Beyond Data Management Podcast
The definitive podcast for government data management and stories from the field - with a special focus on Environment Health professionals.
Beyond Data Management Podcast
Why food companies are racing to adopt this AI - Ep39
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🎙️ Beyond Data Management Podcast — Powered by HS GovTech
What if your food safety and quality systems could answer any question in real time, in any language, tailored to your role — while predicting problems before they happen?
In this powerful episode, Cameron Garrison interviews Dr. Vera Dickinson, Founder & CEO of Nova Q. Vera brings decades of hands-on expertise from the front lines of food safety: PhD research on pathogens, quality leadership at Disney (under Frank Yiannas), Mars Wrigley, Danone, Sargento, and more.
They discuss:
Why the food manufacturing industry remains conservative despite razor-thin margins and high-stakes risks
The human and financial cost of manual processes and slow recalls
How exposure to ChatGPT sparked Vera’s vision for purpose-built AI (no generic hallucinations)
Nova Q’s innovative tools: unified regulatory knowledge center, real-time analytics, root cause analysis, forecasting, and organization-wide visibility
Leadership lessons on culture change, hiring smarter teammates, and fearless decision-making
Lessons from major mergers, industry consolidation, and high-profile failures like Chipotle and Peanut Corporation of America
Vera emphasizes the need for validated, future-proof AI tools that support both internal compliance and upcoming regulatory requirements.
Whether you work in food manufacturing, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, or government oversight — this episode is packed with practical insights and inspiration for anyone passionate about modernization and protecting public health.
Please remember to like and subscribe - and reach out to us with your stories and show ideas Beyond@hscloudsuite.com
This is the Beyond Data Management Podcast powered by HS GovTech. Now here's your host, Cameron Garrison.
SPEAKER_01Hello, happy Tuesday, all across EH Regulatory Nation, another episode of the podcast here. You know, you all have picked on me for this. You may remember back a few episodes ago, uh, actually over a year ago, Dr. Dijak, the uh CEO of Niha, was on, and I said to him, You know, it's interesting. A lot of people don't think about it, but eating out or eating food that you even buy it was manufactured somewhere and prepared. It is something that we don't think twice about, but it's one of the more intimate things that we all do. We don't prepare it. We don't we don't know where it came from, we don't know you know what the controls were on it, but yet we put it into our body. And y'all have had a lot of fun with me on that. The most intimate thing, of course, the other one we can't talk about on this show, but if you think about it, it's more pervasive than that other one. So one of the best parts of my job uh at HSGov Tech, and and then of course, here uh host of this show is just getting to meet phenomenal founders and the tech that they're creating to make that very fact, the risk we all take every day, because we have no choice, we have to live, a little bit safer. And uh just a great person here, Vera Dickinson, who is the founder and CVO of uh CEO of ANOVAQual I think you call it ANOVAQ. And using it really just actually it would be unfair, I think, to call it, you know, a set of tools for quality control and safety and manufacturing. You're really looking to, with AI and the technology capabilities that are available now, really kind of redefine and modernize that regulatory framework, aren't you, for compliance?
SPEAKER_02Exactly right. Actually, the word Yes, thank you so much for having me here. Uh super excited. Um, actually, the name InnovaQ came because of this very mission. Um, I've always been passionate about bringing innovation and modernization to food safety in quality. And um the name actually stands by this mission, innovation in quality. So that's what we did.
SPEAKER_01Not not just a cute name, but one that actually means something, which I I actually to hold their side trail, we won't go on it. But I think when you're naming tech companies and things, naming is really important. And sometimes you can be too cute by half and and actually not mean anything with your with your name. So you've got a long background as an expert in this. Um so actually maybe it makes sense to start there. This is not something you just wake up one morning and say, I want to revolutionize the way food manufacturing and and food providers are doing their quality assurance and their safety protocols. That's something you just wake up and do one day. So how did you come to this sort of the journey that led up to taking that big chance of founding your own thing?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the uh the journey was unusual maybe with some, but very um similar to many of you probably who listened to this podcast. Um I started with getting my PhD in food microbiology, food safety, uh, and um uh, you know, food safety, Lysterium onocytogenies, the uh the most common pathogens in ready-to-eat food was my point of my dissertation. Um, and I actually started with investigating different use of different technologies to detect and differentiate different pathogens. So this is where my passion for technology and analytics kind of started. And then I went into the industry. I worked, I was very, very fortunate. I worked for such giants as um Walt Disney World, and then moved to manufacturing in Chicago. Um, I worked for uh Mondelis International, then Mars Rigley, and then um moved to dairy uh processing with Dunone, North America, and then finished my career with Sergento um up in Wisconsin as uh DG.
