This article was originally published in the Israeli technology publication, Calcalist on April 9th 2025. The text that follows is an English translation of the original article.
Daniela Crispin, recently appointed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at ShipIn, is leading a digital revolution in the traditionally conservative global shipping industry. In an interview with Calcalist, she talks about the innovative system that is changing the face of maritime shipping and the added value that women bring to key tech roles.
From Mathematics to the Open Sea: Daniella Crispin’s Professional Journey
Daniela Crispin, a resident of Rosh HaAyin, Israel and mother of two children – Nadav and Noam – does not fit the typical image one might expect in the world of traditional shipping. With 24 years of experience in software development and leading R&D teams, she is now spearheading a tech revolution in one of the largest and most traditional industries in the world.
Her career reflects the dramatic changes that have swept through the high-tech world in recent decades. “I’ve always connected with math, and that’s how I found my way into computer science,” she shares. Daniela began her career at Amdocs in 2001 as a developer and was part of a team that created an innovative product that later became the company’s flagship offering. Over the years, she advanced into senior management roles — from team leader to development manager, and finally director.
Later on, she decided to dive deeper into artificial intelligence. “I led the development division for an AI product platform, which also included acquiring a startup specializing in the field,” she explains.
She continued applying her broad experience at innovative companies like SEEBO and AUGURY. “At SEEBO, we developed an AI-based product for optimizing manufacturing processes — saving energy and raw materials. After two years, the company was acquired by AUGURY — a unicorn in the Industry 4.0 space — where I went on to manage the R&D teams.”
ShipIn’s AI is Transforming Global Shipping
Moving into the maritime world wasn’t planned, but turned out to be a natural fit for Daniela Crispin. Her driving force throughout her career has always been a search for innovation — building groundbreaking products, moving to the cloud, and integrating disruptive technologies. “What drew me to ShipIn was exactly that spirit of innovation — especially the AI space that I feel so connected to. And of course, the people — the CEO, the Chief Product Officer, and the entire team,” she says.
Initially, she joined as a consultant and worked with the team for ten months. When the company decided to scale up, there was no doubt — she was invited to take the lead officially.
ShipIn’s flagship product, FleetVision™, is an AI-based system transforming the shipping industry. “We provide an AI platform for ship fleets,” explains Crispin. “We connect to the ship’s existing camera network — or install our own — and that’s where the magic begins.”
The system uses advanced computer vision to monitor ship activity in real-time, assess risks, and detect behaviors that may lead to faults or accidents.
FleetVision processes around 10,000 hours of CCTV footage per month per vessel and runs a patented risk scoring algorithm that provides an overall performance score for each ship, with in-depth analysis of various operational areas.
The importance of such a platform is critical. The majority of goods worldwide still travel by sea — through long, costly journeys under strict regulations and tight protocols. Any failure or non-compliance can cause tremendous damage. “To ensure everything runs smoothly and safely, you need technology that understands the complexity — and that’s exactly where FleetVision comes in,” concludes Crispin.
The Maritime Challenge: Turning Constraints into Future Breakthroughs
Developing advanced tech systems for the maritime environment presents unique challenges — and opportunities to push boundaries. One major limitation is satellite internet, which is inherently limited and unstable. “You’re very restricted with satellite internet — and you don’t want to waste a ship’s data package on transferring heavy files,” explains Crispin.
This means the ShipIn tech team had to develop particularly smart and efficient algorithms — ones capable of identifying in real time which data is essential to send to the cloud, and compressing it with advanced technologies without compromising information quality.
Beyond that, the maritime environment presents additional challenges, such as the need to interface with external systems — navigation, weather, and various sensors — all of which affect video and image quality. Despite this, ShipIn’s team manages to process all the data and turn it into a cohesive, continuous, and meaningful picture.
For Crispin, this is more than just a product — it’s a revolution. ShipIn’s platform is evolving rapidly and expanding its capabilities across safety, operations, and oversight. “I believe that in the future we’ll be able to handle use cases onshore as well, at terminals,” she explains, “and that our technology will become a regulatory requirement for insurance companies — similar to smart safety systems in cars.”
Her vision is clear: a future where, just like in car insurance, the maritime industry can determine premiums based on actual safety conduct — not forecasts or estimates. In this way, technology can become not just a driver of efficiency, but also a real incentive for continuous improvement.
“Empathy and Creativity are the Key” – Crispin’s Message to Women in Tech
Despite her impressive career and the senior positions she’s held, Daniela Crispin is well aware of the gender gap that still exists in high-tech. “To this day, tech remains in many ways a male-dominated world — there are women in CTO roles, but still a small percentage,” she says honestly.
But she also sees the potential: “I’ve managed many women who studied computer science and math, and I’m sure they can thrive. What makes them stand out is the ability to blend creativity, empathy, teamwork, and a deep understanding of customer needs — all crucial for developing truly innovative technology.”
Crispin’s personal vision goes far beyond code and algorithms. She believes that integrating “feminine” traits — such as intuition, interpersonal communication, sensitivity to others’ needs, and the ability to lead teams holistically — is what can propel the tech world forward.
“I hope to see more women in senior roles in tech companies. It’s exciting, it’s possible — and it aligns perfectly with how women work and lead,” she concludes.
