Vehicle tracking technology is entering a new phase as artificial intelligence reshapes how fleets are monitored, maintained and managed. Companies with deep historical data are positioning themselves to adapt as automation, analytics and predictive tools become central to transportation and logistics.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Neil Cawse, CEO of Geotab, about the company’s AI-first transition, the value of long-term telematics data and how rapid technological change is affecting fleet operations and the workforce.
Key Takeaways
- Artificial intelligence is becoming central to vehicle tracking as fleets seek better safety monitoring, predictive maintenance and operational insights.
- Long-term telematics data provides a competitive advantage by helping identify driving risks, accident patterns and infrastructure challenges.
- AI tools are accelerating productivity but forcing companies to rethink workflows, roles and workforce planning.
- The shift to AI-first operations represents a larger disruption than previous technology transitions in transportation and logistics.
- Canada’s innovation ecosystem could benefit from greater risk-taking and reinvestment as AI lowers barriers tied to technical debt.
Read the full transcript below:
ROGER: Geotab can count several major organizations as clients, including the U.S. government, PepsiCo and New York City. The Oakville, Ont.-based company recently broadened contracts with Sourcewell and Canoe and now generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Joining us to discuss the vehicle tracking technology firm is its CEO, Neil Cawse. Neil, thank you for joining us.
NEIL: Thanks for having me.
ROGER: It’s a billion-dollar company that not a lot of people know about. You’ve flown under the radar and stayed private for about 25 years. Why have you chosen that path?
NEIL: It was never really the intention. We started as a small family business — five people, a private company — and now we’re about 3,700 people. Once the reins are out, you have to let them go. It wasn’t planned that way, but we’re very happy with how it turned out.
ROGER: You’ve been approached over the years about taking on investors or going public, and you’ve kept saying no?
NEIL: I made some money earlier in South Africa selling a software business, and I funded Geotab myself. About $500,000 was the peak investment. We never needed more than that, so we stayed fully bootstrapped and never brought in outside investors. Sometimes I wonder whether investors might have made Geotab bigger than it is today, but we’ll never know. I’m happy with how things turned out.
DAN: When you think about the footprint of telematics and the amount of historical data you have, do you see value in that for the autonomous vehicle conversation? A lot of data from companies like Tesla and Waymo is relatively recent, but you have a deep backlog.
NEIL: Telematics does many things. Even in a world without drivers, there’s still a role for telematics — for example, accident reconstruction using independent data sources. Autonomous vehicles also require maintenance, so predictive maintenance remains critical. Our data is our most prized asset. Understanding origin and destination, traffic flow, dangerous intersections, driver behaviour that leads to accidents, and how weather conditions affect driving — data is everything in this new AI-powered world.
DAN: How do you bring AI — whether large language models or predictive systems — into the business you already have?
NEIL: We’re a private company, so we don’t need to talk about AI for valuation purposes. But we’ve been using AI for more than 10 years. For us, AI has meant predictive models — identifying batteries likely to fail or drivers more likely to be involved in accidents. With large language models, the ability to converse with data changes the game. I used to think Geotab was primarily about generating insights for fleet operators. Now, I think AI will pull data from across entire organizations and do that better than we ever could with telematics alone. Our role is shifting toward collecting high-quality data. If data is fuel for AI, then volume and quality are what matter most.
ROGER: Research and development clearly plays a major role. You spend about US$150 million a year on R&D. Is that now largely focused on AI?
NEIL: It is. This transition to AI is the hardest period of my career. If we don’t embrace AI and become an AI-first company quickly, we risk being disintermediated. We’re seeing engineering productivity double, but it’s not AI alone — it requires people guiding it. I’m excited about the future, but it’s a difficult transformation.
ROGER: How do you bring your employees along in that transition?
NEIL: It requires constant communication, goal-setting and creating teams that redesign parts of the business with an AI-first mindset. But it’s hard. I’ll try my best to avoid job losses, but I can’t guarantee every role will survive. Some jobs will be replaced, even if new ones are created. That’s a human challenge — you can’t ask people to work themselves out of a job.
ROGER: Is that kind of disruption just part of running a company?
NEIL: Change is constant, but the magnitude of this shift is unprecedented. I’ve lived through the PC era, the internet, mobile and the move to SaaS. This is the most profound and impactful change of them all. Tech companies will feel it first, and we’ll have to figure it out.
DAN: How do you think about technical debt in this context?
NEIL: Historically, I focused on eliminating technical debt to build strong foundations. What’s changed is that AI can now help close the gap between companies that invested heavily in technology and those that didn’t. That’s encouraging for Canada, which has lagged U.S. investment levels. AI effectively reduces the cost of eliminating tech debt over time — waiting can actually make that work cheaper.
ROGER: What would you like to see Canada do to support innovation?
NEIL: The best thing government can do is keep taxes low and encourage reinvestment into the economy. Entrepreneurs should be free to take risks and build companies. Canada has an incredible education system and quality of life, but we need more risk-taking. That’s what will drive more entrepreneurship.
ROGER: We’ll have to leave it there. Neil, thank you for joining us.
NEIL: Thank you.
ROGER: That was Neil Cawse, CEO of Geota
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the Dec. 17, 2025 interview with Neil Cawse are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
