The tech sector today is much different than it was in 1982, when Ottawa entrepreneur Richard L’Abbé co-founded Med-Eng Systems Inc. at the age of 24.
A graduate of the University of Ottawa’s mechanical engineering program, L’Abbé led the company as president and CEO until 2005, growing it into an international player in explosive ordnance disposal equipment.
As a business leader, he also witnessed several tech revolutions, and many more in the 19 years since his retirement. OBJ spoke with L’Abbé about what’s different for tech entrepreneurs now, how to get ahead in a competitive sector, and what he thinks about artificial intelligence.
OBJ360 (Sponsored)

New development in Kanata by Lepine connects business and community
Les Boutiques at Carré Saint Louis is bringing exciting retail opportunities to the heart of Ottawa’s west end. Developed by Lépine and exclusively leased by Campanale, this mixed-use development in

Ontario’s Energy Future: How Battery Storage Can Meet Growing Demand
A proposed energy project in West Ottawa aims to address Ontario’s increasing electricity demand by storing excess energy during low-demand periods and delivering it when demand peaks. This initiative will
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What stands out to you about today’s tech sector?
“What is interesting for me is how different the style of doing business is today compared to when I was in the saddle, so to speak. I think the communications now through the internet seem to be so much more important than face-to-face relationships. It’s just a very different way of doing business and for people that have been retired for a while, it’s just a very, very strange new environment to be in. I’m sure that when our parents used to look at us in business, they used to shake their heads and say, oh gosh, that’s not how we did business in our day. So it’s part of the evolution of business, I guess. But everything just seems so much more competitive and difficult today compared to maybe what it would have been 40 years ago.”
Q: Is there anything you think could be valuable to hang on to from the pre-internet days, in terms of running a tech business?
“For young entrepreneurs starting their business now, because there’s so much power in cloud computing, they can do so much more than we could have done back in our day. When we started (Med-Eng Systems), the company that I was one of the co-founders for – that goes back to 1981, so it feels like it was 100 years ago – it’s interesting to remind your readers that the interest rate for people buying a house was around 19 per cent. So for people that think they have it rough now with the interest rates that we have today, if you go back in those days, it was a very, very difficult period to start a business and fund things, as you can imagine.
“Every one of the periods have their own challenges. I think that there’s just so much more opportunity today. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, asking for people that have been there and done that, for a little bit of advice along the way. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between garbage advice and good advice, granted, but there are some very capable tech people in Ottawa, and you know, if you can tap into the minds of some of these people, it gives you a tremendous advantage.”
Q: Do you have advice for people trying to start a tech company who may be dealing with cost concerns now?
“I think for a young entrepreneur, it’s oftentimes discouraging to start a business and (find) potential investors, if that’s the way you want to fund your business, in the beginning. You know they don’t necessarily understand exactly what you’re trying to do, what you’re trying to build. And sometimes it takes a lot of patience on the part of a young entrepreneur. It’s sometimes very frustrating, because it might be relatively clear in their heads, but not obvious for people around them. I think it’s important to be tenacious, to not give up too easily. It’s easy to give up, but the people that succeed are the people that just keep churning and going at it, as opposed to lifting their arms up and saying, ‘I can’t do it.’”
Q: You were in business during the dot-com boom and either technological revolutions, and it feels like we’re in another one now with AI. How do you go about navigating technological changes while running a tech business?
“To me, if you try to live in the past, you’re not going to be able to succeed in today’s environment. So you have to embrace the tools that are available to you today, because everyone else is and if it’s going to give you an edge, it’s going to give an edge to everyone else around you. There are people in emerging-economy countries that don’t mind working 18 hours a day because they want to have the lifestyle that we have in our country. And so that is sometimes the competition that we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with people that are going to burn the midnight oil and are afraid to invest a lot of time and energy to reach their goal.
“That’s why I’m saying that today’s environment, because the communication channels are so much easier than they were a long time ago – everybody is on the same level playing field, whether they live in India and China and Australia and Argentina or in Canada. So it requires new entrepreneurs to think of a new twist. Think of an opportunity in the marketplace that maybe has not been exploited by anyone else.”
Q: What do you think about AI overall?
“It’s all around us already, and it’s incredibly useful. I think it’s a little bit scary, especially for youngsters, because it’s so easy to say, ‘Oh, do my homework, do my term paper for me.’ And that obviously takes away from the purpose of being in school. You’re there to learn how to learn. And so there are certain things that I’ve seen, like somebody wrote a book recently, and the writing style isn’t at all his writing style. As you read the book, it’s just like, if you’re going to use AI to write articles and such, your AI interface has to really know you and has to know where you come from to be able to mimic the style that you have.
“But it’s all around us. If you don’t embrace it, you’re just going to get lost in the dust.”