The world of freight containers is little-known, but absolutely fascinating! Meet Jennifer Ivens, founder of Canscan, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup in the shipping industry.
Canscan is a startup working in the shipping industry. They optimize container maintenance to prevent cargo damage. Nothing predestined its founder, Jennifer Ivens, for technological entrepreneurship, yet it’s a role she’s taken on with brio for two years now. She is notably part of the Propulsion pathway at Centech, ETS’s incubator, and has won two pitch competitions at Startupfest 2019. She shares her exciting journey with us.
Émilie Vion: Jennifer, your initial training laid out a completely different path than the one you’re credited with today. Tell us about yourself, where you come from, and what ultimately led you to create Canscan.
Jennifer Ivens: I originally studied statistics at Concordia University almost 10 years ago, in the sociology of statistics department, to be more precise. After graduating, I was lucky enough to work at Ipsos, a French polling company and international opinion marketing agency. Despite the fact that this job was a foregone conclusion for the new statistics graduate that I was, I didn’t see myself at all in this sector. After a year, I saw no reason to continue.
I decided to move into a completely different field, shipping. Thanks to my network, I found myself helping to create a training system for shipping company managers. It’s both fulfilling and challenging. I then became more interested in logistics, particularly containers. I noticed a lot of inefficiencies and areas for optimization. I proposed several innovations and optimization tests, but I couldn’t get the resources I needed to support the development of new technologies.
Motivated by my desire to change things, I decided to set up my own business, making sure that my employer at the time was my first customer. The company in question still supports me today.
Émilie Vion: What problems does your company solve?
Jennifer Ivens : Defective containers can be catastrophic for the condition of the goods they contain. Financially, it’s a major issue in international trade (late delivery, loss of goods, destruction of goods). Doors can be damaged, rust can create holes in the walls, and so on. After a great deal of research, I identified artificial intelligence, in particular camera-based visual recognition, as the best option for assessing containers while they are being transported, either by truck, rail or crane. For occupational health and safety reasons, port terminals have a highly-developed network of cameras in perfect condition. So we collect the data from the cameras, analyze it and inform the customer if a container is identified as potentially faulty. The aim is really to optimize operations and make working in the port safer.
Émilie Vion: You don’t have a background in this industry. What helped you spot these optimization opportunities?
Jennifer Ivens : Coming from a different world was an opportunity to see things from a fresh perspective. The transport industry is very much a family business, with several generations in succession. What’s more, the people who work in it have been there for years. There’s very little questioning of the way things are done. Outsiders generally don’t stay long, because despite a few proposals for change or improvement, there’s never any money invested in innovation or process development. There are always other priorities.
Émilie Vion: Is this lack of priority a reluctance to change?
Jennifer Ivens: It’s more political. The industry innovates all the same, and regularly carries out pilot projects, but despite encouraging or positive results, the projects are rarely developed beyond the pilot framework. And yet, the vice-presidents of these companies are not old and are keen on new technologies. But it’s an industry that’s already doing very well, and it’s hard to see the tangible return on investment it would bring for them. Innovation is risky, and the success rate is not always 100%.
“Technical training courses rarely, if ever, present the benefits of technological or industrial professions for society.” – Jennifer Ivens
Émilie Vion: Since the start of the conversation, you’ve often used the masculine gender to talk about decision-makers in the transport industry. What role do women play in technology and transportation?
Jennifer Ivens: There aren’t many women managers in the transport industry. The majority of women working in this field are in traditionally female departments such as human resources, accounting, etc… It’s a shame because operationally, I find that women have a more global vision of the issues.
In technology, unfortunately, there aren’t enough women, especially in artificial intelligence. Yet women have a more holistic way of looking at things. We look at how everything connects together, and how we can optimize things across the board. Personally, I never thought I’d go into technology because I thought I wasn’t good enough at maths. We often restrict ourselves to things that aren’t important. Technical training courses rarely, if ever, present the benefits of technological or industrial professions for society. Whereas I think women prefer to be involved in projects that will make a real difference to their everyday lives. It would be a good idea to present technologies by identifying the benefits for the user and for society.
Émilie Vion: As a woman working in AI, have you had to bang your fist on the table to make yourself heard?
Jennifer Ivens : Being the president, I think things are different. There’s a certain respect that comes with the position. I try to listen as much as possible and take the time to weigh up the pros and cons, but I still make the final decisions. Age also plays a role. I’d say that at almost 40, it’s easier for me to assert myself when I need to. But that hasn’t always been the case. And I see it around me. My younger female colleagues become more emotional, raise their voices sometimes to make themselves heard, and so on. I try to guide them as best I can. It’s a common misconception that women are more emotional in their leadership. That’s not my way of being or thinking. In my opinion, to be heard, you have to be firm and demand respect. I want to guide them, help them evolve, while letting them express their personality to the full. Unfortunately, that’s one of the challenges we still have to tackle.
I do, however, sometimes play up my femininity. When I’m the only woman competing with other men, I’ll make sure it’s noticed that I’m a woman, because it’s a strong differentiator. Sometimes, I also have to be firmer with groups of older men. In these cases, I adopt a slightly more masculine personality.
In my team, there’s a woman from Iran. She’s doing her PhD in artificial intelligence and she’s absolutely brilliant. She has a very creative way of finding solutions. On the other hand, on a day-to-day basis, she really needs to assume responsibility within the team by showing that she is in charge of the project and the team around her, so that she can more firmly establish her decisions and ideas.
Émilie Vion: You were featured in Sophie Lérault’s Onepoint special report Vu d’ici on the place of women in technology, a crossroads between France and Quebec. One of the issues that stood out was the recruitment of women. Can you tell us a little more about this and how it’s a challenge for you?
Jennifer Ivens : As a startup, we don’t have a lot of time dedicated to employee training. There are a lot of interested and interesting women in artificial intelligence, but they have a junior profile. I’d like to hire and train them internally, but I don’t have the size or the time to do that. For senior profiles, I have to rely on immigration to recruit women. In Iran, the cultural and political situation leads women to study longer. Hiring someone from abroad involves a lot of red tape, especially as there are so many criteria to be met. Improvements could be made to encourage women to immigrate to Canada and Quebec. I’m currently in the process of recruiting two women. I’m confident they’ll join the team.
Émilie Vion: Do women pitch differently from men?
Jennifer Ivens : When it comes to fund-raising, I think I’m asked the same questions as a man. On the other hand, they’re paternalistic towards me. For example, “Don’t worry about that, I’ll take care of it.” I’m the CEO and I want to know everything, as well as be respected in that position, so this is unacceptable.
When I pitch, it’s extremely important to educate the audience. I want to be able to present the industry, the problem I’m solving and how I’m doing it. I often use humor, something women are good at.
Émilie Vion: How can we encourage young people to pursue careers in science and technology?
Jennifer Ivens: We need to identify the key moments in a young woman’s life when she needs to be introduced to science, technology and entrepreneurship. We don’t want to force them, but we need to find a way to create these passions. When I was young, for example, my father, an engineer, tried to pass on his passion for science and technology, but I didn’t want to know anything about it. I wanted to play with my dolls and go horse-riding. Today, I’m smiling because it’s my passion! I imagine there’s a more appropriate time to address young women and raise their awareness.
