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Mercedes Soria
Executive Vice President and Chief Intelligence Officer, Knightscope
Sonu Iyer
National Leader, People Advisory Services - Tax, EY India
Key takeaways
Resilience and adaptability are important to overcome challenges and achieve success in tech leadership.
Diverse perspectives fuel innovation and help drive better decision-making in organizations.
The future of AI and robotics lies in ethical development, ensuring technology serves humanity while advancing security and safety.
AI and robotics can drive societal change and help create safer, smarter communities.
Mercedes Soria
Executive Vice President and Chief Intelligence Officer, Knightscope
For your convenience, a full text transcript of this podcast is available on the link below:
Sonu Iyer: Hello! welcome to Inspiring Voices, a podcast series with influential women leaders. This is an initiative under our Women. Fast forward program. EY Women. Fast Forward helps forge an integrated global ecosystem of entrepreneurs, business owners, leaders and next generation talent to close the gender gap and nurture an inclusive environment. Welcome to our podcast today. I am Sonu Iyer, National Leader, People Advisory Services - Tax, EY India.
In this series, we celebrate the remarkable journeys of distinguished women leaders. Their stories are not just tales of success, but beacons that illuminate the path for other inspiring women. Join us on this empowering voyage as we share these narratives to inspire and mentor. It is my honor and privilege to host Mercedes Soria, a super inspiring lady who stands tall in the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Her story and her journey thus far are super inspirational. Mercedes is the Executive Vice President and Chief Intelligence Officer at Knightscope Inc., a robotic security company where she focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). With a BS and MS degree in software engineering, she is also an alumni of Harvard Business School, Emory University, and MIT. She has been named the most influential woman in Silicon Valley, and is part of the US State Department’s TechWomen program, where she coaches women in STEM fields from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia about technology and entrepreneurship. Mercedes, thank you very much for joining us today. It is indeed my privilege and honor to host you in our podcast today.
Mercedes Soria: Thank you so much for having me. It is my pleasure to be here with you.
Sonu Iyer: Let me begin by asking about your personal journey. As I mentioned, your journey is super inspirational. Can you share that story with us? Where it all started? What drew you to the tech world? And of course, along this journey, the obstacles that you overcame to be that tall woman in this world of STEM.
Mercedes Soria: As you can tell, I have an accent. I am not from the United States. I was born in South America, and I studied there. I got my first bachelor's in computer science in Ecuador, and then I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to go to the US to get another bachelor's degree in computer science.
And then I stayed for the master's degree with an emphasis on artificial intelligence. I went with a scholarship, and then about six months into the two-year program, I was told by the university that there had been a fall out between the university in Ecuador and the university in the US. So, I had to make a choice; I could stay in the US, but I had to cover all my costs, or I could go back to Ecuador, the country which is mainly agricultural. There are not many opportunities in Ecuador, not just for women in technology, but for technology overall. We are definitely not known for tech companies in our country or for new discoveries.
The choice for me was clear. I was lucky to have a mother who supported me 100% in what I wanted to do. She knew that I had wanted to be an engineer, so she asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I would like to stay. She told me then - you have to do whatever you have to do to stay there. One of the things that some of the people who come from other countries might not know is that in the US, if you are a student who is not local to where the university is, whether you live in a different state or whether you live in a different country, you have to pay three times the amount of tuition that a local student has to pay.
It was a significant amount of money that I had to start covering. One of the advantages of having a student visa when you are in the US is that you can actually work at the university that you are in, but that is the only place where you can work. I found three different jobs at my university. I worked all three jobs, and I had a full class schedule every single day because I wanted to graduate as soon as I possibly could. So instead of doing that in two years, I did it in 18 months because I did not want to continue paying the tuition and all those expenses. When I graduated, you would think it would have been really easy to find a job with my qualifications, but it was not.
