From its humble beginnings as an intimate gathering in a cozy San Francisco apartment, the GenAI Collective has blossomed into a vibrant global community uniting the brightest minds in AI.
About Us
The GenAI Collective was founded on the belief that the most meaningful connections are made when exploring a shared curiosity together. Cornerstone to everything we do is intentionality â centering each event on intimate group discussion.
This is a true labor of love and we are always looking to involve new leaders who share our passion for community building. If this sounds like you, please get in touch!
Meet the Team
Chappy Asel
LEADERSHIP
Chappy is a serial tech entrepreneur. More than anything, he loves making new friends and learning something new at every GenAI Collective event. In his free time, you will almost certainly find him in the gym going heavy on bench! đĒ
Stephen Campbell
LEADERSHIP
Stephen is a co-founder at Revamp AI (YC S 23). He loves connecting with other early stage generative AI founders through the collective. Beyond that, you can find Stephen giving niche history factors or watching embarrassing Netflix reality shows! đē
Pierce Kelaita
LEADERSHIP
Pierce is head of engineering in a new research lab and startup incubator at Stanford. He's particularly excited about novel ideas and proposals that come out of the GenAI Collective. Off the clock, you'll find him smoking a brisket while relaxing to some Steely Dan! đ
Prithvi Rajasekaran
LEADERSHIP
Prithvi is a software engineer at NerdWallet. He's deeply passionate about bringing the best and brightest of New York's Tech & AI scene together. Off the clock, you'll find him making music and watching history documentaries! đĨ
Khaled Alameldin
CO-HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS
Khaled is the owner of Maximize, an agency that assists technical founders in enabling their sales process. At the GenAI Collective, he focuses on securing partnerships and selecting founders to pitch at demo night. When not immersed in AI, Khaled enjoys deep-diving into niche historical topics! đ§
Aqeel Ali
CO-HEAD OF NEWSLETTER
Aqeel is currently COO at DeepAI. At the GenAI Collective, he focuses on increasing community value creation and leveraging organizer efforts. When not immersed in AI, startup operations, or crafting satirical jokes, Aqeel delves into psychology and human creativity! đ¨
Ken Aragon
SEATTLE CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Ken is a co-founder at travel startup Viata and an engineer at Microsoft. He joined the GenAI Collective to enjoy and facilitate impactful discussions with smart people in a casual environment. In his free time, he enjoys horticulture and flying small airplanes! đŠī¸
Billy Asel
DC CHAPTER ADVISOR
Billy is an organizer at the GenAI Collective. He assists with the podcast and is helping to start the DC chapter! In his free time, Billy plays basketball, golfs, and lifts heavy weights! đī¸
Naomi Chetrit Band
SF CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Naomi is a pre-seed/seed investor. She's passionate about supporting the GenAI Collective founders, specifically in the consumer space, in their journey from zero to one. During her time off, you'll find Naomi exploring new places with her family, friends, and her dog Hercules! đļ
Karan Balaji
TORONTO TEAM ORGANIZER
I'm a UX Engineer with a strong focus on outcome-driven design and community building, like #100DaysOfDesign on my blog.karanbalaji.com . As part of the Toronto GenAI Collective team, I'm passionate about exploring AI's impact on design. Outside of work, I love running, mentoring, experimenting with new ideas, and capturing it on my Instagram: Karan047. đââī¸
Rissa Cao
SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Rissa is a co-founder at PixAI. She's passionate about AI product launches, diffusion model training, AI art, data-driven acquisition, and growth marketing. Outside of work, she enjoys quality time with friends & family, music festivals, yoga, and weightlifting! đī¸
Bhola Chhetri
SEATTLE CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Bhola is a Solutions Architect at Broadcom and the co-founder of Mockbird. He's deeply passionate about go-to-market initiatives for businesses and individuals. Outside of work, Bhola loves traveling, exploring the EDM scene, and running! đ
Eleanor (Nori) Donovan
ADVISOR
Nori is an Emmy winning producer and digital media executive. She loves the mission and ethos of the GenAI Collective and advises on scaling up our media efforts. When not working, she can be found playing at the beach with her husband, two young kids, and small dog! đī¸
Gavin Doughtie
SF CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Gavin studied filmmaking at USC before hurtling headlong into application development for companies like DreamWorks Animation and Google. He currently leads frontend for AON's Cyber Solutions group, slyly introducing generative AI features whenever there's a spare moment! â¨
David Duguan
HEAD OF AUSTIN CHAPTER
David is a Ghanaian-born entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of BinaryTint. He is also the Founder of Aurora by BinaryTint, a phone assistant designed to streamline inbound calls and eliminate automated phone menus. David speak 3 1/2 languages, loves good African food, automotive engineering, golf, and design and arts!