SPEAKER_01The cheese people. So and so I apologize, should uh correct the opening. It's Dr. Vera Dickinson.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_01You're you're you're very you're smart. Um what were the roles like, like at Sergento or or the other the other big recognizable brands that you started your career with?
SPEAKER_02Well, I started from bottom and kind of worked myself all the way through the uh different programs um under the umbrella of food safety, quality, and regulatory. Um so anywhere from auditing, deployment of food safety um and quality culture, um led by Frank Yannis. So I was um lucky to kind of kick off and be a part of that journey at Disney. Um and then with Mondeleys, um I had a number of different um roles, including um heading supplier quality, global supplier quality. Um I was involved in um Six Sigma implementation. Um I led all the other like systems programs and so on. And then with Mars, with Mars it was um global quality systems role and so on and so forth. Um Sergento was kind of the pinnacle of my career where I got to work as the head of the function.
SPEAKER_01So you worked with uh Frank and the mouse at the same time, didn't you?
unknownI did.
SPEAKER_03The mouse was our boss.
SPEAKER_01So those are really big brands. Uh and by the way, Disney, and and by the way, I should mention Frank actually has a podcast out now. Um and and uh check it out if you guys get a chance. It's uh a lot of you already know who Frank is. But at Disney, um, they are kind of known, aren't they, for being forward-thinking and leaning forward in in that quality control and safety area, aren't they?
SPEAKER_02Oh, absolutely. In fact, when um imagine me graduating from my PhD and then moving on to Disney. And my experience was was that um the programs that and and all the innovation that Frank actually brought to Disney was everything that I've experienced, right? So when I moved to manufacturing, I was shocked that we didn't have, for example, a holistic quality management system or you know, electronic means of reporting um performance on on um manufacturing floor, for example. So I was I was like, what so my expectations, my expectations were so elevated after my.
SPEAKER_01You got spoiled early. Yes, I was. Why do you think that is? So I think for Disney, you can think of why they would care a lot and and brand protection, et cetera, with their guests and theme park visitors. What do you think was the reason? Did you come up with a hypothesis as you started to realize this was more ubiquitous than you realized? Why were so many, especially manufacturers, just not up with the times?
SPEAKER_02Well, and now thank you for this question because I think about it all the time and it bothers me. And this is the reason why uh this level of healthy frustration, right, um, led me to actually move to um start my own company and try and solve for this problem. But I think it's a number of reasons. First of all, let's face it, the industry is very conservative, it's one of the oldest in the world. So the practices and daily operations are very much like grandfathered in. Um, we've got a ton of facilities that are antiquated, and you know, if a piece of equipment is old but it still works, we're not operating it. Right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So so a number of these things, but I think in a lot of companies, what I see, even the leadership, is is not as edgy and doesn't take risks as easily as in other industries.
SPEAKER_01So I think all of that cumulatively kind of leaks to and it's also, and this is not pejorative, but as I rack my brain, you talked about ride that equipment till it dies, it's more of a it's a rough business, right? Like you said, it's been around for eons, and it's pretty set in its ways, and it's not a pretty business in a lot of those, right? It's dirty, it's loud, it's yeah, there's risks and hazards. Is part of it also just culturally, it's just stuck in a different world.
SPEAKER_02A little bit, but I think it's all driven from the actual manufacturing and like the business model. Uh margins are very, very low, as you know. And if you have you know a few percentage points, say three, four percent, which is a norm, then the leadership will be very carefully assessing where to reinvest. And again, as I said, if something works, it's not broken, we're not gonna change it. Um, so that's the mindset. Um, I wish it was different, and some companies are leaning into innovation, but I still see a huge opportunity there.
SPEAKER_01There's been a lot of consolidation, and there are there's thin margins, it's tough business. There's been a lot of consolidation, right? And do has that put more pressure on on but has that been good, generally speaking, for the consumer? Or are there some things that are tricky that need to be worked through as it starts to consolidate and continues to?
SPEAKER_02Well, I can tell you, and I was the lucky like guinea pig, every time I would join a company, um, that company either went through a split or a major merger. So, of course, you know that Lombelize is the result of a split from craft foods, and um it was less painful than when I moved to Mars that acquired Wrigley at the time. And so harmonizing processes at the end of the day. That was a big one.