I applied to a hundred different positions. I got three calls for phone interviews, one call for an on-site interview, and that was the only job I was offered. I had a master's in computer science, but I was offered a job of a webmaster at that time, which is somebody who maintained webpages. It was a lot of writing HTML codes and putting pictures on the pages. But that was the only job I was offered, so I took it.
From then on, I started taking projects on my own. I took it up on myself to take my company, which was GMI from being and company that was not very technical in terms of the systems that were used to run the company. They were still running computers that had black backgrounds and green letters. I introduced them to what the web was, how accounting systems could be on the web, and how ERP systems could be on the web. To their credit, they gave me an open book. They said, go hire the people that you need put us online; the job is yours. I learned a lot on the job.
When I was done with that, I moved to Deloitte and spent about 10 years there working on global systems—from HR to ERP, to ethics and compliance, and to different types of systems—before I started my entrepreneurial career. I worked in three startups and my current company is the third startup, which I started in Silicon Valley 11 years ago.
We decided to solve the problem of crime in the US, and we were able to go public two years ago on the Nasdaq stock exchange. That is a little bit of my story.
Sonu Iyer: That is an amazing story. I was just trying to think of the attributes. You got the personal sacrifices, the aspiration, the curiosity, the innovation, the willingness to work hard, the hustle, the entrepreneurial abilities, choosing startups to work with after your journey started with a Big Four, and how you really turned all these obstacles into opportunities.
Anyone who is aspiring to grow in their field, their chosen field, and maybe we can talk about STEM and technology itself, all of these attributes are a given. But beyond that, one of the other things that stands out about you is that you have never given up on focusing on the fact that gender equality, gender parity is very, very critical.
Every organization you worked with, as a personal goal you said that you are going to do as much as possible to bring up as many women on the other side as you can. In your experience, what is the secret sauce for supporting women in tech? Is it the mentorship? Is it the education? Is it the sponsorship? Or all of that is needed to bring or increase the number of women in technology?
Mercedes Soria: There are a lot of companies that are doing a lot; especially you are in EY, I was at Deloitte. It is not lack of programs to bring women in STEM; it is not lack of companies trying to hire more women; not lack of opportunities. It is the fact that a lot of times, we, as women, expect the company to bring us along, or to do something for us.
What I have been trying to bridge for several years is that we as women need to own or careers. I was not part of any diversity and inclusion program. When I got my job, I did it on my own. I was matched with a mentor for Deloitte Credit, but it did not work out. That is when I realized that I need to do it for myself, and I need to all my career where I want to get. It is my responsibility to make sure that my dreams come true; no one else's. That is what I try to preach to all the women that I mentor. That is what I have tried to also do while I have been here in India with the local STEM students.
I know it is not going to be done probably in the next five years. Changing minds and changing cultures takes a long time. I might not see the change while I am alive. It might be someone else, but we have to start telling our women that they have to own their careers. They have the power. It is for them to take it.
Sonu Iyer: Thank you, Mercedes for that. You are at the forefront of innovation and AI. We see AI written all over; every aspect of our jobs today is touched by AI. It is creating opportunity as well as some disruption. What are you most excited about?
You are on the other side of the table. You are the trailblazer as far as AI and innovation is concerned. Which trends are you most excited about and what does it mean when we look at it from the perspective of our workforce - today and of the future?
Mercedes Soria: The change I am most excited about is the democratization of technology. For years, it has always been about - is it the Python language; is it machine learning; is it AI? What is the technology that we want to use? A lot of times entrepreneurs and even students find the technology first and then they try to find a problem to solve with that technology.
What generative AI is doing is eliminating the fact that you have to worry about what technology to use. You have to now focus on what problem am I trying to solve. Because generative AI can write your application for you. You do not have to be technical. Anyone can start a company. Anyone can learn how to use it. It is going to be a competition of ideas in the world of tomorrow.
