2021 Canadians to Watch

CHOSEN BECAUSE:

Frantz Saintellemy, 47, is COO of Quebec-based LeddarTech at a crucial moment for the industry and for the advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) company. For a big chunk of 2020, the pandemic largely paused much of the industry’s development and testing of ADAS technology.

But things have been heating up, and LeddarTech sees itself leading this resurgence. Saintellemy is helping guide the company as it looks to address the diverse needs of its customers. Some automakers are looking for an incremental approach to adopting ADAS technology while others want to make huge leaps forward in short periods of time. “It forces us to really be at the forefront of problems to solve,” Saintellemy said.

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

“We think we can be one of the companies that can help consolidate the industry. In the last year, we have done two acquisitions — one in Israel, one in Canada. The pandemic got rid of a lot of the noise around autonomous driving, around lidar, to focus on ADAS and advanced autonomy features and pushing out [autonomous vehicles] to a more realistic timeline.”