SPEAKER_01So you were there, you were there for the uh merger with Wrigley? Wow. Of course, on a personal level, too, that's always just a uh a stressful time for employees, isn't it? Because it's yes, uh there's just almost like a a pall that's over the air. What are they gonna do? Am I gonna be here? It it's so culturally it's tough. Um what was how long did it take you to to to to do that Mars Wrigley merger? That was a big one.
SPEAKER_02It was years. Uh, but then think about Denone. When I joined Denone North America, shots bought, well, a few years prior to me joining, bought White Wave, which is the leader in producing um plant-based products here in the United States. And so not only is it hard from process harmonization standpoint, but it's also hard because of cultures. Now you're matching two cultures. And ordinarily, when a giant buys a smaller company, they buy an innovator, a uh homegrown you know, company that is much more dynamic, um, goes to the roots, you know, makes decisions faster. So when you kind of merge these two cultures that is more conservative, decision making takes forever. You normally depend on the center and decisions coming from the headquarters, right? So everything is slowed down, and you see people just being upset and figuring out who am I? Am I on this side? Am I on that side? How do I adapt? It's just it's it's hard.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it gets it gets tribal at times too, right? Because people's work prior to that merger is personal to them. They put their time and their time away from their family into that and they want to defend it. So this is a highly regulated industry, though, too. I think most general consumers are at least um vaguely aware of that fact. But uh it's it was actually mind-blowing to me is getting to know you that there's and and just being in this space for a long time, that uh technology hasn't been adopted sooner because there's so many uh different things to stay in compliance with and so many things you can do if you're aware of that in advance to make your operation better. Um so uh maybe backing up as we lead up to when you founded your company, why does it matter? If so, if you're the manufacturer, if you're sitting in Wrigley Corporate or Mars Corporate or any of the other places you've worked, why is this not just a cost center? And why does it matter?
SPEAKER_02What an excellent question. And it's at the heart of I think everything, and every it should be everybody's question. And here's my answer. We need money as a business when we manage food safety and quality and try to deploy regulatory compliance requirements to the T. We do it in such a manual and overly um complicated way. And if we go there, I can give you numerous examples of of that, how different large social companies work in this space. And so every manual process results in hundreds and thousands of dollars of revenue that you you haven't realized, and and that's the bottom line, right? For for why it's important for leaders to continue to reinvest in this. For us, though, as food safety and quality professionals, without having the proper systems and and technology that allows us to make decisions in real time, especially for leaders that are actually at the core of your role is to make decisions based on data and when and objective evidence, and when you don't have this information available to you in real time, you are not as effective as a leader. So think about a near recall situation where it could be life or death, right? And when it takes you a couple of weeks to understand what the heck happened across your supply chain and pinpoint the issue or find the lot associated with your problem. Think about the potential losses in the uh in the market and human potential loss of human life. I mean, to me, it's unacceptable.
SPEAKER_01It's a great it is unacceptable. And you are, you know, and that's why I knew the regulatory community would love to hear your story because you're really actually a food safety warrior uh at the end of the day, and you're using modern technology and your unique brain and experience to do something about it. Uh that's a you you touched on something else that's complicated, especially about well, actually all food businesses, but it was thinking manufacturing, and that is a very complex supply chain, right? They're they're so reliant on a bunch of hops, and then you've got the issue of traceability, right?
SPEAKER_02And it's coming to uh to an edge now that the traceability rule is is going to be uh going into compliance. And so I mean your your ability to react fast is your core business need, right? And for some reason we put it off until the last moment when the uh something like traceability rule comes out and you are actually pushed to make this decision. Yeah, and that's just mind problems. We're not preventative at all.
SPEAKER_01It is a great answer. I would add this one thing. Um you can lose your whole company or billions of dollars. You know, in the retail side, if you look at the Chipotle situation, uh, our good friend of the show, Patrick Quaid, and he's been on before, and he had data that gave screaming indicators three years before that actually blew up into a thing, reached out to them and said, you know, you're X thousand percent higher in these critical metrics we're monitoring than all of your peers. And they just didn't have the time. And billions off the market cap, $25 million fine, CEO lost his job. And I think back, this is extreme, but remember the Peanut Corporation of America back in 2008, and that was a crime. In fact, the uh leadership there went to prison for a very long time, rightfully so. But again, that was a wholly preventable um they had malfeasance and cover-up on top of it, so again, not a perfect example, but that cost that organization everything in the end, whereas if you had the controls and the data to back it up, you'd have never had congressional hearings, never had a federal indictment, and it would have gone a lot better.
