Meet Our Team

The People Behind the Innovation

Driving Aviation Toward a Decarbonized Future

Behind NABLA Mobility is a team of aviation professionals, engineers, data scientists, and problem solvers who care deeply about how aviation evolves. Working closely with airlines has shown us how small decisions carry real world consequences for safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

Our work is driven by a shared belief that decarbonization starts with how aircraft are operated every day. Inspired by a passion for aviation and a commitment to integrity, we focus on practical solutions that help teams respond earlier, reduce disruption, and make clearer decisions under pressure.

We believe progress comes from curiosity, collaboration, and the courage to challenge traditional thinking, always with safety and real customer value at the center.

The Values We Work By

Integrity

We ask clear questions about why problems matter, what impact solutions create, and how decisions affect real operations. Aviation is complex and critical to society, so responsibility and honesty guide how challenges are approached and how partnerships are built. Integrity shapes both the technology developed and the way collaboration happens across teams and with customers.

State of the art

Technology should solve real problems, not exist for its own sake. Advanced methods and modern computational approaches are combined with proven tools that work in real operations. The focus stays on practical results, operational reliability, and solutions that teams can trust and use every day.

Bold

New perspectives and experimentation drive progress. The team is willing to challenge assumptions, test ideas, and iterate quickly while maintaining strong safety awareness. Innovation and responsibility go hand in hand, enabling meaningful change without compromising operational integrity.

The People Behind NABLA Mobility

Adam Linthwaite

Head of Product
Adam Linthwaite is Head of Product at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Adam held diverse product and UI/UX design roles in Canada and Japan for more than 10 years. He worked as a UI/UX designer for numerous Canadian companies and co-founded a startup focused on public data visualization.
He later served as Product Design Lead at the Japanese fintech company Origami and supported various startups as a product design advisor and consultant.
Adam holds a Master’s degree in Asia Pacific Studies from the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.
Cissy Yuan

UI/UX Designer

Cissy Yuan is a Junior UI/UX Designer at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Cissy worked as a Web and UI Design Lead at Fantuan Delivery in Vancouver. She also worked at various experiential agencies in New York as an environmental designer.
Cissy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Guillaume Jestin

Software Engineer
Guillaume Jestin is a Software Engineer at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Guillaume worked at Trekea in Paris, France, where he contributed to innovative projects and software design. In that role, he played a key role in modernizing software applications, improving performance, and enhancing end-user experiences.
Guillaume holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science from Paris Sorbonne University.
Igor Segrovets

Software Engineer

Igor Segrovets is a Software Engineer at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Igor conducted research in computational fluid dynamics and scientific software development. His project partners included The University of Queensland Research Centre for Hypersonics, KEIO Media Design School, and RIKEN Center for Computational Sciences.
Igor holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Joel Ekelund

Software Engineer

Joel Ekelund is a Software Engineer at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Joel worked as a data scientist, developing machine learning solutions in natural language processing and computer vision for global technology companies. His work focused on text classification, similarity matching, and image analysis, leveraging machine and deep learning to address complex problems.
Joel holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Physics from Lund University.
Jonathan Sanjay

Advisor
Jonathan Sanjay is a Product and Business Development Advisor to NABLA Mobility. He is currently Group Senior Manager of Projects, Development and Efficiency at AirAsia.
Jonathan has 15 years of experience in airline operations, cost reduction, and fuel savings, and has led projects focused on operational optimization and revenue growth. His work includes setting up new airline entities, leading aircraft and cabin selection, managing aircraft entry into service, and delivering significant fuel and environmental savings.
Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Air Transportation Management from Swinburne University.
Kazuhiro Hiramoto

Board Member & Software Engineer
Kazuhiro Hiramoto (Kazu) is a Board Member and Software Engineer at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Kazu worked as a Software and Algorithm Engineer at Morpho, Inc. for 10 years, where he was responsible for algorithm development and project management for hardware implementation of image processing and acceleration using digital signal processing. He also worked as a Software Engineer and Researcher at NEC for five years, focusing on high-level design tools for LSI, including CyberWorkBench.
Kazu holds a Master’s degree in Information Science from the University of Tokyo.
Ling-Chen (Allison) Chou

UX/UI Designer
Allison Chou ia aUX/UI Designer at NABLA Mobility.

