Our Team
A world-class team of AI researchers, data scientists, and industry veterans building the future of talent intelligence.
Leadership.
Alex spent the last decade bringing artificial intelligence and knowledge management to the forefront of the industrial market. As an undergraduate he authored 5 peer-reviewed publications, performing DARPA-funded research in neural networks, as well as research in memory and computational diagnostics.
Next, he jumped into the private sector, applying analytics on some of the world's largest data warehouses at Teradata, a pioneer in big data technology. Alex was co-founder and CTO at Mtell, whose machine learning platform is used to monitor global fleets of industrial assets, effectively creating a distributed immune system to protect equipment and personnel. Mtell was acquired in 2016 by AspenTech (NASDAQ: AZPN), the global leader in process optimization software. In the two years following the acquisition of Mtell, AspenTech more than doubled its market cap, adding $4 billion of shareholder value. In June 2018, Barron's highlighted AspenTech as one of the top three AI investments outside of FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google). Alex is the lead inventor on three issued patents in machine learning & equipment taxonomies and received degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science, with a concentration in Neuroscience. His bestselling book, "Augmented Mind," explores how the combination of AI with human intelligence — Augmented Intelligence — has revolutionary potential, and he is passionate about unlocking human capital to solve the world's biggest problems.
Dr. Alexander D. Wissner-Gross is an award-winning computer scientist, entrepreneur, advisor, and investor. A thought leader in the applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning to knowledge graph mining and the analysis of influence flows in social networks.
He is a contributing author of the New York Times Science Bestseller, "This Idea Must Die," and the Amazon #1 New Release, "What to Think About Machines That Think." He has received 128 major distinctions, authored 23 publications, been granted 24 issued, pending, and provisional patents, and founded, managed, and advised 7 technology companies with combined exits of over $600 million. In 1998 and 1999, respectively, he won the USA Computer Olympiad and the Intel Science Talent Search. In 2003, he became the last person in MIT history to earn a triple major, with bachelor's degrees in Physics, Electrical Science and Engineering, and Mathematics, and graduated first in his class from MIT. In 2007, he completed his Ph.D. in Physics at Harvard, where his research was awarded the Hertz Foundation's Doctoral Thesis Prize. A popular TED speaker, his talks have been viewed more than 2 million times and translated into 27 languages.
Rupert has over twenty years of experience writing scientific software for academic institutions and corporations. His Ph.D. research in convolutional neural networks helped advance Mtell's predictive maintenance technology, which was part of the acquisition by AspenTech (NASDAQ: AZPN).
He has also done research for Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Oregon State University's billion-dollar marine core archive.
Hugh Burnham has counseled blue chip brands and Global 2000 companies and crafted marketing and media strategy for some of technology’s most respected brands and emerging leaders. He sold his business, Lumina Communications, a 40 person agency, to top 3 independent communications firm ICR in 2023.
Hugh honed his skills at the world’s largest agencies, including Schwartz Communications, Weber Shandwick and Blanc & Otus; running public relations programs for large technology clients, including Compaq Computer. At Weber Shandwick, Hugh directed corporate M & A and IPO financial communications for a broad array of clients within the corporate and investor relations group. He is an advisor to more than 12 different startups, primarily in B2B technology.
Born in Massachusetts, Hugh grew up in London, England. He graduated from Tufts University, and is fluent in four languages.
Mike Kelch brings two decades of sales leadership experience driving growth and innovation in the technology sector. Mike has a proven track record of building high-performing teams and fostering strong client relationships. His strategic vision and customer-centric approach have been instrumental in positioning HelloSky as a leader in AI-driven HR technology.
Mike honed his skills at several leading technology firms including GolfNow, Leafly and Scandit AI, where he consistently exceeded growth targets and expanded market presence leading to two exit events. His expertise spans AI-driven enterprise software, SaaS solutions, and emerging technologies, making him a valuable asset in navigating the evolving landscape of AI and human resources.
Born in Rome, Italy, Mike grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. He graduated from Temple University where he was a Division 1 student-athlete.
Advisors.