SPEAKER_02Well, Cameron, you're bringing up another point that is something that we need to address as a community. You just gave two examples of two companies that actually had the data and didn't do and didn't act on it. So you know the queue can produce the most amazing tools, which we do, but it takes a fearless leader to actually face the truth and make decisions ahead of time and actually step in and fight for your decision as well, take accountability for your decision, and unfortunately, I don't see that as much uh as prevalent in the industry as I wish I did. I think humans as as a whole, not only we just spoke about uh prior to this podcast about fear of change, but also fear of accountability is real. What if I what if I make all these changes and this data was just a fluke? Right? And then what if my CEO comes over and says, hey Joe, why did you, you know, sink um a million dollars and you didn't need to? Yes, you know, and it's a part of this.
SPEAKER_01And it's a spend culture too, right? Um where we're we're we're like, and also I think normalcy bias plays into it. Oh, that's never gonna happen until it does. And and and then you're you're screwed. So it sounds like really what was you went to work for years baffled and healthily frustrated. I love that. And you were like, why don't I have tools for this? And so you know, being the type of personality and intellect, you're like, well, if nobody else wants to do it, I guess I will. Is that uh I know it's an oversimplification, but it sounds like that was a big driving part of what led you to jump off the cliff.
SPEAKER_02Well, I also sat with myself um at some point, and I tried to pinpoint where my strengths are and where I am in the happiest place. And um I tried to figure out if it can be monetizable. So it wasn't it wasn't just like a a completely um um just knee-jerk reaction and going into entrepreneurial.
SPEAKER_01It's a big decision. It is, it is. And you you said monetizable. That's always scary, I think, because no matter how good you think your data is, especially when you're a trailblazer and it doesn't exist. Um I always think that second and third along gets a much easier ride because the first trailblazer has to literally and I I I know a little bit about it from back at the DHD days and starting a cloud company when cloud wasn't a term for uh government regulations local and state at the health department level and agriculture departments. It was hard because the model turned out to be right. But this was a alien concept. And at that time, comparing it to that era, there was also a real apprehension about this new scary yet awesome technology, the internet that was all the buzz back, you know, in the late 90s. And so departments knew they had to get with it, but they also had apprehension of it and they didn't even know how to think of it. And I almost think, especially since you're so heavy with AI, uh it feels like that kind of a moment here now, right? So no matter how good the model is, it's the human behavior and selling them on a concept they haven't maybe thought about. How much of that did you find to be real? And and I'm sure you had some hair-raising moments where you had to ask yourself, is this gonna take?
SPEAKER_02Um Okay, a couple of things. Uh let's start from the uh from the ending. I do not allow myself to have moments when I ask myself and say, ooh, is it gonna work? Um the moments come, but I nip them with the butt. Because if you made a decision to go and grow your company, you cannot afford negative thoughts or work.
SPEAKER_01Amen. Amen. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Or it sounds doubt.
SPEAKER_01Are you a basketball fan by chance? No, hockey older way. Hockey of the way. Oh, by the way, shout out to the Carolina Hurricanes. Uh, David, we're gonna date this team. People watch this into the future. In fact, an episode we just we posted a year ago just got another like 15,000 views. So I'm gonna date it. Sorry, you all watching it much later down the road. But the hurricanes, one win away from uh taking a Stanley Cup uh hometown team for me for sure. But the Knicks, also the NBA finals, obviously, are going on when we're having this conversation. And the the Knicks had the greatest comeback in NBA playoffs history um in uh the previous game, coming back from 29 down. And I I was watching, I promise I'm getting to something that ties to this. Uh I was watching a in a post-game interview with Jalen Brunson, the Knicks star guard. And they asked him, uh did you not deep down think it was over when you were down 29 in the third quarter? And he said, You're allowed to quickly uh quickly, fleetingly think of a worst-case scenario, but you move forward and keep playing to win. And I just thought it was such a great answer, as like for an entrepreneur too, and it ties to what you said, you can't my dad used to tell me something. Um, sorry, I'm getting too loquacious on this. He used to say, son, you can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair. And uh that always stuck with me because again, to your point, you can't stop your brain from flashing that in front of your eyes, but it's your choice if you want to actually dwell on it or give it validity, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, 100%. Now going back to your comparison of current situation with what you've experienced with uh internet boom. Similar but not. I think the difference is that um, you know, when I started the company and the big decision for it was actually me uh looking and playing with Chat GPT and instantaneously understanding its potential for the uh governance and modernization and governance of food safety and quality systems. So it blew my mind, and there's so many different ways that I immediately started thinking about, and so that really, really helped me make this decision. If Chat GPT, the model did not come out and I didn't actually firsthand work with it, I don't think I would be uh making this decision.
