April HVN Event RECAP

Three words encompass CubCloud AI: sovereign, local, and empowering. This Missoula business started with one mission to provide small businesses with AI consulting services that remain in Montana.

One founder, Joshua Rhines, found that the industry was dominated by a handful of coastal hyperscale centers offering shared infrastructure, opaque pricing, and no meaningful answer to where the data actually lives. And for regulated industries like healthcare, finance, government, and telecom, that is not just an inconvenience but also a compliance liability.

To solve this, Joshua started the business with Brandon Smith, Joshua Nowak, and Drew Surratt, now headquartered at 400 West Broadway St., Suite 102, downtown.

Joshua has an extensive background from music to engineering to commercial real estate development, but one thing held true between them all: he enjoys creating things. He said that, over the years, he found that AI unlocks that ability to create so many things.

“You can dream it, you can build it at this point in history. And that’s pretty inspirational; I find it to be. When I was a kid, I used to dream of the future

being like the Jetsons,” he said.

As a whole, CubCloud AI is a Montana-Sovereign AI service company, helping businesses with AI on any level they need, whether that is an AI solution or a full platform. Joshua said there is no “one size fits all” model, so they try to find the specific businesses’ pain points and work from there.

What is important to note is they are not a part of the increasing development around hyperscale data centers in Montana. Joshua said they are often lumped into that category, but they have no affiliation with those projects. CubCloud upholds that human notion, believing that customers should always talk to humans, and all data used stays in Montana.

Ultimately, Joshua said their company will retain its central, local mission.

“Keep everything local, keep everything sovereign, and empower Montana businesses,” he said.

“Ultimately, we’re a bunch of nerds building out AI systems all day, every day.”

If you’d like to get in touch with Joshua, you can reach him at [email protected].