John was CEO at HNC Software, a pioneering AI and neural network company that went public in 1995 and returned $4.2 billion to shareholders. He later took over Peregrine during restructuring, which sold for $450 million.
Currently, he serves on the board of a number of public companies and has been involved in several private equity and SPAC transactions. He holds a bachelor's in Economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Betsy is a highly-trained and qualified professional with extensive U.S. Intelligence Community experience providing a human perspective on threats and operations.
She is the founder and CEO of Intelligence Arts, LLC, a consultancy providing specialized U.S. intelligence community expertise for targeting, training, and operational support for public and private sector clients. Previously she spent a decade as an intelligence officer at the CIA. Her specialties include business intelligence, competitive intelligence, and human intelligence.
Shep is currently the Chief Revenue Officer at Betterworks, a pioneer in the Performance Enablement space. Shep has two decades of experience driving revenue and building winning cultures as a sales executive, manager, and leader.
Prior to Betterworks, Shep served as Senior Vice President of Sales for Talkdesk, where he helped drive the 'Intelligent Contact Center' revolution. Prior to Talkdesk, Shep led sales and account management at GuideSpark, an innovator in the benefits and rewards space. Prior to GuideSpark, Shep held a number of leadership roles at Thomson Reuters. Shep has served as an advisor to companies in HR Tech, ESG, Data Science, InfoSec, and CPaaS space. Shep holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia. Shep serves his community actively, supporting JUMA Ventures, Positive Coaching Alliance, It Gets Better, The Trevor Project, and the Wounded Warrior Project, to name a few. In his spare time, Shep coaches several sports and swims in his local Masters program.
Kelly Crothers serves as the Director of Digital Strategy & Thought Leadership for Cisco. As a senior leader within Cisco IT, she oversees the company-wide narrative for Cisco's employee experience transformation, using her award-winning storytelling skills to elevate understanding of Cisco's hybrid work experience. Kelly leads a team of highly creative communicators who actively work to evangelize the Cisco IT mission to deliver the technology that powers Cisco.
She has an extensive background in digital marketing, customer experience, and start-up leadership and is the recipient of the 2015 Female Executive of the Year Stevie Award. Kelly has also won both the ITSMA Marketing Excellence Award and the Frost & Sullivan Manufacturing Leadership Award multiple times and was recognized by the San Diego Business Journal as a "Woman Who Means Business." She has been a guest speaker at the University of San Diego and other venues and frequently shares her expertise and viewpoints in industry trade publications.
Before joining Cisco, Kelly served as vice president of global marketing for MaintenanceNet, playing an instrumental role in its 2015 acquisition by Cisco. She has also served in a variety of marketing leadership positions for Kintera, Triniti, and MarketSpring. She resides in San Marcos, Calif.
Brendan Castle is the Chief People Officer at Zscaler, a prominent cloud security company. Before joining Zscaler, he was the Global Head of Recruiting at Google. He joined Zscaler in May 2022 and brings with him 30 years of experience from reputable organizations, including Google and Citibank.
In his role at Zscaler, Castle leads the People & Culture organization, focusing on retaining exceptional professionals worldwide through various initiatives like talent acquisition, learning and development, internal business partnerships, diversity, equity and inclusion, and enhancing workplace experience.
With over 20 years working at the executive level, as an operator, a consultant, and a recruiter, Matthew thrives on driving extraordinary impact, at the individual and organizational level. As a member of the Human Resources Practice at Russell Reynolds Associates, Matthew leads senior HR executive assignments across geographies and sectors, including the consumer, technology, healthcare, industrial, and financial services industries.
He has particular expertise in companies undergoing high-growth, broad transformation, or an increased focus on talent. He leverages his extensive experience and data-driven insights to act as a thought partner to his clients, which range from global Fortune 500 companies to venture capital and private-equity-backed organizations. He received B.A. degrees in political science and international studies from Yale University.
Dr. Nathan Schurr, Ph.D., is a luminary in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human-machine collaboration with over 20 years of specialized experience. As the current CEO of AGI Technology Partners, Inc., he spearheads transformative initiatives for businesses adapting to Artificial General Intelligence. This includes engagements ranging from assisting stealth startups in developing innovative, production-ready AI features to revolutionizing how Fortune 20 companies integrate AI into their workflows.
