Joanne Chen has recently achieved a significant milestone, becoming only the second female general partner in the 26-year history of the Silicon Valley venture firm, Foundation Capital.

Should she still be with us, Foundation’s founder, Kathryn Gould, would certainly be delighted by this news.

Gould, recognized for her dynamic personality, first encountered Chen while Chen was pursuing her MBA at the University of Chicago. At the time, Gould was recovering from an illness and, after a professor introduced them, initially cautioned Chen against a career in venture capital. Gould had observed that the venture world often presented greater opportunities for men, a reality that had prompted her to establish her own firm.

However, much like Gould, Chen was spurred on by this discouragement. Although she began her professional journey as an engineer at Cisco, her interest in finance led her to a banking analyst position at Jeffries, followed by an associate role at the capital advisory firm Probitas. She later cofounded a mobile gaming company, which she eventually closed.

Her time in Chicago, including her connection with Gould, solidified Chen’s ambition to become a VC. After experiences at Formation 8 and Hyde Park Angels, she joined Foundation in 2014. (Gould sadly passed away in 2015.)

Chen undoubtedly brings a new viewpoint to a firm comprised of 10 investors.

Beyond being the sole woman within the team, Chen possesses a distinct perspective, particularly regarding the entrepreneurial potential of students at U.C. Berkeley. While acknowledging that Berkeley isn’t as structured as Stanford in fostering founders, she believes it holds comparable talent and, therefore, dedicates significant time and effort to this network as an investor.

Born in China and raised in Montreal, Chen also devotes considerable thought to the implications of artificial intelligence, both as an investor and as an individual. Her father, a University of Montreal PhD graduate, continued his career as a researcher at Bell Labs, while her mother works as a computer programmer and “DevOps person” with whom Chen frequently discusses software tools. However, their history is complex.

Like many families who immigrated, her parents departed China following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, approximately twelve years after the end of the Cultural Revolution—an event that also affected their family. Her grandfather, who played a key role in building a telecommunication network company in Shandong, faced persecution from the Communist Party, losing his position and being labeled an “intellectual” and sent to a reeducation camp. Consequently, her father was unable to begin college until age 21, gaining admission to graduate school only due to his academic achievements.

Today, Chen’s family’s experiences, coupled with China’s application of artificial intelligence—including its use for surveillance of minority groups—are central to her thinking in a way that may not be shared by others without similar understanding of the extent and speed with which authoritarian governments can operate.

This is why Chen’s work largely focuses on comprehending the evolution of AI—from how machines learn from data to the potential for human displacement (which she believes is inevitable); to developing AI-powered solutions to counter malicious AI applications (such as bias-reducing recruitment software); and ultimately, ensuring AI benefits society.

Naturally, Chen is not alone in her focus on AI. The vast majority of startups today incorporate—or claim to incorporate—AI into their products, spanning industries from lending to remote work solutions. Investors at Foundation, among others, have invested in numerous such companies.

When asked about navigating the competition for these deals, Chen emphasizes her ability to make swift decisions. She actively engages with VPs of engineering and technical founders through online communities and other channels. She also points out that Foundation supports around 30 operators who make angel investments and help identify promising opportunities.

Chen primarily concentrates on opportunities that don’t immediately appear in her inbox—a strategy she learned from Gould years ago.

This approach is entirely believable. Gould once advised this editor regarding the guidance she offered to other VCs: “It’s not about the calls you receive; it’s about the calls you initiate. You’ll be inundated with unpromising startup ideas, and you could easily spend all your time sorting through them. Instead, identify the 10 to 20 most intelligent people you know and reach out to them. One of them is invariably launching a company.”

Update: A previous version of this article stated that Chen’s family left China during the Cultural Revolution; however, her parents emigrated later, as the text now accurately reflects.