She is a product designer with experience creating AI-integrated, user-centered digital products across media, education, and healthcare industries. Her work focuses on transforming user insights into intuitive, effective, and engaging product experiences.
Allison holds a Master's degree in Information with a focus on UX Research and Design (HCI) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Louis Duvigneau

Software Engineer
Louis Duvigneau is a Software Engineer at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Louis worked as a Machine Learning Engineer at Move Digital AG, a Swiss fintech startup, where he led several AI projects within the quants team. He has thorough expertise in machine and deep learning algorithm design and implementation.
Louis holds a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
Makoto Sato, Ph.D.

Co-Founder & CTO
Makoto Sato co-founded NABLA Mobility in 2021 and serves as Chief Technology Officer.
Before co-founding the company, Makoto worked as a software engineer and data scientist across various industries, including startups. He subsequently served as CTO at several startups.
Makoto holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Tokyo.
Mike Hulley

Senior Advisor

Mike Hulley is a Senior Advisor to NABLA Mobility. He is currently CEO of Aileron Strategic Advisors, LLC, where he provides executive consulting, conducts due diligence for M&A transactions, and serves on several boards.
Previously, Mike was CEO and President of NAVBLUE, an Airbus company and a global provider of flight operations solutions. Over a 35-year career in the aviation industry, he held senior executive positions at EDS, IBM, Siemens Nixdorf, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.
Mike is a DEC Fellow in AI and holds Senior Executive Graduate Certificates from Harvard and Columbia.
Minoru Nakano

Software Engineer

Minoru Nakano is a Software Engineer at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Minoru worked as a Software Developer at the computational biology lab at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, in Toronto, Canada. In that role, he developed web applications to support researchers and clinicians in mining and visualizing cancer genomics data and built a web-based platform to ensure provenance and transparency in processing multimodal cancer data.
Minoru holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from McGill University and a Diploma of Technology in Computer Systems from BCIT.
Mariana Ferreira

Business Development Specialist & Data Scientist

Mariana Ferreira is a Business Development Specialist and Data Scientist at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Mariana worked across various industries as a Data Scientist at McKinsey & Company and as a Business Consultant at Mastercard Advisors in São Paulo, Brazil.
Mariana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Universidade de São Paulo.
Masashi Nozaki

General Manager of Business Development

Masashi Nozaki is General Manager of Business Development at NABLA Mobility.
Before joining the company, Masashi accumulated 10 years of experience at Dai-ichi Life, where he undertook a variety of roles. He was one of the founding members of the company’s Silicon Valley office in California, spending five years focused on business development. He later worked as a venture investor in Japan at Dai-ichi Life, which has a startup investment portfolio of more than 70 companies.
Masashi holds a B.A. in Politics with International Relations from the University of York.
Shinji Tanaka

Founder & CEO

Shinji Tanaka is Founder and CEO of NABLA Mobility. He founded the company in 2021.
Before founding NABLA Mobility, Shinji worked as a Project Manager at BCG in Tokyo and Atlanta for seven years, supporting corporate strategy development, M&A, and operational transformation for global companies. He also worked as an Aircraft Engine Engineer at IHI for three years and completed an internship at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
Shinji holds a Master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and the University of Tokyo.
Toshio（Dave）Yamazaki

Corporate General Manager
Toshio Yamazaki is a Corporate General Manager at NABLA Mobility.
Toshio brings extensive experience from a career spanning over three decades in the steel and trading industries. He spent 24 years at Nippon Steel Corporation, primarily engaged in international steel business, followed by 12 years at Nippon Steel Trading, where he served as a steel trader and, for four years, as President & CEO of Nippon Steel Trading America in the United States. He has also held executive officer and advisor roles at multiple companies.
Raised in Rio de Janeiro during childhood, he has lived and worked internationally, including a total of 10 years in Chicago and Los Angeles. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Keio University.