Family, sailing & sports for this out-of-the-box thinker, founder & CEO
Creativity mixed with innovation can lead to something extraordinary. And that’s exactly what Matthieu Petot, Founder and CEO of CargoAI, did when he created his own company in 2009.
CargoAi, a SaaS application offering air cargo digital solutions to freight forwarders, airlines and GSAs, allows users to manage an entire air cargo booking process via a single tool. The platform also provides customers with data and analytics including 3D viewing of the shipment and capacity forecasts.
Matthieu spent 15 years of his career in the air cargo industry, mostly in the revenue management and business side. Noticing that the buying and selling processes did not move forward despite the wide range of available technology tried and tested in other industries, he decided to offer an alternative innovative solution.
“Like most people working in aviation, I was particularly drawn to airfreight, so I decided to put together a team of talented people capable of understanding the issues and limitations that are unique to air cargo and to address these through a tool and services designed with air cargo in mind,” Matthieu shared.
With his creativity nurtured even at a young age coupled with a daring attitude to try something different, Matthieu assembled a team of passionate young tech experts and innovative thinkers for his CargoAI project.
“I like to fix problems, and technology is a great tool that isn’t too complex when you understand it,” said Matthieu who described himself as an out-of-the-box thinker, pragmatic and proactive. “At CargoAi, we’ve assembled a team of passionate people who are experts in the latest trends in their respective fields, including in Airfreight, Technology, Product, Customer Success and Sales. We carefully select talents, focusing on their proven expertise in the latest technologies and processes. Thanks to this, we implement the most efficient solutions to better serve our customers.”
“Our CTO, for example, is an ex-Microsoft and AWS solutions architect, meaning we are able to implement our full serverless and autoscaling infrastructure as state-of-the-art solutions. For Products, Marketing and Sales, we apply the same level of commitment in bringing together the best practices, the highest standards and the greatest talent,” he added.
With CargoAI fast-growing with more companies in the industry seeking digitalization and innovative solutions, Matthieu manages his time carefully.
His day typically begins at 6 am to do some exercise before taking his kids to school and the rest is spent at work.
“After taking the kids to school, I go into work and time simply flies, as I’m really excited by all the great work our team is doing,” he said.
His free time is pretty much spent with his family and sports, sailing in particular, which he finds really motivating and stimulating.
“I like to spend time with my family and to play sports. One of my favorite hobbies is taking part in sailing competitions, which are great as you have to take care of everything on the boat and it is both physical and intellectual. The person who wins is the person who makes fewest mistakes,” said Matthieu.
As a sports enthusiast, he would like to meet the Swiss tennis superstar Roger Federer who has won 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles.
“I would like to meet Roger Federer to understand how he drives himself at the top and stay there for so long – and also to play some tennis and have some fun together,” Matthieu shared when asked about a global icon he would like to meet in person.
“Don’t worry, be happy” – is one of his favorite quotes. Life is too short, after all, to be spent simply worrying about everything, finding solutions does matter.