SPEAKER_01But again, that goes to the vision part of a of a founder because you saw something, and obviously a chat bot is far from what you ended up building, but you were able to extrapolate, and I don't know, I I sometimes can if I I don't even have to close my eyes. There's a moment, right? They call it it's a great movie. I don't know if you've ever seen it called Flash of Genius, and it was about the guy who invented the intermittent, it's a big Hollywood movie, but true story about the guy that invented the intermittent windshield wiper. And he Ford stole it from him and he it was about his litigation. He literally basically wrecked his whole life to get the credit and some money for that invention. And the movie is the the case that he won came down to uh he could prove the moment that he had what the court called the flash of genius. And it sounds like yours was sitting out at Chat GPT and saying, oh my gosh, if you take what's behind this and and actually purpose tweak it for what you actually have studied your whole life and a professional in, you saw it, did you? Could you almost see it in your mind's eye?
SPEAKER_02Clearly. I I still see it very, very clearly. We spoke about a couple of tools um that we have. My vision from day one is life. It's incredible. With the uh competencies and capabilities that I was lucky enough to bring to an over queue, the engineering talent, we're doing the impossible. Things that I I knew will be will happen, but I had no guarantee. I didn't know how to get to that North Star, but I I was like, well, if if I know how what you know, if I if I think about my strengths, it's like I'll work my butt off, and I do not quit until I get to the point. And my logic was very simple. It was let me look at finance industry, um, you know, stock market, and you know, some some areas where analytics is important. And they started using this technology very successfully. And I was like, well, if they're using it, somebody is making those products, I'll find people who will help me build, you know, sophisticated technology for the application in our area. And that's what I did from day one. I had no clue how to get there, but you know, with the help of my family, we moved to Austin. In Austin, I was lucky enough to participate in a competition to get through the um, you know, to UT, University of Texas, to get to the accelerator. In parallel, I was working with Snowflake and pitching the idea. And the idea and the whole concept won actually an international competition. We uh we were chosen um as a top 10 startups uh with this concept and with the uh later with build the product in Snowflake's infrastructure that same year. And um, you know, that's how it all started. I, you know, UT opened so many doors. Austin is an amazing, um, amazing community because I'm surrounded by yes I can people and innovators who are like do not take note for an assurance, and that's my personality as well. So I'm I'm like at home finally.
SPEAKER_01Uh uh Austin is, I think, um, other than Silicon Valley, it's the most analogous to that culture in in the country.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's what we call it. Yeah, second Silicon Valley of the United States.
SPEAKER_01You I I think it's one of the reasons I just relate to your story so much is I've lived it. Uh we're not coders by nature, right? Or technologists, at least from our beginning of our career chapter, but that's where life took us. And I and you I I love what you said. I I have the vision here. I know what it needs to do. I don't know how to code it, but I'm gonna go put together the best team that did. And boy, have you. I believe your CTO is speaking of Silicon Valley, uh, from Apple Cupertino, like the the infinite loop, one infinite loop, actually, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. He worked for Apple, he worked for a number of um startups, um, incredible with just compiling different technologies, understanding really quickly understanding the need that we have in food safety and quality. It's a very unique skill. And one of the frustrations I had before when I worked in manufacturing is that I couldn't find talent. If if you found an engineer, it was really difficult for them to understand what do you want from me? You know, and I am so lucky from uh Vishi, just his background was also in manufacturing. So his um his bachelor's is in um um industrial, industrial mechanic, mechanical engineering, spets specifically in the in in manufacturing.
SPEAKER_01Super smart guy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm just but I've been looking for him for years, for two years. I was like knocking at every door, and it's hard, it's incredibly difficult. Um, but I had to build that foundation, and now he's the co-founder of the company, and it's everything. I mean, if you ask me what is the key to success, um, you know, how to build a successful startup, man, you've got to find, and I I'm not saying anything that people don't know, but I'm just recurgitating what others also have seen. Having the right co-founder is everything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, people and and being not afraid to hire someone that in especially their field, but not being afraid to hire somebody that might be smarter than you, right? And I'm not saying he is at a grand level, but a very smart person. Some people are intimidated of someone who is so well-versed in their craft that they're almost unassailable. And some people have trouble with that, don't they?
