Problem solvers making the world a better place
Through our innovation in PCB defect detection, we enable manufacturers to succeed by tackling their toughest production challenges of today and tomorrow.
Our Story
It all started in 2017 with our team’s vision of transforming industries by instilling trust in AI. Over the years in working with the world’s leading manufacturers, we have learned that many enterprises want to integrate AI into their production and quality inspection processes but perceive an impediment to achieving a reliable solution that scales better than traditional ones. In order to deliver competitive value to our clients we created the DarwinAI defect detection platform for PCBs which enables manufacturers to get started with a lower data requirement and more rapidly achieve their ROI targets. At the same time, we take pride in helping to reduce the world’s waste footprint of unusable scarce electronic components that ultimately end up in landfill.
Our platform is backed by our excellent customer experience team and powered by our award-winning AI, which is the byproduct of years of research by our world-class academic team.
Meet Our Leadership Team
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Sheldon Fernandez
CEO -
Arif Virani
COO -
Alexander Wong
Chief Scientist, Co-founder -
Gary Pacheco
CTO -
Javad Shafiee
VP AI Research, Co-founder -
Bart Piwowar
VP Product -
Travis Taylor
VP Solutions Delivery -
Kelly Pritchard
VP People Operations -
Jamil Dewsi
VP Business Development -
Brendan Chwyl
Director Machine Learning, Co-founder -
Francis Li
Director Applied AI, Co-founder -
Frank Hanshar
Director Application Development
Our Values
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Camaraderie at scale
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Exploration and evolution
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Fearless innovation
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Excellence through skill and tenacity
A Few Words From our Customers
Our Investors
Our Awards
We’re honored to have earned recognition from renowned analysts and industry observers.

2023: Best Workplace™ for Start-Ups
Recognized by Great Place to Work® for being a top startup in Canada.
2023: The Vector AI20 List
Named as one of 20 Canadian companies on the inaugural The Vector AI20 list for 2023. We’re recognized for using AI to transform manufacturing both in Canada and globally.
2022: Best Workplace™ in Ontario
Recognized for being a Best Workplace™ in Ontario, after an analysis conducted by Great Place to Work®.
2022: Best Workplace™ in Technology
Recognized for the second time by Great Place to Work® Canada. We have exceptionally high scores from our employees on the Trust Index survey.
2022: Best Workplace™ for Today’s Youth
Awarded for building a workplace with more than 30% of employees who are Millennials or younger. In this light, at least 90% of our team members say, ‘I am treated fairly regardless of my age.’
2022: Canadian Workplace Culture Leader
Officially recognized with outstanding scores in the ‘Workplace Experience’ and ‘Connection + Trust’ categories. We have an overall score of 86 against the national average of 62, placing DarwinAI in the 91st percentile!
2022: Great Place to Work® Canada
Recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in the under 100 employees category, our award is based on a survey of over 600 organizations, representing over 500,000 employees
2022: IRCAI Top 10 Outstanding Project
Aspire and DarwinAI were selected for an Outstanding Project that applies AI to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
2021: Great Place to Work® Canada
Awarded Best Workplace in Technology recognized by our employee experience and response to our Trust Index Survey
2021: Tech In Motion – Best Tech Startup
Recognized as Best Tech Startup in North America, for our forward-thinking leadership and agility innovation for our Visual Quality Inspection solution powered by AI
2021 & 2020: CB Insights’ AI 100
Recognized as one of the top 100 AI startups, for achievements in AI Model Development
2020: CB Insights Game Changers
Included as one of 36 startups that could change the world
2019: Gartner Cool Vendor
Named a “Cool Vendor” in Gartner’s October 2019 Cool Vendors in Enterprise AI Governance and Ethical Response report.