Meet Dr. Soodeh Farokhi: Tech Entrepreneur Founder and CTO of C2RO Cloud Robotics Inc.

Soodeh is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of C2RO Cloud Robotics, an award-winning software startup in Montreal, Canada. C2RO offers real-time cognitive AI solutions via an enterprise SaaS platform for smart devices. She is a visionary technology entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in computer science (cloud specialist), who was selected among the top 750 digital IT innovators of the world in 2018 and the top young entrepreneur in Quebec in 2018. Soodeh is an energetic and strong leader with over 7 years of industrial experience such as product manager and R&D lead in cloud, telecom, and web service domains, along with six years of technology research background. Her entrepreneurial experience started with co-founding the first research-industrial institute in the field of service-oriented architecture in Iran in 2011. She received her PhD. from Vienna University of Technology, Austria, and has an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. both in software engineering.

I chose my career path because… Working on technologies that are my passion and can improve the quality of our lives.

My proudest accomplishment is… Building my second startup that is C2RO Cloud Robotics. An award-winning software startup that builds cognitive AI solutions for smart devices such as robots via the cloud.  

My boldest move to date was… Leaving my country to study my PhD in one of the top world universities in my domain in Europe. 

I surprise people when I tell them… I am an Iranian entrepreneur (obviously female) under 35 with a PhD who is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of an AI/robotics company in Canada.

My best advice to people starting their career is… Believe in yourself, follow your passion, do your best and do not be afraid of failures.

My best advice from a mentor was… On the importance of relationship, “when you need a relationship, it is already too late to build it”.

Believe in yourself, follow your passion, do your best and do not be afraid of failures.

I would tell young girls thinking about a career in STEM… Don’t be discouraged by the stereotypes and follow your dream path. There is not such a thing that a major belongs to a particular gender.

My biggest setback was… It is 2019 and I have to still deal with sexism and ageism in my professional life, unfortunately very often.

I overcame it by… Staying focused and strong to show none of those thing matter, that’s when you can have the biggest impact. Also, I surround myself with people who believe in me and give me positive energy.

If I were to pick one thing that has helped me succeed, it would be…  My self-confidence, hardworking and perseverance

If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know… I am a proud mom of a baby girl.

I stay inspired by… Reading about the story of successful innovators, executives and tech entrepreneurs especially women like Sheryl Sandberg, CFO of Facebook. 

The future excites me because… It is better than what we think.

My next step is… To build a unicorn out of my company.

Hear the rest of her incredible story at The Next Frontier: Meet the Tech Visionaries Designing the Future a WOI Spotlight Event – proudly presented by BDC . We are thrilled to announce our return to Montreal for one exclusive engagement on May 15th. Join us for a career-defining evening of learning, connection and inspiration! Tickets are available here.