That to me is very exciting because all the people who feel like they are left behind because they were not in STEM now have the opportunity to create companies, the opportunity to solve problems because of what we have been able to achieve with AI.
Sonu Iyer: That is a big one - a level playing field with no distinction between the techies and the non techies. If you can come up with bright ideas, you are going to change the world.
Mercedes Soria: The best ideas win; the best products are the winners.
Sonu Iyer: Given your experience in entrepreneurship as well as being responsible for carving out and implementing business strategies, how do you envision artificial intelligence and robotics transforming the way businesses operate in the next decade? If decade is too long a time, maybe next couple of years, whatever you want to talk about.
Mercedes Soria: We have to talk in decades especially in the robotics industry. It solves a lot of problems, but it does not have any control over the physical world. That is where robotics comes in. Because if you want to change something in the physical world, you are going to need a robot.
One of the examples is Knightscope, my company. Security guards, for example, spend most of their day (90% of their time) walking around and doing very little, such as scanning QR codes with their phones. Then 10% of the time they need to actually do something like arrest someone or, try to stop a sexual predator, things like that. All those jobs that could be automated, the 90% of the security guard’s job, which is walking around and looking around and not doing much, that is what we have automated with AI and robotics.
What did those people who used to do that job do now? They have a more interesting job. For example, you have to maintain those robots. You have to learn how to use the robots; learn that robot sends information to a cloud solution. So, you have to learn how to use the web; how to interact with information systems. Those human jobs are becoming of a higher level. Humans have to step up a bit. There are more technologies, and they just have to become better for it. Their lives become more interesting, and the jobs become more fulfilling. That is what we are trying to do with robotics and AI. A lot of these companies are in the US, and surprisingly enough, I have been talking to people here in India and there are some efforts that are kind of similar to the ones that we are taking in the US.
Sonu Iyer: I was reading one of your statements - “I am a crime fighter and I develop technology that saves people's lives”. That is a very powerful statement indeed from you, and the work that you are doing with Knightscope is also very interesting. As you said, combining robotic intelligence and machine learning for usage in physical space, that is also groundbreaking.
Ethics in AI is a very hot topic. Everybody is talking about if we should be more careful in how we use artificial intelligence, and the role, the governance, the monitoring that needs to come in this space. What is your take on that?
Mercedes Soria: Technology, whether it is AI or robotics or anything else, is inherently not good or bad. It is neutral. How do we use that as humans is what makes it good or bad. So, having guardrails that govern the way that the technology is used, the way it is implemented, how transparent it is, how do we train those models making sure there are no biases, making sure that we are using the right model to that AI problem - all of that is very important.
As long as we have governments that are interested in working on things like that. Like in the US, government is already making things happen, which includes how to make sure that the technology that we are building is human-centered, making sure the presence of ethics, ensuring that is not going to have the ability to harm humans, especially when you start talking about dealing with the physical world. These things become important.
As I learned yesterday during an interview I did here in India, the United Nations already has a draft of those rules and regulations that they would like to put in place for countries, so they can guide how we develop technology. I am excited to see it. They (UN) will soon distribute it to countries is what I was told.
There are several efforts - local efforts, state’s efforts and also global efforts in the United Nations. I believe everybody sees the importance of having those regulations in place to make sure that everybody is on the same level playing field and to make sure that we use the technology for the betterment of humanity.
Sonu Iyer: How do we use technology, particularly AI, for betterment of humankind? How do we help women grow and claim their rightful position in the world demographics, when it comes to opportunities?
Mercedes Soria: If you want to talk about women specifically, I will go back to the point that now, it is not about, are you a technology person or are you not a technology person. It is about what problem do you want to solve in the world. I believe women are particularly positioned to solve problems that will impact not just one section of the world, but they are responsible for their whole families.
