You are currently viewing Building a Business Is Like Running a Marathon.

“AI and Generative AI are vital to automating and improving algorithms in biometrics. Scalability and operational excellence won’t happen without using AI. Besides, cybercriminals utilize AI technology for their attacks. Any technology business must build defense mechanisms to prevent damage. It is a competitive race against bad guys, after all.”

Lambert Sonna Momo, Founder and CEO of Global ID SA and Professor of Cybersecurity at the University of Lausanne, shared his key leadership lessons in my latest « Leading Through Disruption » interview. Subscribe here to receive future interviews.

Lauterbach: Could you please describe your path, emphasizing two to three moments that led you to where you are today?

Sonna Momo: I was born in Cameroon and was fortunate to be recognized as a promising mathematician. As one of the top graduates of the University of Yaoundé, I could go to Switzerland to study security and cryptography at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)  and then at the University of Lausanne.

2010, I met several African students who needed help authenticate their diplomas. If you are in Switzerland and write to the university you first studied with, it might take up to six months to receive a reply. Sometimes, it is impossible to know whether you are communicating with the right person and whether this person can support your authentification request.

I wanted to devise a solution to quickly authenticate students’ diplomas and, above all, prove that the person presenting the diploma is the right person.

In 2016, I created GLOBAL ID, which focused on vein recognition technology by combining various disciplines, such as vein biometry, cryptography, imaging, and digital electronics. The Swiss government first funded the science behind it. In 2020, we started industrializing our prototype.

Lauterbach: Solving digital identity is one of the major problems of our time. How did you choose the technology path to follow, as there are several ways to address the challenge?

Sonna Momo: Linking a document like a University diploma to a person’s morphology is challenging. We do authentication based on invisible biological data that can only be obtained by consent, such as finger veins in multiview, hidden and obtainable only with the individual’s knowledge. As a result, authenticity is protected throughout life because vein networks are stable through age. With Global ID technology, organizations no longer require troubling consumers and citizens with a myriad of pseudo-authentication questions and steps, making processes faster and with a much better user experience.

There are many ways to identify biometric markers of a person, e.g., fingerprints, faces, eyes, and voice. Putting a strategic bed on something that did not change in life and developing seemed a sustainable way to address the challenge.

Lauterbach: Do you use AI in your technology?

Sonna Momo: AI and Generative AI are vital to automating and improving algorithms in biometrics. Scalability and operational excellence won’t happen without using AI. Besides, cybercriminals utilize AI technology for their attacks. Any technology business must build defense mechanisms to prevent damage. It is a competitive race against bad guys, after all.

Lauterbach: How did you move from academia into entrepreneurship, and what are your priorities today?

Sonna Momo: Today, innovation and creativity have their place in every field of research. Cybersecurity is one of the areas most affected by innovation, which might come from the academic field. Filing for patents is key, as we must document what differentiates us from innovative solutions elsewhere. Our patents focus on three areas – cryptography (data encryption and secure transmission), biometry itself (multiview finger vein scanning, processing, and recognition), and privacy (separation of biometry from personal data). We were fortunate to prove our concept across Africa, India, and America, using different skin colors and types. This allowed us to finalize the research and start looking for scale – or moving into the industrialization phase, which implies fundraising and transforming a project into a real company.

Building a business is like running a marathon. Sometimes, I feel quite alone, as there are many decisions to make and many risks to mitigate on the go. It is about communicating a technology vision and winning traction. In 2023, we signed an NGO as a client, and they are bringing our solution to several countries.

Today, I am looking for a CEO to attract funds and elevate and scale our business.

Lauterbach: What key characteristics are you looking at while hiring a CEO?

Sonna Momo: The person must have a vision aligned with mine. I need an entrepreneur who can relentlessly drive the company forward and be committed to excellence in R&D and operations. Competence in the field is vital to ensure credibility. The future CEO must possess an extensive network, as biometrics and digital ID management aren’t local markets. Thinking globally while being focused on local details is a leap one must master.

Lauterbach: I assume that in the next five years, the number of regulatory frameworks and laws focused on cybersecurity and data protection will double. How do you perceive current differences in regulatory approaches?

Sonna Momo: In Switzerland and the EU, we are very focused on data protection. In Africa, it is all about IT and network security and the protection of data residing in IT systems. China’s cybersecurity law is one of the most stringent in the world, as it is linked with national security and data sovereignty. Each region’s regulatory approach to cybersecurity reflects its unique priorities and challenges.

Lauterbach: With the increasing number of cyber attacks, consumers and individuals suffer. Do you see a changing attitude of consumers towards cyber protection?

Sonna Momo: Consumers first think about convenience. Once they suffer from the first incident, they start looking for ways to balance convenience, prevention, and protection.

In the past ten years, I have witnessed a big shift in how businesses and governments start to view cybersecurity as their number one business issue, not just a technology issue.

Lauterbach: What are your views on blockchain and quantum computing in the context of cybersecurity?

Sonna Momo: I think biometrics can be added to the blockchain, as it lacks a morphology feature today. However, research on biometrics and blockchain is fairly new.

Quantum computing will represent a major paradigm shift. Companies and governments must prepare now by thinking about quantum cryptography. At GlobalID, we have already undertaken steps to switch to quantum computing when the necessity becomes apparent.