This week for our employee spotlight series we talked with Vincent Bilbeissi, a Senior Data Science Engineer at Artemis. Vincent works closely with the Engineering team and the Sales team by building data pipelines and data related features in our product to help improve customer experience in the process.

Why did you join Artemis?

Vincent: Having worked in the traditional agriculture industry, I got interested in improving our food system as well the technological advances within the field through Controlled Environment Agriculture. I also came across a great Artemis (Agrilyst by then) blog post about the company’s culture that caught my attention. Adding to the fact that Artemis is at the intersection of cultivation, data and traceability, that was a perfect fit to me.

What were you doing before Artemis?

Vincent: I have a background in computer science specializing in AI as well as in industrial and supply chain management degree. Prior to joining Artemis, I was working in the Food Distribution and Agriculture industry for about 6 years.

What is your favorite memory here?

Vincent: It was during last year’s company offsite in Orlando. It was my first week at Artemis and the company rented 2 villas where we all stayed together for a couple of days. Since most of my team works remotely it was great meeting everyone.

How long have you worked here?

Vincent: I’ve been with Artemis since March 2019.

What’s your favorite core value? Why?

Vincent: My favorite core value is “We trust and respect each other”. Although the other core values are also important, we all make sure within the company to keep this one in mind during our work and communications. I think it’s essential since our team members work remotely and we all have great respect each other’s personal time.

What’s been the weirdest adjustment from working wherever you were before to working here?

Vincent: Having most team members working remotely was a bit challenging for me when I first joined the company, as I had to learn how to use our internal communication tools, and adjust my communication habits. I also had to set a daily routine and make sure I turn off notifications after working hours.

What would you recommend for potential future Artemis employees?

Vincent: I’d recommend reaching out to everyone in the company, there are diverse agricultural and tech backgrounds within the team members and industry knowledge to share.

How do you feel about remote work?

Vincent: Remote work actually gives the company great flexibility and resilience in regards to unexpected events. Looking back at it now, I’d prefer working remotely than having to commute to the office on a daily basis. Additionally it requires us to communicate more efficiently since team members might have different time zones.

What are you most excited about for the Artemis future?

Vincent: I’m really excited about how Artemis is bridging the gap between operations, third party software and hardware, as well as traceability and compliance. There are also large amounts of data that go through a facility on a daily basis, it’s really exciting to see growers easily get access to it, use it to schedule operations, log and trace activities or even analyze a facilities environment and try to optimize crop performance.

If you had $20 what would you do with it this weekend?

Vincent: Try a new street food place.