How did your journey in AI start - what brought you to AI?
Not in the way you would expect! At NTNU I actually got an E in C++ so I never expected to start and lead an AI business. Even though I was not particularly clever in programming, I was however very interested in the opportunities that technology and AI enables.
Years later, a position as Entrepreneur in Residence at NTNU opened up. The job description was essentially “find a research project you think has commercial potential and start a business”. That’s how Strise came to be, as it was originally a research project on how to use graph technology,network models, NLP and machine learning to analyze large amounts of unstructured data - which turns out to be key ingredients in understanding how the business world is connected and help prevent financial crime!
What is the biggest change you have observed in AI compared to when you entered the field at the start of your career?
That we’re starting to see really useful practical applications!
What excites you about working in AI, and what are you working on right now?
I’m really excited about how we at Strise are able to use AI to automate manual tasks within KYC (Know Your Customer) & AML (Anti Money Laundering) to help prevent financial crime! A very important global problem and great to see how technology can help solve it!
We actually think technology and AI is a key ingredient in preventing financial crime, so we recently launched a podcast called the Laundry where we talk about this with interesting guests
How do you involve yourself in initiatives to introduce more women to AI, and what initiatives can be made to inspire more women to pursue careers within AI?
Personally, I am heavily involved in all of the initiatives … but that’s easy, since I have great backing from all of the brilliant people working in Strise!
For instance, one initiative we attended last fall was Jenter i AI - an event by the student organizations BRAIN and Ada from NTNU. At this impressively well-organized event we were fortune to present alongside great companies such as Oda, DNB, SINTEF and PwC
To 100 female tech students from NTNU and afterwards met with many of the engaged (female) students who attended and I was really humbled by all the interest they showed in Strise.
“and what initiatives can be made to inspire more women to pursue careers within AI”
Things like this initiative - highlighting different people and careers within AI.
You can still be excited and involved in AI without being a programer - just look at me!
What advice would you like to give women who are pursuing their careers in AI?
Find a company that cares about building an inclusive company culture where you can learn and grow!
What advice do you have for organizations who wish to recruit and retain female researchers and professionals in AI?
I can say what has worked for us at Strise, but my top tip is to make it a priority! Set some goals, communicate them and work hard to reach them.
For the tech internship program of 2022 we really aimed to have a 50/50 split of male and female. This was communicated by both me and our CTO and the entire organization got involved and excited. We ended up with 3 women and 2 male candidates in the end which I am super proud of!
In my opinion, another important component in an organization is core values. At Strise we have three:
- You are Strise, make decisions.
- Smart but uncomfortable. If something seems smart but uncomfortable you should do it.
- Advantage Strise. Unexpected things happen, make it our advantage.
I’ve actually written a chronicle in Shifter on how we have implemented this in Strise, and this is something that really engages me!
Who is your biggest role model within your field, and why?
I really look up to Laila Danielsen who is the CEO of Elliptic Lab. She’s been able to take that company from research to market and today they’ve been listed on Oslo Stock Exchange main list.
In addition I’m super inspired by the other women at Strise! It’s a complex process to take AI research from NTNU to a market and they have played such a major role in that.
Marit Røkenes and May Helen Lillegård who have managed to translate complex AI into a beautiful user interface. Iselin Ryen who has pushed the brand forward and created something that’s both innovative but also inclusive on a design level - and not that many players within KYC, AML and financial crime have done that!
Recently we’ve been so fortunate to have Vivi Vu join us from Vipps and Synne Marie Solli join from Poption!
About Marit
Marit Rødevand holds a master’s degree in Engineering Cybernetics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She currently runs Strise.ai, a platform set up to make better and faster business to business decisions with artificial intelligence, you can see this video to learn more about their solution. She also co-founded Rendra AS, focused on software as a service (SaaS) for the construction industry, which was acquired by JDM Technology Group. In addition to this she has experience from NTNU Technology Transfer AS, the technology transfer office at NTNU. Rødevand is a prominent entrepreneur in the Norwegian startup ecosystem and the leader of an exciting company utilising AI for companies in their business processes.