UofT Masters of mathematical Sciences blog - Spotlight: Helen Kontozopoulos

Original post: www.mmf.utoronto.ca/innovation-and-entrepreneurship/

Over the years, MMF has offered an Innovation and Entrepreneurship elective course taught by founders and true blue entrepreneurs. Given the pace of innovation, the rise of generative AI and the corresponding surge of opportunities for STEM startups in a dynamic employment market, we included the course as a mandatory part of the spring semester. We are delighted to have Helen Kontozopoulos, University of Toronto’s Adjunct Professor at the Department of Computer Science and co-founder at ODAIA Intelligence, a Series B SaaS startup, delivering it.

We asked Helen, what makes a great entrepreneur?

Helen doesn’t like being told what to do and her rebellious nature is the source of her entrepreneurial spirit. “I think I've always been an entrepreneur,” she told us. “From helping out my dad's little takeout shop in downtown Toronto when I was a kid, to trying to start my own yoga studio and ending up building websites for yoga instructors in my 20s, I’m a maker and seller at heart.”

In 2013, Helen was working at another academic accelerator in Toronto, gaining experience supporting startups and developing industry collaborations, when she heard UofT president Meric Gertler’s call to promote and build an entrepreneurship culture within the university. She had just begun teaching at the Department of Computer Science, so she proposed, and then co-founded, the Innovation Lab in 2014.

The incubator supports computer science students and researchers in commercializing their ideas and research. At the lab, she produced over a hundred hackathons and related biztech events, including AI Week, Global Smartweek, UofT Startups in the Valley and the Funding Innovation Conference, among others. “Just like every startup,” Helen notes, “it's about timing, luck and the ability to do it.” Helen believes anyone can develop an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset. Being open to
finding problems, seeing patterns of opportunity and proposing solutions are hallmarks of a
great entrepreneur.

She’s seen some of her students graduate with the belief they can never be entrepreneurs. But when they kept witnessing customers’ problems, they realized they could offer new and better solutions.

“That’s an innovator mindset: instead of waiting for others to propose a solution — or worst-
case scenario, not solving the problem at all — entrepreneurs step forward and find or build a
solution of their own,” she says.

Helen sees lots of opportunities for innovation in the finance sector, particularly in fraud
detection. Analyzing transactions and successfully detecting, then preventing, fraud by
identifying patterns and activities already exists. And by correlating data from various sources
connected to a customer's profile, robust solutions have been made to combat fraud using AI.
To be effective, solution providers need to think like fraudsters and anticipate potential threats,
which involves handling vast amounts of data — something AI excels at.

“A few years ago, I worked with a team analyzing coded slang related to criminal activity and
fraud transactions,” Helen told us. “We discovered that AI couldn’t understand slang and
context, but with a lot of work, the team was able to create a language model around this
complex street lingo. Fraudsters are the most agile and creative players out there. We need
to be as dynamic and fast as they are by leveraging AI as a co-pilot, but with human creativity,
ethics and contextual superpowers on our side.”

Helen has learned some hard but important lessons on her entrepreneurial journey. We asked
her how she stays motivated, and how she continues to inspire others on their journeys.

“As a female founder, especially a first-time founder, it’s important to navigate the advice you
receive with careful consideration,” she advises. “Initially, I tended to believe everyone's
advice too easily.

However, I've learned it's crucial not to take every piece of advice at face
value. Instead, seek multiple perspectives, be patient with the responses you receive, and
take the time to understand them before making any decisions.

Some people told me that because I hadn't done it before, I didn't know what I was doing. But the truth is, you often just need to ask for help, gather various viewpoints and have more confidence in your final decisions. Be bold, make mistakes, learn, and move forward.”

#entrepreneurship
#helenkontozopoulos
#UniversityofToronto
#startups
​#mmf

More about the MMF program: Established in 1998 MMF remains at the forefront of training in quantitative finance. MMF is a boutique Program admitting a select number of students each year who will move through the Program as one cohort. The boutique nature of our Program means that students will learn in smaller class sizes, have the opportunity to build lasting bonds with their classmates and work in industry-like teams to complete projects and presentations.