVID and the limits of referral based consulting, led him to build Elderberry.work, a B2B marketplace that connects professionals aged 45 and up with startups and small to medium businesses that need proven expertise on a fractional, interim, or project basis. The insight behind the platform is simple. Canada does not have a shortage of knowledge workers. It has a mismatch. Skilled, experienced people exist, but companies cannot find them and do not know how to engage them in a flexible way. Elderberry solves that by creating a curated, on demand talent pool of professionals who have built, scaled, and operated businesses and can now inject that experience into younger companies without the cost and risk of full time hires. David explains that experience creates value in five ways. First is subject matter expertise. Second is judgment and wisdom that only comes from having lived through real successes and failures. Third is soft skills like communication, collaboration, and leadership that are increasingly rare in a screen first workforce. Fourth is the productivity boost that comes from multigenerational teams, which studies show outperform single generation teams. Fifth is cost effectiveness, because fractional talent hits the ground running without long onboarding cycles. The rise of fractional work, he argues, is not a trend but an economic correction. Companies can access senior level talent for a fraction of the cost, scale it up or down, and de risk major initiatives by bringing in people who have already done the work before. Elderberry does not limit this model to the C suite. It includes managers, directors, vice presidents, and functional leaders so companies can get exactly the level of experience they need. The platform also addresses ageism directly. Many professionals over 45 are pushed out not because of performance but because their salaries are higher and their value is narrowly defined by job titles instead of total impact. David sees this as a massive brain drain that is dragging down Canada’s knowledge economy. His partnership with Worldwide Interim Leadership extends this model globally, allowing companies to access boots on the ground expertise in over 40 countries while giving experienced professionals international opportunities. David also offers a sober warning about AI. Most Canadian companies are using it for cost cutting instead of growth, which will only deepen economic stagnation. AI without experienced humans to provide judgment, context, and guardrails leads to poor decisions and weak execution. Growth requires people who know how to commercialize, not just automate. Elderberry.work is designed as a social enterprise as well as a marketplace. It gives older professionals purpose, income, and a way to keep contributing. It helps startups and small businesses grow faster and smarter. And it provides underserved communities, including immigrants and refugees, with access to affordable, high quality consulting. David’s final message is clear. The future of work will belong to companies that stop wasting experience and start using it strategically. Fractional, on demand access to proven talent is no longer optional. It is how serious businesses will win.
Watch the full conversation https://youtu.be/xnTTZm52o-Y
Localization Fireside Chat
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https://www.l10nfiresidechat.com
Robin Ayoub 
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