Previously, Dr. Schurr held the role of Chief of Artificial Intelligence at Aptima, Inc., where he pioneered AI research and implementation strategies, leading major R&D investments and contributing significantly to the architecture and design of DARPA Plan X and SemaFor Programs. A coveted advisor to various defense and tech companies, he has secured over $100 million in R&D funding from prestigious agencies like DARPA, NASA, and ONR. Dr. Schurr's groundbreaking work also includes serving as Principal Investigator on over 30 AI research programs and championing legal, moral, and ethical considerations in AI development.
After spending years helping transform Cisco's customer experience strategy using digital platforms grounded in data science and machine learning, Steve is applying these tools to transform the employee experience.
Serving as Vice President of Cisco's Employee Experience organization, Steve is doubling down on Cisco's people to create a culture that's grounded in perspective, inclusion & generosity, and transforming the way we work from the inside out.
With a career spent entirely in leadership positions, Jim Bethmann has a keen sense of the skills, behaviors, and leadership qualities required to lead, mentor, and drive organizational success.
His 30+ years of hands-on leadership experience include 23 years in leadership consulting, executive search, compensation analysis, and organizational assessment. He spent 10 years leading a $300M technology company operations on 3 continents, and his formative years as an active duty and reserve naval officer. He is an industry specialist in the broader technology verticals of software, services, hardware & systems, telecom services & networks, including SaaS, PaaS, CCaaS, UCaaS, as well as managed IT services, cybersecurity, outsourcing & broader cloud services. He also serves the spectrum of the defense industry vertical with experience in the 3-letter agencies, DOD, Civilian agencies, and Healthcare IT.
Jim currently leads the Technology Practice and focuses on all leadership consulting services across the Board and C-suite in the above industry segments as well as in the CIO, CISO, CDO, and CTO functions globally. Jim has placed over 100 Presidents & CEOs in the past 20+ years and consulted with over 400 clients. Previously, he held leadership consulting roles at Heidrick & Struggles, Highland Partners, Korn/Ferry, and Russell Reynolds. He is frequently quoted in business and industry publications. Prior to leadership consulting, Jim served as a president and corporate officer of a leading international systems supplier of high-performance document recognition systems, image and workflow software solutions. During his tenure, he lived, built, and led businesses in the Americas, the Pacific Rim (living in Tokyo & Singapore), and Europe.
Jim has significant corporate and nonprofit boards experience. He is a member of the advisory board at HelloSky and served on the board and Chairman of the Compensation Committee at Telecommunications Systems, Inc. (TSYS) and Netcordant.
He is the former president of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association in North Texas and a current board Trustee of the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Jim is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former Navy lieutenant commander.
Dr. Tim Mullen holds degrees in computer science and computational and cognitive neuroscience from UC Berkeley (B.A.s) and the UC San Diego Dept. of Cognitive Science (M.S. and Ph.D) and Institute for Neural Computation.
At Xerox PARC, he developed patented applications of wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. Over the last fifteen years, he has advanced widely used methods and software for neural signal analysis and state decoding. Prior academic awards included the UCSD Chancellor's Dissertation Medal, IEEE best paper awards, Glushko, San Diego, and Swartz Fellowships, and UC Berkeley's highest honors. His scientific publications focus on the use of machine learning and adaptive system identification techniques applied to non-invasive and intracranial electrophysiological data (e.g., EEG, ECoG), to detect mental states and neuronal pathologies. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences and workshops, and his work has been highlighted by various media outlets including TED, BBC World, Discovery Science, and Wired, and before the US Congress.
He is also a musician and artist whose work in audiovisual new media, exploring real-time interactions between the brain and body and external environments, has been presented nationally and internationally. He is founding director of the annual Mozart & the Mind Festival with Mainly Mozart, a series of concerts, presentations, and interactive media and neurotechnology exhibitions exploring the impact of music on our brains, health, and lives.