Hugo Dozois-Caouette, 33
CTO and Co-founder
MaintainX
San Francisco, CA, United States
What Makes Hugo an Engineering Leader
Hugo is redefining what modern maintenance and operations software can do for frontline industries. As co-founder and CTO of MaintainX—one of North America’s fastest-growing technology companies—he has architected a platform used in more than 11,000 factories and facilities worldwide. His leadership in building AI-powered, mobile-first tools has helped unlock data visibility where processes were once paper-based or siloed.
Driven by the belief that everyone deserves intuitive tools that improve their work life, Hugo is passionate about making consumer-grade software and AI accessible to the essential workers who keep the physical world running.
Achievements, Advancements & Career-related Industry Contributions
Hugo earned his engineering degree from the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada and began his career building software at Fujitsu and Autodesk before co-founding a messaging app called Voo. As co-founder and CTO of MaintainX, he led the development of the company’s core platform, now used daily by frontline maintenance and reliability teams to manage work orders, preventive maintenance, and inspections.
Under his technical leadership, the product has grown to nearly 1 million users and delivers measurable ROI to customers: a 49% increase in on-time inspections, a 34% decrease in parts inventory spending, and a 35% reduction in unplanned downtime.
He has also overseen the integration of applied AI tools that are modernizing industrial frontline work, including AI-generated SOPs, anomaly detection, and a purpose-built maintenance CoPilot that provides technicians with 24/7 troubleshooting guidance. These tools are uniquely designed for the realities of noisy plant environments and shrinking workforces.
Beyond product development, Hugo has helped shape the company’s engineering culture, mentoring teams to build with empathy and resilience. A strong advocate of “extreme dogfooding,” he ensures that every MaintainX employee uses the software daily so standards for customers remain high.
Non-work-related Activities & Hobbies
Outside of work, Hugo is a dedicated tennis player and avid rock climber. Both sports demand strategic thinking, focus under pressure, and constant adaptation—skills that mirror the mindset he brings to engineering and product development.
Interesting Details
In addition to his work at MaintainX, Hugo is an angel investor in several mission-driven startups, including:
- Starship, which helps people save for health expenses.
- Dyna Robotics, focused on automating repetitive, stationary tasks.
- Verbal, which assists physicians in managing routine diseases through automation.
- Ditto, which enables applications to function and scale even without internet access.
He has also been an active contributor to React-Bootstrap for more than a decade, maintaining the codebase and helping develop new features for the open-source community.
Why Hugo Chose This Career
Raised in a family of engineers and entrepreneurs, Hugo was drawn early to building things and understanding how they worked. Engineering gave him the language to turn his curiosity and problem-solving skills into impact. He chose this career path because he believes great technology can unlock human potential—particularly for those historically underserved by Silicon Valley. That belief continues to guide his work at MaintainX, where he focuses on building software and AI for frontline workers that is as intuitive as their favorite music or social media apps.