SPEAKER_02Yes, but um I think it's your job as a leader to hire people who are smarter than you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, should be.
SPEAKER_02It's like it's gonna be you, yourself, and and you. Like um, I didn't want that. But the uh the beauty of our relationship and and really the uniqueness of this company is that we're combining two very different subject matter expertise in one company, and that's exactly what I did not see in the market. Like the solutions that were pushed on me when I was um back in manufacturing were just not fit for purpose because creators didn't understand what my life looked like on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. So I'm laughing here because pushed on me and not fit for purpose. And I know there's a lot of people watching that are laughing too, because by the way, that was the same thing that the first company I founded that got me into the regulatory side of things was for that exact reason. They were having things pushed on them that were not only not built for purpose, they were built for purpose for something else. And they treated the in this example the health department or the department of agriculture like a red-headed stepchild and said, hi, we own this, we've got extra licenses, keep your data in this. And that was super pervasive. It's I didn't so that was happening in big, big organizations on the private side you were with.
SPEAKER_02It a hundred percent still is. I will give you any system there uh that operates as a data repository is still that I've I've seen. Um and if somebody is um wants to, you know, bring the uh opposite opinion, I would be very interested in seeing what those systems are like more innovative. But every single one that I see uh with our clients, or in my experience, right? They're so inflexible. The the way that you organize data is like reminds you of a SharePoint device. And you can't pull information out very easily. Um, okay, now Power BI will be plunked on top of it. Power BI is not super flexible either. You still have to have a super user who is going to be creating some of the design for the graphs, and you know, if you as a leader don't want this particular view, but you want to see the data in a different um, you know, kind of the different attributes and and draw your own conclusions. You can't do it without somebody who will be uh building that graph for you, and then it's just dumb.
SPEAKER_03It is dumb.
SPEAKER_02I want to create systems that are so flexible that you know, not only for for a user, you can just inter um, you know, communicate with your data very easily, ask questions, um, ask it to give you information the way that you want this information given to you. And I want it to be real time. And I want um, I want to have have the ability to share it with across the organization. So I have the entire organization in the know for our governance um and performance, right? Um, versus, you know, here's the super user, and if the super user is out on vacation, you also don't have access to the system. It's like the whole process.
SPEAKER_01Which which is a perfect use case for uh a purpose-built AI tool. So we're gonna talk about a couple of the specific things you do now in real time that would have had to wait for Johnny or Susan or somebody to get back from vacation to do. But for folks out there, especially in industry and manufacturing side, I hope you've listened to the first part of that conver this conversation because a lot of people a little bit of a side trail, but a lot of people are going to be coming at these industries in the coming years. I truly believe it. And they're gonna come at government too, with a lot of fly by night, look good at a quick glance, AI solutions. There's a reason you want to be wary because who you want to be with is the story you just heard here from Vera. You want to be with somebody who actually, first of all, knows what it is you do, has done it, walked a mile in your shoes, and secondly, actually cares about it. You want to be with the company that's got the vision. And so a lot of times the trailblazer gets the arrows. You know, you're gonna crack the and come across the really tough challenges first, and then you're gonna have posers that that will come at some point behind inevitably and and be selling a line. So I really would encourage anybody who's on the side who would be consuming these tools, pay really close attention to what you just heard, because that's the success of a product, especially in a safety realm. It's all about that vision. The person who could look at ChatGPT and saw it in her mind's eye. So I I do just want to emphasize that how important it is when you're procuring these things in a new world, when a lot of people can slap things together quickly, this is what you're looking for. So with that, sorry for the divergence there, but you'll go ahead. Yes.
SPEAKER_02Can I just mention one one very, very critically important thing?
SPEAKER_03Please.