Eric Fett
CO-HEAD OF NEWSLETTER
Eric is an investor at NGP Capital and the lead writer for the GenAI Collective Community Newsletter. He's passionate about working with early-stage visionaries on their quest to create a better future. Outside of work, you can find him on a soccer field or at a sushi bar! đŖ
Anthony Garcia
ADVISOR
Anthony is a marketing manager at Zoox. He previously held creative marketing roles at Apple, Stanford, and Walmart eCommerce and contributed to Google's Gemini launch. In his spare time, he teaches an Intro to AI night course at a junior college, enjoys time with family and friends, and dreaming! đ
Lakshh Gontla
HEAD OF DESIGN
Lakshh is a visionary desig"nerd" at Inizio Evoke. He is passionate about using design and unique experiences to improve human health and wellness. As head of design, he is always thrilled by the Collective's diverse events! Lakshh is committed to fostering inclusivity and supporting emerging designers worldwide! đ
Chris Guest
HEAD OF NORTH BAY CHAPTER
Chris is a startup advisor specializing in positioning for AI products. With three young kids, Chris has no such thing as "spare time" but with little he has, he's either planning North Bay meetups, writing his "Traction Design" Substack, swimming or cycling! đ˛
Shivani Gupta
SILICON VALLEY CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Shivani is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Mayfield Fund, bringing her experience as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. to the world of venture capital. She's passionate about guiding startups on their GenAI strategy and empowering women in the AI space. In her free time, she enjoys dancing and exploring new fitness classes.
Matt Huang
ADVISOR
Matt is co-founder and CPO at Cofactory AI. He's deeply curious about how GenAI can accelerate human actualization on both an individual and societal basis. In his free time, catch him surfing on the PCH, geeking out at craft fairs, and getting down at concerts! đ
Thomas Joshi
HEAD OF PODCAST
Thomas is a ML researcher at Stanford NLP on the DSPy Project for LLMs. He is the lead host of the Collective Intelligence Community Podcast and loves chatting with builders in AI. Outside of work, you can find him playing poker and golfing! đī¸
Jonan Junwikul
HEAD OF BOSTON CHAPTER
Jonan is founder & CEO of Pantheon Technologies, where he works to make AI more accessible with ARES. He's excited to bring people together and realize GenAI Collective's vision. He started his first business when he was 13, started coding when he was 12, practices Muay Thai, and is an astrophysics nerd! đ
Fahmid Kabir
CO-HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS
Kabir is a product marketer who has driven growth strategies for companies in the deep data and AI space. He thrives on the energy and learning opportunities of the GenAI Collective. He is also a movie buff and foodie, making the most of this time watching the Food Network! đĨ
Paula McMahon
NYC CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Paula is an innovative business leader who has driven product strategy in biotech and entertainment. She shares the values of the GenAI Collective and thrives on NYC's electric energy. Paula loves the mountains, when off the clock she can be found on her board chasing powder. đ
Amit Pande
SF CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Amit is working on a new AI startup. He's been a CMO at Aviso AI and Tact, an AI Assistant and led product at Oracle and Yahoo. Amit loves volunteering and his favorite part of GAICo is the really expansive vision. Amit is a Stanford GSB and UMinn alum. He loves graphic novels! âī¸
Carlo Paladino
HEAD OF ITALY CHAPTER
Carlo is a Data Scientist at Reply. He thrives on connecting with like-minded individuals and exploring new ideas in music, programming, and business. When he's not diving into code or strategy sessions, you can find Carlo jamming on his guitar! đ¸
Aryan Pareek
HEAD OF DC CHAPTER
Aryan was part of the investments team at Speciale Invest, an early-stage VC fund, and a founding member at Threado, a B2B SaaS AI startup. Currently, Aryan is in business school at Georgetown University. In his free time, he loves to cook and work out! đī¸
Alex Pizzirani
NYC CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Alex is a quantitative researcher at AllianceBernstein working remotely from Salt Lake City, Utah. He is currently working on developing academic partnerships with the NYC chapter. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, biking and skiing! âˇī¸
