About us

With more than 25 years of experience in the IT sector, Françoys Labonté has been at the head of CRIM since 2015. He has a solid scientific background combined with several years of experience in the development and commercialization of innovative technologies in the field of information technology. After obtaining his Ph.D. from the Polytechnique Montréal with a specialization in computer vision and image processing, his experience working in several organizations at the cutting edge of innovation allowed him to develop a multidisciplinary expertise in technology-based business management, from the development of new products to their commercialization. In 2010, he joined CRIM as Director, Business Development, Innovation and Commercialization. In 2015 he was made Executive Director, a position that was replaced in 2020 by that of CEO. Mr. Labonté holds a Ph.D. and an M.A.Sc. from Polytechnique Montréal, and a B.Eng. from McGill University.

Hans joined CRIM in 2017. He holds a master’s degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in computer science, both from Laval University. He has worked more than 15 years in industrial context where he conducted applied research and led scientific teams in artificial intelligence. He has authored or coauthored many scientific papers and his research has led to 4 patents in artificial intelligence. Beside leading scientific teams, his interests relate to natural language processing, speech recognition, data analytics, business intelligence, information extraction and retrieval, as well as machine learning.

France Lord manages all of CRIM's administrative services: finance, human resources, material resources and corporate affairs. With several years of management experience, she joined CRIM in 1987. She worked in Corporate Development for five years, where she helped organize this new center and put together projects. In 1992, she joined the Automatic Speech Recognition research team to manage, among other things, a major pre-competitive research project. In 1998, she was called upon to set up and manage the Project Office, whose role is to provide project management support to CRIM teams, while developing project management processes and expertise tailored to the needs of the organisation and its clients. In addition, she is CRIM's Quality Management Director. CRIM is ISO 9001:2015-accredited. Ms. Lord is responsible for implementing and maintaining compliance with CRIM's quality objectives, rigorously observing established procedures and policies, maintaining and reviewing all quality documentation, as well as conducting internal audits, all in accordance with the norm's requirements.

Houman joined CRIM in 2019 after more than 20 years of experience in artificial intelligence as a developer, researcher and director, both in industry and within the research community. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the Université de Montréal and has devoted his career to various aspects of artificial intelligence, including machine learning, natural language processing, knowledge acquisition and modeling, always combining perspectives of research and applications in industry.

With 22 years of experience in the information technology sector, Vincent Hénonin brings extensive experience to his work as Director, Technology. Throughout his many projects, both in North America and in Europe, Vincent has developed considerable expertise in IT governance and information security, information system design and analysis, development, operations, and project and risk management. He has worked in a wide variety of sectors such as aeronautics, automotive, military, insurance, banking, rail, government, industry, multimedia, pharmaceutics, science, sports, telecommunications and television.

A seasoned professional with more than 20 years of experience in the technology field for large organizations, Lucy Lima has been Director, Operations at CRIM since 2020. She possesses a diverse skillset covering the management of IT teams, Agile methodologies, strategic planning, human resources management, project execution and the implementation of best practices. Focused on results and teamwork, Lucy Lima's leadership enables CRIM experts to maximize the efficiency and impact of each project.