Patriot One Moves Toward Commercialization with New CFO

“Karen’s experience in financial planning, corporate governance, business development and operations for start-up and growth stage technology companies makes her the right choice for this position.” – Martin Cronin, CEO, Patriot One

The Canadian computer vision specialist Patriot One is bringing on Karen Hersh as its new Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Hersh will be taking over for Mike Barnsley, who is stepping down to enjoy his retirement as the company moves from the startup phase to full-scale commercialization. Barnsley will stay on in an advisory capacity to facilitate a smooth transition before retiring. 

Hersh, meanwhile, joins the company after a stint as the CFO of a global private equity company that focused primarily on cybersecurity technologies. She has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, and has made prior executive stops at PricewaterhouseCoopers and VIQ Solutions. At the former, she served as the VP of Corporate Finance & Investment Banking, while at the latter, she once again held the position of CFO.

“Karen’s experience in financial planning, corporate governance, business development and operations for start-up and growth stage technology companies makes her the right choice for this position,” said Patriot One CEO Martin Cronin. “She has a proven track record for leading cross-functional teams to achieve business objectives and value creation, which is critical as we continue to execute on our vision and capitalize on the market opportunity before us.”

As CFO, Hersh will be expected to support the commercialization of the company’s PATSCAN Threat Detection Platform in addition to overseeing Patriot One’s general financial operations. PATSCAN is designed to identify weapons and other potentially dangerous situations.

“I’m excited to work with this team in moving its life-saving technology towards global deployments and success,” said Hersh. “I am eager to assist the Company in bringing its vision to life and creating a world safer from acts of violence on our global citizens.”

Patriot One recently entered the Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster COVID-19 Program to help develop technologies that could mitigate the threat of the pandemic. Before that, the company’s Xtract Technologies was contracted to provide technology that will give Canadian firefighters a better sense of their surroundings.

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August 10, 2020 – by Eric Weiss