Portrait No. 001
Andrea Diaz
Founder
Cosito
From building robotics projects in university to later leading Internet of Things initiatives at SAP and AWS across Colombia, Singapore, and the U.S., I kept seeing the same challenge across industries. I worked on IoT deployments in more than 30 countries, yet sensor technology remained largely inaccessible for most businesses. It was often too expensive, too technical, and too difficult to implement. In factories, warehouses, and retail stores, frontline workers are often expected to use complex technology that does not reflect how their work actually happens. Instead of helping them, these tools often become another obstacle in their day. Seeing this disconnect pushed me to start Cosito. Advances in AI now allow technology to adapt to people. With voice AI, employees can simply speak and their actions are logged automatically into operational systems, turning technology into a collaborator rather than another barrier.
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
Throughout my career, I’ve often been the only woman in the room. In many multinational teams I worked on, I never had a female manager. At SAP Singapore, I was the only Latina in the office. Later at AWS, women represented less than 6% of my team. I was also always an immigrant, first in Asia and later in the U.S., navigating environments where I had to prove myself twice. Early in my career in Colombia, I learned I had to be more technical than my peers to stand out. When I moved to Singapore, I realized competing purely on technical depth wasn’t the most strategic path for me, so I leaned into storytelling and business strategy and became the best at it. Despite consistently being recognized as a Catalyst and top-tier employee at SAP and AWS, I was still paid less than peers. After receiving a Fulbright scholarship for graduate studies, the Fulbright organization itself discouraged me from applying to MIT, saying my profile wasn’t competitive enough. I applied anyway and was accepted. That same resilience now drives Cosito. We’ve raised support from Techstars, powered by JP Morgan, and angel investors, and are running pilots across manufacturing, retail, and logistics.
Chapter II
Your vision.
The problem I’m obsessed with solving is the gap between technology and the people who actually run physical operations. When I speak with plant managers, machine operators, warehouse workers, or store employees, I see the same pattern: they need better tools, but most technology is built and approved by teams that have never set foot on the physical operation. Too often, workers are expected to adapt to complicated systems, memorize codes, or use screens and paper forms that slow their work and create poor user experiences. I believe it should be the opposite. Technology should adapt to people. With Cosito, my vision is to build technology that becomes invisible inside the physical world. Systems that capture what happens in operations naturally, without friction, so technology finally works alongside the people running the physical world.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
I will redefine how technology is built for the physical world. Today, most tools are designed for people behind desks, while the workers running factories, warehouses, kitchens, and stores are forced to adapt to systems that slow them down. Cosito will become the go-to company for physical operations, building technology that is invisible, intuitive, and affordable. The impact I want to leave is a world where powerful operational technology is accessible to every business, so immigrants, women, and outsiders with physical operations can compete with the same tools that were once only available to large corporations.