Sriram Ramakrishnan
CO-HEAD OF NYC CHAPTER
Sriram is a product manager at Visa. He's a natural connector and community builder who's excited to bring people closer to the future with AI. In his off-hours he enjoys playing basketball, poker, chess, and occasionally attempting stand-up comedy! đ¤
Rob Ross
SF CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Rob is an angel investor and has been VP BD at 7 startups that got acquired and/or IPO'd. He's also the founder of the YC Startup School Alumni Group. He swims in the SF bay several times per week at Aquatic Park while listening to podcasts about AI! đ
Ananya Shah
BOSTON CHAPTER LEAD
Ananya is a data analyst at Cartesian. She also manages Huntington Angels Network, guiding a team to connect entrepreneurs with capital and mentorship. Outside of work, you'll find her hiking trails or experimenting with machine learning models! đī¸
Priya Shah
SF CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Priya is a product manager at Siena AI. She is driven by creative problem solving and building empathy with tech. Wellness, food, travel, and mentoring fill up the rest of her week! âī¸
Aman Sharma
CO-HEAD OF MIAMI CHAPTER
Aman is co-founder and CTO of Lamatic.ai and AI & Data head at 84000. Aman thrives on community while being an active speaker in DevOps and AI. While deeply involved in tech, Aman's heart truly lies in the mountains, always ready for a road trip or hike to connect with nature! đī¸
Kulbir Singh
HEAD OF SEATTLE CHAPTER
Kulbir is an innovative PM with a passion for bridging AI with user-centric design. As a current student at UW studying HCI, he's leading our Seattle Chapter. Outside of working on technology applications, he loves to cook for friends and family, doing yoga, and catching sunsets! đ
Mihir Somaiya
SF CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Mihir is an associate at Rock Health. He heads up healthcare related partnerships and events and is passionate about AI's potential to revolutionize healthcare and medicine. On weekends, catch him at a sports bar cheering on the Eagles or Trojans! đ
Jonathan Johnson-Swagel
HEAD OF CHICAGO CHAPTER
Jonathan works at AWS, using AI/ML and to enhance processes. They're passionate about fostering connections through the Collective and enabling transformative conversations around applied AI. Outside of work, Jonathan likes exploring leadership philosophy, ethical AI, making music, and hiking in nature! đ
Saurav Velleleth
NYC CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Saurav is a Solutions Architect at Cohere. As a member of the GenAICollective community, he leads media initiatives and organizes AI events across New York City. Outside of his work, he's an avid fitness enthusiast and food explorer, always on the hunt for NYC's next great restaurant! đ
Sam Warach
ADVISOR
Sam is the Founder and CEO of NextStep Health, where he's focused on activating communities toward resilience, wellbeing, and health literacy. Sam is also the author of Take the NextStep: Harnessing Tenacity in the Face of Adversity. He loves to surf and be in nature! đ
Patrick Ward
NYC CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Patrick is a principal at Western Technology Investment. As a member of the investment team, he helps invest & diligence new investments and leads strategic initiatives for the fund. On weekends, you can catch him exploring NYC, watching sports (specifically the Philadelphia Eagles), or taking his dog Button out around town! đļ
Matt White
HEAD OF TECHNICAL ARM
Matt is head of AI and data at Amdocs and a data science instructor at UC Berkeley. Matt leads the community's technical arm and hosts biweekly paper readings at Silicon Valley Generative AI. With Matt, there's no such thing as "too technical" đ¤
Chuck Whiteman
CO-HEAD OF MIAMI CHAPTER
Chuck is co-founder and CEO of Lamatic.ai. Chuck feeds his fascination with how new technologies and human behavior interact at every GenAI Collective meetup. Off the clock, you're sure to find Chuck sweating â not just because he's in Florida, but because he loves tennis, crossfit and grilling on his Big Green Egg! đž
Brennan Woodruff
CHICAGO CHAPTER ORGANIZER
Brennan is a co-founder at GoCharlie.ai. He's passionate about the power AI provides to small businesses and early stage entrepreneurs to create leverage and growth. Outside of work, he's a Hoosier sports fan, plays basketball, and is a part of the Guardsmen! đ¤˛
