Member Spotlight: Kevin French, CEO, Americas, iCabbi
- The Transportation Alliance
- May 7
- 3 min read
How long have you been a member of TTA? Over the past 40 years, every technology company I’ve worked with has been a member of the TTA, including Gandalf, GMSI, Sigem, Mobile Knowledge, CMT, and iCabbi. I believe the first event I attended was at the Tropicana in Las Vegas in the late 80s or early 90s.
Why did you join TTA? TTA has simply been the largest yearly gathering of industry players. It is the one event that brings together iCabbi customers, prospects, partners, and even competitors!
What’s your favorite part of being a member of TTA? My favorite part of TTA and their events is that it serves as a great litmus test of how the industry is doing at that point in time. What are the opportunities? What are the pain points? It helps us validate our own plans and how we can help grow the industry.
What committee do you currently serve on? I have been on the Solution Providers and Business Development Committees. We see the inclusion of vendors on these committees as a large step forward as we bring a different perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities.
What city are you located in and what is the size of your fleet? I am based out of Ottawa, Canada. iCabbi works with 1000+ fleets and 100K+ vehicles in 15 different countries.
What type of service does your company provide? iCabbi provides technological solutions to transportation providers of all types. Please come and see us at any of the shows or check out www.icabbi.com .
What do you love most about the transportation industry? As a technology company, we often hire individuals from outside the transportation industry. One concept that resonates immediately is the industry's core mission: to move people efficiently and safely. Given the vulnerability of many passengers—such as the elderly, youth, and those who are disadvantaged, this work represents an essential community service for which the iCabbi team can take great pride.
How do you define success? Success, to me, is when our technology empowers someone and meaningfully enhances the operations of the entire ecosystem—fleets, operators, drivers, and passengers. In other words, true win-win outcomes. Our Move AI technology is the perfect example where it can optimize work using both taxis and/or NEMT vehicles considering the capabilities of both drivers and vehicles to serve passengers in the most optimal fashion.
If you could choose anyone as a mentor, who would you choose and why? In my early years, I had the opportunity to work with multiple senior telecoms industry veterans. People instrumental in building international telecoms giants. It was incredible to bounce ideas off them and the answers were often unexpected. I once joked that it must be nice to have thousands of staff to lean on, only to be told, ‘Big companies are just a bunch of small ones duct-taped together—same chaos, just with more meetings.’
What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the transportation industry? Do it for the right reasons and make sure you have a passion for it. The stories of both taxi and NEMT fleets starting out from a personal necessity are fantastic examples.
What’s one thing — either industry-related or not — you learnt in the last month? Everyone has used CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) to login to some website or service. I recently discovered that people’s answers/classification to these thousands of pictures are sometimes fed back into AI to train it. Every wonder why many are crosswalk or transportation related?
Personal
What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know? I have spent a considerable amount of time being a volunteer coach for a variety of different sports. It is the best “management” training available!
What’s the last book you read? One of my most recent books is Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World written by: Mo Gawdat. It is an interesting look into AI.
What is your favorite hobby? I love getting out on the water in my kayak—it’s always a great escape. I just wish there were more hours in the day!
What’s the first concert you ever attended? As a good Canadian would, my first concert was Loverboy opening for April Wine at the Montreal Forum. Heart and Cheap Trick are up next btw.
What’s the next place on your travel bucket list? I have never been to Australia or New Zealand.
Are you currently binge-watching any shows? Just finished Adolescence on Netflix. It is four ~1 hour shows each filmed in a single shot camera style. It adds to the already intense story.
If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? It has to be pizza. Can always vary the toppings for variety!
What’s one item you can’t live without? I don’t think there is one. I considered my phone, but I would arguably be happier without it!
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