SPEAKER_02And you've just touched upon something that um I have been communicating to uh to our community and you know speaking about in um in conferences and so on. Not only is it important to find a company that actually understands um how to build AI systems specific and fit for purpose for you, but you have to, when you lean into the decision to acquire an AI tool, you have to get one that is actually going to be fit for future compliance. Because right now, food and beverage does not necessarily have a very um defined system for how these tools are to be used, governed, right? Um, and even developed. There's some, you know, kind of like a big picture, GFSI has a big picture, you know, big, big kind of boulders. But you've gotta ensure that not only from data protection, you you have a company that actually knows what they're doing, right? This is cost-bansing safety is non-negotiable for for these products. But you've gotta ensure that these companies that provide to you these AI tools give you validation studies that demonstrate that actually outputs of that AI tool satisfy what you need, and you need close to 100% accuracy in this process. Imagine if you have a tool that is hallucinating, like Chat GPT does or any generic model does, uh, for very specific regulatory even questions or compliance questions. So it's be very, very careful. And thank you for saying a few quite kind words about in OEQ about that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, my pleasure, because it's true, and that's a great call out. That's where it also, and I know so history rhymes, it doesn't repeat, so I've definitely not said it's perfectly analogous because you pointed out the last time I brought this up, uh, an area where it was different. But this is where I also great point about the defining uh landscape on how it's viewed and governed. And especially on the regulatory side, it does remind me again of the dawn of the internet because people started piling in uh wisely, generally, into web-based databases. But what happened is uh the rules that I think you're referring to of what governs it and what the policies for security are, it took another five, six years for the policies to be written. And in some cases, the policies caused things to have to change because you weren't doing it according to the policy. So you're right, a platform that's kind of a flash in the pan is not going to stand the test of time. And there's so much uh more in terms of profound questions about AI because it's power, that this regulation or the framework of how governments and businesses uh govern it is is is evolving and not even near done. Um there's one though, and I bet you there's companies that do this out there still, I know there are. Uh most governments have now put AI procurement in place that says that you cannot be built on one of the open models. So, in other words, you can't be feeding government data into Chat GPT. You'd be shocked how often it's happening actually right now. Um and I think in your again, in your industry, even more so, because you not only have safety data, but when you're a private company, there's competitive concerns, right? That's confidential information. So data integrity is going to be the whole ballgame.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like I said, it's complimentary for companies like mine.
SPEAKER_01So tell us about tell us maybe a couple of examples, because I know you have a hard stop and I we could talk forever. We'll have you back and and um and we'll do do some other stuff and dig deeper in some areas. But maybe some use cases of what you're doing. You talked about the guy's on vacation, so I can't get the report, but it's emergency. You made it so you can just click a button basically 24-7, right? What are some of the key things that are gonna stun people right now that you're currently doing for your clients?
SPEAKER_02Well, let me first um tell you a little bit about the big kind of areas of opportunity that we are managing. Um, number one, we're playing um and closing gaps in incredibly complex regulatory, so external compliance world, as well as for large companies, internal compliance world. So imagine yourself, a big company, say you know North America had a set of compliance that you had to comply with the Paris regulations, North America regulations, but then also FDA. So we have a tool that actually combines all of this information in one, and anyone within the company, anyone has access to this information, but the way that it will be presented to you will be presented to you based on your role and your accountability for compliance implementation. So if you're an engineer, the tool will provide to you right, you know, the uh um will respond to your quote to your question a little bit differently than, say, if an RD professional would be asking that question.
SPEAKER_01And it knows your role based on how you're registered with it when you come in. So it speaks to you for your role. Wow. So there's always been a saying, right? Food safety is uh the food safety culture thing is a is a big uh phrase. And you know, you hear the platitudes uh food safety is all of our jobs. But yeah, actually, it this actually helps make that true, right? Because if you don't have any data and you're in the dark on what's going on, it might be your job, but what are you supposed to do about it?
SPEAKER_02Well, yes, and if you think about food safety culture, uh it starts with knowledge sharing. So we've got in queue knowledge center. Uh so you can access your the the actual requirements, um, no matter where you are, if you speak Spanish, if you speak Japanese, doesn't matter. There's no more excuses to say, hey, I didn't know how to do this. I didn't know how to swab my line, you know, um, or anything else. So the tool is incredible from that perspective, multilingual and um works on the regulatory framework across the globe, as well as your if you customize it, your internal requirements. So that's one helps you navigate range uh compliance. The second space that we play with is exactly what you were alluding to is data analytics. So we actually have this is this was my North Star as I Started the company. I actually wanted to have a tool that is so magnificent that is like my command and control. It has everything that I need there. It has the data coming, flowing in from different systems. So whether it's LIMS system and analytical results or quality management system or maybe manufacturing, performance, all of it comes in one tool. And then you have access to this data in real time. Again, open to the entire organization. You have incredible visualization of all this data. If something breaks down, you actually have an instantaneous access to root cause analysis. But also what this product does is it starts building forecasts on performance of your of your product. So you actually will be notified if something you mentioned the uh uh an example of Chipotle, where someone was looking at the data, right? And there were indicators of um potential breakdown in the future. So that's that's what the tool does. And so much more. Um, so you you should just go on our website and take a look at the um three-minute video.
