In March 2020, Soraya Gadit submitted the registration of the first rapid test for the detection of Covid-19, a solution found by InoCrowd, a company of which she is CEO. With a degree in pharmaceutical sciences, the AESE Executive MBA has provided her with the tools that have allowed her to found this open innovation platform, which operates in the global market and which already has many successes
What are the main milestones in your professional career, which contributed to reaching the position of CEO of Inocrowd?
The fact that I did an MBA at AESE was perhaps the most important, as I am from the area of pharmaceutical sciences and had never had training in the area of financial management and also in team management. The AESE MBA, being based on the case method, ended up giving me these skills, not only theoretical, but also through theoretical application in practical cases. It was perhaps the most important milestone.
I worked for 15 years in the Pharmaceutical Industry in multinationals that required a lot of rigor, organization, planning, namely in the realization of Bi-annual Business Plan’s and a lot of work in multidisciplinary teams. All these multinationals required us all to speak English well, which for InoCrowd is very important because Inocrowd is a worldwide company (we have Solvers-Investigators and Seekers-Organizations from all over the world) and English is essential.
What were your main achievements?
The main achievement was, first of all, to have formed a multidisciplinary team that interacts very well with each other, although each one has their own task, but that they help each other.
The fact that I started with InoCrowd on a piece of paper and the rest was all implemented, with a lot of effort and dedication with the help of colleagues also from the MBA and with the help of NAVES (New Business Adventures). Making it happen has always given me immense pleasure.
The other achievements have to do with the fact that we have solved problems/challenges of companies such as ANA Aeroportos, Bosch, BASF, Volkswagen, EDP, Metro do Porto (this was perhaps one of our greatest achievements, as it was about solving a fraud problem that consisted of detecting individuals who ride in the Porto metro, but who do not buy a title or walk without a valid title. The Porto metro has no physical barriers, so users have to validate their ticket in a validator. The challenge here was to identify these people and issue an alarm system that was a deterrent and that had an efficiency above 95%, in addition to all this, it still had to comply with the GDPR). The challenge was overcome with a Japanese technology company.
What are the main lessons that make you the leader you are today?
The main lesson is not to try to do everything yourself. We must surround ourselves with a good team The other great lesson is that we must invest in information technologies that streamline our processes and make us more efficient the other great lesson is that a satisfied customer is worth much more than any well-done marketing campaign. All our focus is on the customer.
What values do you govern yourself by and that you transmit to your teams?
Honesty, Ethics, and a lot of work combined with organization and planning.
If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?
I would have bet earlier on good professionals, that is, I would have started the process by the team and not by the technological development of the platform.
Professionally, how do you see yourself in 5 years?
At this moment, InoCrowd and due to the pandemic crisis ended up opening a Health unit that is fully dedicated to finding innovative solutions for Covid 19. We were the first to find rapid tests for the detection of Ag Sars-Cov 2. On March 23, 2020, we were submitting the registration of the first rapid test for Covid detection. At the time, believe me, I was almost insulted by some authorities. At this point it is already a Gold Standard in mitigating COVID 19. Also now, more recently, we have invested in the first saliva test, which has a webapp in which the user is identified through facial recognition methodologies patented worldwide. After the digital registration and identification process via QR code of the application (free of charge), the patient is filmed during the collection process that is based on a simple mouthwash of a saline solution provided in the kit, for a period of 1 minute. The identification of the patient is done through a sophisticated algorithm that verifies who is performing the collection. After the collection is completed, the collection of the kit is requested through the app, to be transported to the laboratory. The result is made available by the application on the same day if the collection is done in the morning, or at most in 24 hours, that is, a self-test but which is linked to certified laboratories and SINAVE. The patient/user does not need to leave home. The Covid 19 test will be as simple as brushing your teeth in the morning, before going to work.
In short, I see myself managing, but as CEO only of the health part of InoCrowd because it is my passion and I will leave the executive management of the other areas to a CEO that I want to train, continuing to be an administrator of the company. I see the company growing organically, but also through partnerships with other open innovation platforms, becoming a great open innovation platform, worldwide.