That will give more opportunities to solving problems that might be overlooked otherwise. They do not have to be in tech; they do not have to be in STEM. Any woman who has the curiosity to solve a problem because there is a problem that she is dealing with on a daily basis, and she is entrepreneurial. I think the main characteristic for future leadership is going to be entrepreneurial. Whether you are starting your own business or whether you are in a company, a large company like Deloitte or EY is going to be about how entrepreneurial you are and what kind of ideas you can come up with, and then apply whatever technology, whether it is AI or not, whatever best fits the problem that you are trying to solve. It might not be AI, it might be something else, but the world of ideas, this is going to win and the future of tomorrow.
Sonu Iyer: During your current India tour, you have been meeting people, the academia and women groups. What is your impression of India's evolving landscape in general, and also STEM?
Mercedes Soria : One thing that I have learned here that I was not prepared for was how kind people are in India to everyone. It was a pleasant surprise for me. Another thing that I have learned is that there is a lot of effort taking place in India to try to bring more women into STEM. That is why my message is - it is not about more programs; the programs are there. It is not about how do we create the opportunities; the opportunities are there. It is about how do we make our women own their own careers and their own lives so they can go after the goals that they have and not be derailed by either families or cultural norms. They can achieve their dreams and the potential that they actually have.
Sonu Iyer: How you think India is contributing to the global STEM narrative? What unique strengths are you seeing in India in terms of the businesses you met up with? What do you think would be really helpful?
Mercedes Soria: One thing where India is contributing a lot, which I was not aware of earlier is diversity of thought, the diversity of people, the diversity of ideas that India has. There are problems that are particular to India. For example, the fact that India so many languages. You have to think about such things when you are solving a problem. If I try to reach these types of people, what language should I use? AI can help a lot here because you could write a code once or create an application once, and with a large language model, all of it can be translated and make a lot of sense.
All machine learning models are very clunky, especially when translation takes place. If you got Google Translate, it is not ideal, but with large language models now, that gap is much smaller.
So, I see that an opportunity for more ideas, for more exchanges. I believe people who go from India to other countries can bring a wealth of knowledge. There are lot of technical schools here. There are a lot of people I met who are in high school and are working on machine learning languages. They know try ChatGPT and have been using it on a daily basis. I thought I was going to come teach them how to use it, but they told me they are already using it.
I believe there is a tremendous amount of opportunity. And I believe that the talent in India, is just about as good as the talent that we have in the United States.
Sonu Iyer: You have got multiple accolades and recognitions. You have the ABIE award, you have a keynote speaker at Grace Hopper, and was named the most influential woman in the Silicon Valley. What is the next frontier for you?
Mercedes Soria: One thing that I would like to do is achieve the goal that we set for at Knightscope when we started the company, which is to make the United States the safest country in the world. We are in 17 states and the United States has 50 states. When we have robots in all 50 states, we will be able to cut crime. Our goal is to cut crime by 30 or 50%, so it could be the safest country in the world. That is what is next for me. I am single mindedly focused on that goal. Only after we achieve it, I will think about what comes next. And believe me, in my brain, there is always something that comes next.
Sonu Iyer: Super! It has been an absolute honor to host you today. Many lessons for all of our listeners. Own your own career. Dream big. Everything is possible. The opportunity is a level playing field. Now, there is no distinction between techies and non techies. It is someone who has the most creative ideas, who has the ability to get ahead. Curiosity and entrepreneurial traits are going to be the leadership traits of the next decade. I think those are very valuable nuggets of wisdom. Much appreciated. Thank you once again for being part of our podcast series.
Mercedes Soria: Thank you so much to you as well. It has been a pleasure.
Sonu Iyer: Many thanks to our listeners. We appreciate you tuning in. Hope you found the podcast today engaging, interesting and inspirational. Your engagement is truly valued. Do not miss out on our next episodes, wherein we will continue to spotlight extraordinary women, trailblazers who are not just leading the way, but are also eager to uplift and spark ambition in others. Until our paths cross again, strive for excellence, lead with determination and become the embodiment of the change you desire.
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