InnovX specializes in providing operations and IT consulting services to the life sciences industry. InnovX offers a broad range of services that include system definition, selection, implementation and validation, process design and optimization, as well as IT strategy and project/change management.
In addition to helping companies quickly define or improve their operations, InnovX helps develop collaborative environments and tools to transform data into insights and knowledge while ensuring compliance with applicable regulations and industry best practices.
Our mission is to provide a consulting experience that exceeds all expectations.
Tell us about yourself?
Back in 2000, I started my professional career in Silicon Valley, California, where I tasted the unique challenges and rewards of SMBs and new technology ventures. The first 10 years of my engineering career were focused on solving various manufacturing and operations management challenges. Manufacturing is a great place to learn how to operate a business effectively, and key elements I learned during that time still serve me today.
In the mid-2000s, I moved back to Montreal, where life brought me further into management, and in 2009, I started focusing on developing and delivering technological solutions to the life science industry. Over the years, I advised life science organizations of all sizes, from small biotech to large pharma, to re-engineer their IT landscape and internal processes for improved operations.
I have multiple startup ventures under my belt, and I bring to the table over 20 years of product development, information technology management, and operations management. This experience is combined with a passion for innovation and a competitive spirit, trialled and tested as an ex-international level judo athlete.
I founded InnovX with Scott McGrail because we had a vision of how a business like InnovX could and should be run, and we knew we could execute on our vision.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
If I could go back in time a year or two, I might advise myself to go back in time a few more years, preferably 10…
If the time jump limit is capped at two years, I would give myself the same reminder I try to give myself each day: “Follow three simple rules:
- Get up early
- Don’t waste time
- Enjoy every moment.
There is a lot to be said about what each rule means to me, but I will simply add that the third rule is the most important one and the hardest to follow.
What problem does your business solve?
We help life science organisations (pharma, med device, clinical development, etc.) get the best use of their technologies while ensuring they remain in compliance with applicable regulations and industry best practices.
In many ways, we act as an extension of our client’s teams by helping fill knowledge or capacity gaps that sometimes prevent them from meeting their regulatory obligations or to reach their full potential.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
We asked ourselves the “raison d’être” question, had multiple group sessions about this, challenged each other, and came back to a simple answer: People deserve better. Everyone will have their own interpretation as to what this could mean, but to us, it is about being surrounded by people that we respect and genuinely enjoy working with. It means having the flexibility and support to spend time with family and friends. It means finding the elusive life-work balance that is full of stimulus, challenges, and rewards. It means building a company the way we have always felt it could be done.
This mindset translates into a consulting group that will gladly share and transfer its knowledge to empower its clients, helping them reach the level of independence they desire. We measure our success by the quality and speed of the execution of our mandates, our client’s satisfaction, and the lasting relationships we foster through perpetual transparency and professionalism.
What is your magic sauce?
At InnovX, providing a better experience is engrained in our day-to-day way of life. We have taken this simple statement and made it part of our core way of carrying ourselves, starting with our team, extending to our clients, and equally incorporating a better experience into our community.
We have collectively lived through countless projects, shared in the joy of being part of successes, and witnessed opportunities where the outcome or process could have been better. We all agreed that people deserve to have the type of experience that made those projects better. We are not naïve. We know projects can be hard and that, in reality, things do not always go how you want them to. However, it’s how we navigate through those experiences that allow us to separate ourselves from the pack. We bring this visceral drive for “a better experience” to guide each of our engagements.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We have big ambitions, and we cannot spill the beans on the what or how quite yet. Without going into detail, let’s just say that we aim to change the consulting landscape we operate in. By continuing on our original trajectory of living our mission and values, we hope to keep inspiring talented and motivated individuals to join our growing team while having a measurable impact on how other consulting firms conduct themselves. Within the next five years, by pushing what “a better experience” means further and further, we want to be a positive force for our employees, our clients, and our communities while being recognized in Canada as the best consulting group to work within our specialized field.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
We started our business in September of 2019, right when COVID-19 was also becoming very much a new reality. Needless to say, this was a hard way to start. Not unrelated to this same topic, finding talent as a small startup during that same period was also very difficult. It certainly didn’t help that we were, and still very much are, very picky about the people we take in as new team members.
How can people get involved?
If you are curious to learn more about us, or if you have any opportunities where our expertise may be of service to you, please fill out a contact form from our website at www.innovx.org/contact or email us at info@innovX.org.