Mississauga’s Tech CEO Who Started from his Basement

When Carl Rodrigues, Founder and CEO of SOTI, moved from the Far East to Canada at the young age of eleven, he had mixed emotions about his new life, but was excited to discover Canada. His parents had high expectations for their five children, but Carl, always the inquisitive one, was never very interested in school. As a youngster, Carl was always asking questions. In fact, his parents thought he asked way too many questions! He had a keen interest in how things worked, taking toys and electronics apart to understand their inner workings.

While in school in Canada, Carl developed an interest in sports, especially ice hockey, but also in his later academic years, computers, mathematics and technology. These interests led him to start
his young career working as a computer consultant, building software for various companies. One day in the early 2000’s, Carl came home from work and told his wife that he wasn’t going into work anymore. Instead, he went down to the basement of his family home where he started creating software that eventually turned into the billion-dollar company and multinational brand that exists in Mississauga today – SOTI.

Today, Carl’s focus lies in continuing to grow his company, which currently spans across 7 offices across the globe, with over 800 employees, in 22 countries. But for Carl, Mississauga has always
been home. SOTI is well-poised to put Canada on the map as a tech giant and attract top talent from across Canada and around the world to the great city of Mississauga.

Provided by: Sydney Rua