EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Eric Raza, formerly President and COO, has been promoted to CEO, bringing over 25 years of global leadership experience
- Co-founders Shahysta and Habib Hassim will continue in strategic roles, ensuring a seamless leadership transition.
- SmartOne.ai is preparing for strategic expansion in North America and Europe while maintaining its commitment to ethical, high-quality data solutions.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 4th, 2024 (Montreal, QC, Canada) — SmartOne.ai, a leading provider of enterprise and AI data solutions, is proud to announce the appointment of Eric Raza as its new Chief Executive Officer. This leadership transition marks a pivotal milestone as the company sets its sights on strategic expansion across North America and Europe in 2025.
Founded in Madagascar in 2012, SmartOne.ai has grown from a small startup into a global enterprise with over 1,000 team members. Known for merging human insight with automation, the company delivers high-quality, scalable data preparation services across 40+ industries, including e-commerce, fintech, utilities, and healthcare. Its advanced methodologies in Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing (NLP) fuel ethical, top-tier solutions for enterprise and AI projects worldwide.
Eric Razafindrakoto (Eric Raza), joined SmartOne.ai earlier this year as President and COO. With over 25 years of global leadership experience spanning Telecom, IT Cloud, and SaaS industries, Eric is celebrated for his ability to scale teams, manage complex P&Ls, and lead enterprise transformations. His impressive track record includes executive roles at Bounteous, MediaKind, and Ericsson, where he spearheaded a $7 billion transformation initiative involving 6,000 employees.
During his tenure at SmartOne.ai, Eric has already streamlined operations, strengthened governance, and set the foundation for ambitious growth. His promotion to CEO reflects the company’s confidence in his ability to lead its next chapter of success.
“Eric is not just an accomplished executive—he deeply understands and embodies the values of SmartOne.ai,” said Shahysta Hassim, co-founder and former CEO. “Having worked closely with him over the past months, I am confident he will elevate SmartOne.ai while staying true to our roots and mission.”
“SmartOne.ai proves that exceptional innovation can come from unexpected places,” said Eric Raza. “Leading this passionate, talented team is an honor. Together, we’re building something remarkable—not just in what we achieve, but in how we achieve it.”
Co-founders Shahysta Hassim and Habib Hassim will remain actively involved in strategic roles, with Shahysta serving on the Board of Directors and Habib as Executive Chairman. Their continued guidance ensures a seamless leadership transition and reinforces the company’s long-standing mission and values.
Based in Montreal, Eric will assume full executive control and focus on positioning SmartOne.ai as the go-to partner for enterprise data and AI initiatives worldwide
About SmartOne.ai: At SmartOne.ai, we believe the heart of AI is data. We organize, categorize, and label data—whether text, images, video, or audio—to deliver the highest-quality outcomes for enterprise, AI models, ML, and LLM projects. Over the past decade, our experts have delivered data solutions across over forty industries, leveraging automation and human-in-the-loop annotation. With strengths in Computer Vision, NLP, and a scalable tech workforce, SmartOne.ai is committed to unlocking the limitless potential of technology and human insight. Learn more: www.smartone.ai
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Media Contact: Stephanie Quinn, SVP, Sales & Marketing, SmartOne.ai, [email protected], Mobile: +1 438 397 4438
