2019 Canadians to Watch

CHOSEN BECAUSE: 

It wasn’t that Greta Cutulenco, 28, came around to cars as much as cars came around to her. 

“I’ve always been more into computers and robotics,” said the co-founder and CEO of Acerta Analytics Solutions. “[But] nowadays, a car almost feels like a big computer on wheels.” 

To ferret out problems, Acerta uses machine learning — artificial intelligence, or AI — to identify anomalies in the data generated during vehicle production. This allows clients of the Kitchener, Ont., firm, including automakers and now a major North American axle manufacturer, to make fixes early and avoid much higher costs later.

Cutulenco, a winner in Microsoft’s Female Founders Competition, says the increasing complexity of cars makes AI a necessity. “It’s becoming overwhelming to continue either using existing diagnostic tools or to manually solve these issues.” 

IN HER OWN WORDS: 

“As all of this transformation and complexity is being introduced, I feel more of these types of AI technologies will be necessary for manufacturers to remain competitive in the market.”