What Drives Me

The Extraordinary Potential of AI

For 15 years, I’ve built AI and machine learning systems that touch hundreds of millions of people. Here’s what gets me excited: we’re living through the most transformative technological revolution in human history, and we’re just getting started.

I’ve built ML systems that democratize access to culture, helping people discover music they’d never find on their own. I’ve designed and built recommendation engines that created economic opportunity for millions of sellers in local marketplaces. I’ve applied AI to accelerate environmental remediation and improve access to clean water. And I’m now building systems that strengthen real-world human connection in an increasingly fragmented world.

The technology works. The potential is limitless. What drives me is building AI systems that unlock human potential rather than constrain it.

Why I Build What I Build

My journey in AI started with fascination: How can intelligent systems augment human capabilities in ways previously unimaginable?

At OfferUp, I built user-trust with reliability and scalability of ML systems that unlocked economic opportunity, helping people in underserved communities turn unused items into meaningful income—democratizing commerce in ways that would be impossible without AI. At Spotify, I designed personalization engines that connected artists with their perfect audience and helped listeners discover music that genuinely enriched their lives; baristas could immediately connect with the value creation of my work. In environmental work, I applied AI to solve one of the hardest public health challenges—accelerating clean drinking water access for communities affected by PFAS contamination.

The pattern is clear: AI’s greatest potential lies in multiplying human capability and extending opportunity to more people.

I’m not just building better algorithms—I’m building systems that let a single person accomplish what once required teams, that give small creators global reach, that make expertise accessible to everyone, and that solve problems at scales previously unimaginable.

What “Human-Centered AI” Actually Means

I’m often asked about “human-centered AI,” and here’s my take: it’s about building AI that makes humans more capable, more creative, and more connected—not replacing human agency, but amplifying it.

Human-centered AI means:

• Augmentation over automation - AI should unlock new capabilities humans couldn’t access before
• Intelligence multiplied - One person with great AI tools should be able to do what previously required a team
• Access democratized - Expert-level capabilities available to everyone, not just the privileged few
• Humans empowered - People maintain agency and control while leveraging AI’s computational power
• Meaningful progress - Technology that solves real problems and measurably improves lives

This isn’t about slowing down innovation—it’s about accelerating it in directions that matter. It’s about being intentional with our incredible capabilities.

This philosophy guided my decision to leave a successful role at Spotify to build Connection Companion—a platform that uses cutting-edge AI not to increase screen time, but to strengthen real-world relationships. It’s technically harder to build AI that respects human autonomy. It’s also more valuable.

The Leadership Philosophy

Building great AI systems requires more than great algorithms. It requires great teams.

I’ve grown teams from 1 to 25+ engineers, and here’s what I’ve learned works:

• Psychological safety - I create environments where people can take risks and learn from failure
• Diverse perspectives - I actively recruit varied backgrounds because homogeneous teams build biased systems
• Clear values - I ensure every technical decision aligns with human-centered principles
• Sustainable pace - I protect my teams from burnout because exhausted people build fragile systems

I measure my leadership success not just in model performance, but in how much I’ve accelerated the growth and capabilities of the people I work with.

The Opportunity Ahead

I’m building AI because we’re at an unprecedented moment in human history. The capabilities I’m developing aren’t just incremental improvements—they’re fundamental expansions of what humans can achieve.

The path I’m taking: Building AI systems that democratize expertise, that turn individual creators into global enterprises, that give everyone access to capabilities once reserved for large institutions, that solve humanity’s biggest challenges at scales previously impossible.

What excites me about this moment is the potential applications of the technologies we’re building:

• World-class education becoming accessible to every child on Earth
• Solo founders gaining the capabilities of entire engineering teams
• Scientific discovery accelerating across every discipline
• New tools to tackle climate change, disease, and scarcity
• Human creativity and problem-solving extending to new frontiers

I’ve chosen to focus my current work on human connection because it’s both technically challenging and deeply meaningful—but I’m energized by the broader applications these AI techniques enable across every domain.

Technology is never neutral—it amplifies the intentions and values of those who build it. I choose to build technology that expands human potential.

Why Now? Why Connection Companion?

After years of building recommendation systems and personalization engines, I’ve mastered both the power and the nuances of AI at scale. I’ve built systems that can keep people scrolling for hours—and now I’m using that same technology to solve the opposite problem.

Here’s what excites me: I can use cutting-edge AI to help people build richer offline lives. Connection Companion is my bet that AI’s greatest application isn’t maximizing screen time—it’s helping people strengthen real-world relationships.

I’m building a platform that uses agentic AI, LLMs, and ML systems to:

• Strengthen existing relationships through intelligent nudges and reminders
• Reduce the cognitive load of maintaining meaningful connections
• Facilitate real-world interactions, not replace them
• Prove that sophisticated AI can respect privacy and user autonomy

The technical challenges are fascinating: I’m designing systems that are helpful without being intrusive, powerful without being controlling, intelligent without being presumptuous. This is the kind of ambitious AI engineering that excites me—using our most advanced capabilities to solve deeply human problems.

What Success Looks Like

I measure my impact across multiple dimensions:

• Capability unlocked - How many people can now do things that were previously impossible?
• Opportunity created - Am I expanding access or concentrating it?
• Problems solved - Am I addressing real human needs at meaningful scale?
• Teams empowered - How many engineers have I helped become more capable and effective?
• Technology advanced - Am I pushing the boundaries of what’s technically possible?

The most exciting part of working in AI right now is that these goals align. I can build systems that are both technically sophisticated and genuinely beneficial. I can create commercial success while expanding opportunity. I can advance the state of the art while solving real problems.

This is what techno-optimism looks like in practice: believing that with thoughtful engineering and clear values, I can build AI systems that dramatically improve human life.

The Invitation

If you’re building AI systems and share this excitement—if you believe technology can expand human potential, solve hard problems, and create abundant opportunity—I’d love to talk.

I’m particularly interested in connecting with:

• Founders building ambitious AI products that unlock new capabilities
• Engineers who want to work on technically challenging problems with real impact
• Investors backing companies that combine technical excellence with clear vision
• Researchers exploring the frontiers of what AI can do

I don’t claim to have all the answers. But I’m committed to building AI systems that expand what’s possible for humanity.

Because the future of AI isn’t predetermined—it’s something I get to build. Together with people like you.

Let’s build technology that makes us proud. Technology that our children will be grateful for. Technology that proves human ingenuity and ambition can create genuine abundance and opportunity.

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The best is ahead of us.