Our Core Team
Our Core Team
Our Core Team
Our Core Team
Collectively, our team has partnered with or created more than 100+ startups, both through the incubator and in past roles as founders, investors, and professors. We specialize in applied Al: turning cutting-edge research into real products and companies.
From building and scaling Al startups, to guiding product strategy, fundraising, legal, and finance, we bring hard-earned experience and a founder-first mindset. We know what it takes to go from zero to one, because we've done it ourselves.
Collectively, our team has partnered with or created more than 100+ startups, both through the incubator and in past roles as founders, investors, and professors. We specialize in applied Al: turning cutting-edge research into real products and companies.
From building and scaling Al startups, to guiding product strategy, fundraising, legal, and finance, we bring hard-earned experience and a founder-first mindset. We know what it takes to go from zero to one, because we've done it ourselves.
Collectively, our team has partnered with or created more than 100+ startups, both through the incubator and in past roles as founders, investors, and professors. We specialize in applied Al: turning cutting-edge research into real products and companies.
From building and scaling Al startups, to guiding product strategy, fundraising, legal, and finance, we bring hard-earned experience and a founder-first mindset. We know what it takes to go from zero to one, because we've done it ourselves.
Collectively, our team has partnered with or created more than 100+ startups, both through the incubator and in past roles as founders, investors, and professors. We specialize in applied Al: turning cutting-edge research into real products and companies.
From building and scaling Al startups, to guiding product strategy, fundraising, legal, and finance, we bring hard-earned experience and a founder-first mindset. We know what it takes to go from zero to one, because we've done it ourselves.
Jacob Colker
Managing Director
Jacob Colker
Managing Director
Jacob Colker
Managing Director
Jacob Colker
Managing Director
Jacob Colker
Managing Director
Yifan Zhang
Managing Director
Yifan Zhang
Managing Director
Yifan Zhang
Managing Director
Yifan Zhang
Managing Director
Yifan Zhang
Managing Director
Vu Ha
Technical Director
Vu Ha
Technical Director
Vu Ha
Technical Director
Vu Ha
Technical Director
Vu Ha
Technical Director
Oren Etzioni
Technical Director
Oren Etzioni
Technical Director
Oren Etzioni
Technical Director
Oren Etzioni
Technical Director
Oren Etzioni
Technical Director
Ben Golden
General Counsel
Ben Golden
General Counsel
Ben Golden
General Counsel
Ben Golden
General Counsel
Ben Golden
General Counsel
Arthur Maloy
CFO
Arthur Maloy
CFO
Arthur Maloy
CFO
Arthur Maloy
CFO
Arthur Maloy
CFO
Andy Lai
Product & Design Lead
Andy Lai
Product & Design Lead
Andy Lai
Product & Design Lead
Andy Lai
Product & Design Lead
Andy Lai
Product & Design Lead
Audrey Yun
Events & Community Manager
Audrey Yun
Events & Community Manager
Audrey Yun
Events & Community Manager
Audrey Yun
Events & Community Manager
Audrey Yun
Events & Community Manager
Emad Elwany
Venture Partner
Emad Elwany
Venture Partner
Emad Elwany
Venture Partner
Emad Elwany
Venture Partner
Emad Elwany
Venture Partner
Ani Khembavi
Venture Partner
Ani Khembavi
Venture Partner
Ani Khembavi
Venture Partner
Ani Khembavi
Venture Partner
Ani Khembavi
Venture Partner
Bryan Hale
Venture Partner
Bryan Hale
Venture Partner
Bryan Hale
Venture Partner
Bryan Hale
Venture Partner
Bryan Hale
Venture Partner
Katie Drucker
Venture Partner
Katie Drucker
Venture Partner
Katie Drucker
Venture Partner
Katie Drucker
Venture Partner
Katie Drucker
Venture Partner
Our Applied Al & Research Heritage
Our Applied Al & Research Heritage
The A12 Incubator was born in 2014 inside the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2)—nearly a decade before Al captured the world's attention with ChatGPT.
Backed by more than $100M annually from the Paul Allen estate and other major donors, Ai2 has been a hub for breakthrough research in language, vision, machine learning, and commonsense reasoning for more than a decade The institute's 200+ researchers, engineers, and professors have published over 1,100 papers at top Al conferences, winning 60+ best paper awards.
The A12 Incubator was born in 2014 inside the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2)—nearly a decade before Al captured the world's attention with ChatGPT.
Backed by more than $100M annually from the Paul Allen estate and other major donors, Ai2 has been a hub for breakthrough research in language, vision, machine learning, and commonsense reasoning for more than a decade The institute's 200+ researchers, engineers, and professors have published over 1,100 papers at top Al conferences, winning 60+ best paper awards.
Their contributions shaped the field well before the current wave of hype-from YOLO, which redefined computer vision, to ELMo, one of the very first language models.
Our leadership team emerged directly from this ecosystem: Oren Etzioni, our Technical Director, cofounded and led Ai2 as CEO for nearly a decade; Vu Ha was a founding member who launched Semantic Scholar; and many of our advisors have been connected to Ai2 since its earliest days. In 2022, the Al2 Incubator became an independent entity.
Our DNA comes from being early, embedded, and hands-on in applied Al long before it became mainstream—and that foundation powers everything we do today.
Their contributions shaped the field well before the current wave of hype-from YOLO, which redefined computer vision, to ELMo, one of the very first language models.
Our leadership team emerged directly from this ecosystem: Oren Etzioni, our Technical Director, cofounded and led Ai2 as CEO for nearly a decade; Vu Ha was a founding member who launched Semantic Scholar; and many of our advisors have been connected to Ai2 since its earliest days. In 2022, the Al2 Incubator became an independent entity.
Our DNA comes from being early, embedded, and hands-on in applied Al long before it became mainstream—and that foundation powers everything we do today.
Founded by Prof. Oren Etizioni
Founded by Prof. Oren Etizioni
Oren Etzioni served as founding CEO of the Allen Institute for Al (Ai2) from 2013 to 2022, working directly with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to establish Ai2 as a globally respected research institute. Professor Etzioni brought decades of pioneering Al research to this role, including groundbreaking work in web-scale information extraction, machine learning, and automated reasoning that shaped the field of artificial intelligence.
Building on Ai2's research foundation, Oren created the AI2 Incubator in 2014. He led early breakthrough companies including Xnor (computer vision optimization, acquired by Apple) and Kitt (conversation Al), before partnering with Jacob Colker and Vu Ha in 2016 to expand the program into the organization it is today. Yifan Zhang joined the leadership team in 2023.
Oren Etzioni served as founding CEO of the Allen Institute for Al (Ai2) from 2013 to 2022, working directly with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to establish Ai2 as a globally respected research institute. Professor Etzioni brought decades of pioneering Al research to this role, including groundbreaking work in web-scale information extraction, machine learning, and automated reasoning that shaped the field of artificial intelligence.
Building on Ai2's research foundation, Oren created the AI2 Incubator in 2014. He led early breakthrough companies including Xnor (computer vision optimization, acquired by Apple) and Kitt (conversation Al), before partnering with Jacob Colker and Vu Ha in 2016 to expand the program into the organization it is today. Yifan Zhang joined the leadership team in 2023.
Where AI meets the real world
© AI2 Incubator · All Rights Reserved
Where AI meets the real world
© AI2 Incubator · All Rights Reserved
Where AI meets the real world
© AI2 Incubator · All Rights Reserved
Where AI meets the real world
© AI2 Incubator · All Rights Reserved
Where AI meets the real world
© AI2 Incubator · All Rights Reserved