The Q&A: Jenny Lemieux, co-founder and CEO, Vivid Machines

What do most people get wrong about machine vision?

Some people don’t understand how much is possible, and some people think everything is possible. It’s somewhere in between.

What challenge keeps you up at night?

The operational and logistical aspects that come with a business dealing with a physical system. Managing the build of all of our cameras and kits, and shipping them all over the world efficiently. Fixing and replacing hardware components across the globe as a start-up. Throw in a few ATVs in various countries for our research, a team working on farms all over the place…I’m sweating while typing this.

What's the biggest opportunity in your field?

Connecting the dots in the food supply chain.

Each part of the supply chain is a massive problem, so they’re being solved independently with their own exciting technology. But farms need to connect usage or resources like water and soil to inputs, deployment of labor, yield and quality. And the picture needs to stay connected as food moves downstream to packers, shippers, retailers, and, ultimately, consumers.

Which emerging technology do you think will be a game-changer?

It’s already here, but I would say large language models. If we are looking at the future? Quantum and optical computing.