SPEAKER_01In fact, I know we're in our last uh four or five three or four minutes here. We do have a two-minute sort of video. Do you do you think that'd be helpful for the audience in our remaining minutes if we want to play that for them? Or we can add it as a link in the comments if if you'd rather as well.
SPEAKER_02Yes, let's um I think it would be better. I think it's three minutes long, and I'm not sure we've got enough time. I think yeah.
SPEAKER_01I talk too much, I'm sorry. We will so we will put in the description below whichever platform you're on, whether Spotify, Apple, or YouTube, which is growing rapidly. Uh, and I should say there, please, a lot of viewers aren't subscribers yet. So if you could, I can't believe I've been reduced to this, please click that button. You'll never miss anything from the channel. Uh, and we will put that and also your email address if it's okay with you, because folks can or or whichever contact you want to give us for the description, so that if folks want to reach out and learn more, and of course they can do that from your website as well, which we'll put in the description.
SPEAKER_02Yes. So if you navigate our website in the product um kind of description, you will see videos and case studies and so on and so forth. So it's exciting stuff.
SPEAKER_01And I haven't even still seen near every corner of what you're doing. You're working with more than a hundred uh brands and and companies. I and I was just at the AFTO conference recently, and I was a panelist and gave a uh uh a keynote on on in their AI and food safety workshop. And there was a gentleman there. Now I am not going to call out who he is because one of the unique things you have in your business, see, if you're on the government side, everything you do is a public record, so you live in a glass house. Um but on your side, you know, these you have companies that are competitive with each other. And so we uh are not going to mention the name, but it's a name that everybody would recognize. You all eat there, you eat their food, you drink their drinks. And um he gave a presentation and it was based on your product and what that chain is doing with your product uh to be more forward-thinking and and get better results and do better. You touched on it, better forecasting and pulling all that data together because this company has offices or uh locations all around the globe as well. And so you you're not just talking about something theoretical. I had a long conversation with him um off stage, and he's like, it's the real deal, it's really good. So you're definitely I don't I don't think, David, you can check me on this. I don't think I've ever said this. We've had several great companies on, but you're a rising star and you're gonna be a star and you're going to make a real dent in in your what your passion is. People need to live and not be killed by by what they're being served. It's a it's a noble passion, and I think anybody that has watched this to this point can see that you're like you're authentically into it and excited about it, and you're gonna just you're gonna rewrite the rule book. I really believe that.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. And I can tell you that I don't have a stop button. I I will because I this is the right thing to do.
SPEAKER_01It really is.
SPEAKER_02I don't quit. I don't quit.
SPEAKER_01No, it is the one trait if you go and look at biographies of people who did something uh meaningful or built something that served served humanity or their of their country is they had that, right? They just wouldn't quit. People would tell them it's stupid, you there's no way it works, and they just don't stop. So um and I think one of your biggest challenges is gonna be just like socializing uh what's possible now to people because there's um the the resistance to change is strong, the force is strong in that one. And so you you just I I would assume that's probably one of the things that you're doing in these early years is is helping people just understand, not be scared of it, and also realize why it matters.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and thanks to you, Cameron, we can actually spread the word. Um I'm really appreciative that you are you're doing this work because it's it's critical. The products are here. We haven't even covered um the the entire product portfolio. So um part two, well, let's dedicate it to that and talking about practical you know examples from from the industry, how they are actually deploying our tools. Um but spreading the word about the fact that they actually exist and they work is really, really important right now. So anyone who is interested, please reach out to me. I love also talking about the space. If you are just as passionate as I am about modernization of CT and quality, I would love to learn who you are and start building this community and we can change the world.
SPEAKER_01Indeed. Vera, thank you. We will indeed do this again. It won't be the last time people hear from you here. Uh, and I look forward to uh spending more time with you in the future on camera and off.
SPEAKER_02Likewise, thank you so much, Cameron. Thank you for your time. Vera, thank you, everyone, for listening.
SPEAKER_01Vera Dickinson, CEO, founder, and CEO of InnovaQ. Check out their website in the description of this episode below. And for all of us here at Beyond Data Management Podcast, Adam, producer Adam, the Stash, as we affectually referred to him, and David Styles always in the control room. I'm Cameron Garrison. We'll see you next Tuesday, same time, same channel. Have a great one.