QUESTIONS FOR

Elizabeth Caley

So much has changed in recent months. How is the pandemic affecting AI and machine learning innovation?

Most machine learning is used to make predictions about the future and to help business leaders make better decisions today. Fortunately, the type of AI that is used in a self-driving car — which recognizes that a pedestrian or a cyclist is crossing the road — still works as well as it ever did. But for the AI that has been used to determine the outcome of a credit application or to estimate the number of cars that a factory should produce, there are questions about how robust these models are now, given the unprecedented impact of the pandemic. Luckily, there are lots of people working on this issue, and there are new approaches emerging, like unsupervised learning for certain types of problems. But there are definitely plenty of conversations happening about models that were being followed a year ago, and whether we should still be using them in the same way.

Tell us about your latest venture, Poppy. What problem does it try to solve?

We started Poppy out of a recognition that there was a missing layer of information in society, and that was knowing about all the invisible entities that share our living and working spaces — the microorganisms, the bacteria, the viruses, etc. We determined that technology had reached a point where a business could be founded to ‘make the invisible visible’. The idea is that, as a business owner or someone running a long-term care facility, you could monitor what is in your spaces that might possibly make people sick. We started designing the device, and soon after that, COVID-19 hit. Since then, we’ve been focused on moving as fast as we can in order to help with COVID-19 detection — along with all of the other pathogens, viruses and bacteria that affect our health.

Basically, we want this to be the equivalent of a weather forecast. The fact is, no matter where you are — even at home in your kitchen — there is bacteria in the room with you. Having some level of bacteria around is actually good for us. The microbiome in our gut, for instance, helps to prime our immune system. The goal is not to get rid of all the micro-organisms by bleaching every surface we encounter. But what we would like to know is whether levels of bacteria or viruses have changed significantly in a particular space. For example, if you learn about an increased level of salmonella or e-coli in your kitchen, you can take immediate steps to address that and improve your cleaning regimen. This could apply equally to avoiding germs from day to day in cold and flu season or to getting rid of bedbugs in hotels. At the moment, all of these things are very difficult to detect in a routine way.

Prior to founding Poppy, you co-founded Meta, which was acquired by the Chan Zuckerberg initiative in 2017. Describe how that came about.

Meta was a machine-learning-based company whose mission was to organize scientific information by performing big data analysis of the scientific literature. The goal was to help every researcher in the world discover and use information that improves lives.

A Canadian executive at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative had met our CEO a few years earlier at a program called 48 Hours in the Valley, which is run by the C100 — a group of Canadians who work in Silicon Valley that includes a lot of Rotman alumni. CZI was looking for technologies and products that matched their vision and they identified Meta as a leader in the market. Meta’s mission was completely aligned. We were all passionate about using technology to accelerate scientific progress, so we completed the acquisition over the winter holiday break of 2016/17.

In your ‘spare time’ you serve as a Mentor at the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), which is headquartered at the Rotman School of Management. Talk a bit about the work going on at CDL and your involvement in it.

I’m a huge fan of the CDL and have been involved for five years now. For those who don’t know, CDL is a not-for-profit organization that started at the Rotman School and now has nine locations worldwide, from the University of British Columbia to Georgia Tech to Oxford. CDL operates 15 streams, including AI, Health, and Space. Its mission is to take early stage science- and technology-based companies and help them scale up through an incubation program.

Over the course of a typical school year, a wide variety of early-stage companies come through the program. For example, in one case a university professor and a grad student made a major breakthrough together and wanted to figure out how to commercialize it. As mentors, we met with them every eight weeks to help them set and meet their goals. Start-ups are hard at the best of times, but by the end of the program, many have a clear path to turn their innovation into a viable business.

You have been passionate for some time about mentoring women in STEM [Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Math]. Are we making headway?

Absolutely, in many areas. I really believe that, not just because of all the women I get to meet who are making history, but also because of initiatives like the high school girls program that I’ve been involved with. Girls in Grades

Technology had reached a point where a business could be founded to ‘make the invisible visible’.

9, 10, 11 — many of whom are part of The Knowledge Society — are coming to CDL and shadowing people like me for a few days to see what a career in science or tech looks like. These young people are leaving with solid ideas of what entrepreneurship is like, or what being an investor or a scientist might be like. These girls continue to impress me to no end. They are incredibly smart and driven, and I love contributing to keeping their eyes open to all the opportunities out there for them.

It has been said that you have a ‘superpower’: An ability to make everyone around you feel uniquely recognized, heard and understood and to build consensus. We need these skills now more than ever. How do you go about this?

I actually have a bit of a cheat: Most of the time, to start with, the people I’m working with are driven by a shared mission. They’ve chosen to be at the table because they believe in some great outcome — whether it’s helping to combat climate change, accelerating scientific research, or increasing gender equality. So that gives me a major head start in terms of driving consensus and helping people feel heard and recognized. Usually it takes an upfront investment in time and effort to get to know individuals and understand what they care about, what motivates them, and how they want to grow. Once you understand those elements for most of the people in a room, it’s much easier to build consensus — and there’s a good chance you’ll succeed in getting the job done.

Your mantra is ‘Technology for good, for all.’ How are we progressing in making this a reality?

I am not the most patient person, so I do feel like we need to make progress faster. Some days I feel like we’re running out of time — especially when it comes to climate change, but in other areas as well. The days I feel really optimistic are the ones when I’ve spent time with scientists and entrepreneurs, especially around Covid-related issues. I’ve been totally emerged in this issue since last March, working with hundreds of scientists with very specific specialties (like how to sequence the COVID-19 virus) and getting to really understand what it is and how it works. Regardless of their day

There are days when I recognize the magnitude of the problems we are facing and feel like the clock is ticking.

jobs, so many people are just jumping in and working on this. Those are the days that make me feel like we’re making really good progress with ‘technology for all’. But as indicated, there are also days when I recognize the magnitude of the problems we are facing and feel like the clock is ticking.

You have been called a ‘quintessential science and technology geek.’ In today’s world, that’s a huge compliment, isn’t it?

I agree that it’s a big compliment, particularly right now. But for me personally, I would have been happy to be called a geek at any point in time. I’m lucky to have always been really encouraged and supported to spend time on intellectual endeavours and solving hard problems. So, I take it as a compliment today and I will take it as a compliment tomorrow. And I want to encourage anyone reading this to join the club of geeks that are trying to make a difference in the world.

Elizabeth Caley (Rotman Global Executive MBA ‘10) is the Co-founder and CO-CEO of Poppy and a mentor with the Creative Destruction Lab’s CDL Recovery Program, which is focused on finding information-based solutions to accelerate the world’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.