Igor Jablokov
Founder and CEO, Pryon
I'm excited about creating this network of augmented intelligence – not artificial intelligence where we’re trying to make humans obsolete – but in order to make them performant, to create user experiences.
Summary
This week on “Leadership Matters,” Alan was joined by the visionary technologist bringing the next generation of AI technology to enterprises across the globe. Igor Jablokov is the Founder and CEO of Pryon, the leading AI-as-a-Service platform for enterprise knowledge management.
Igor is the rare CEO who brings together deep technological expertise with seasoned management experience. In their insightful, hour-long conversation, Alan and Igor explore his fascinating role at the forefront of AI for the past thirty years. They begin with his early life in Greece and upbringing, formative management and engineering experience at IBM, and eventual founding of Yap, the world’s first high-accuracy, fully-automated cloud platform for voice recognition which would lead to Amazon’s "Alexa." They then take a deep dive into his current work at Pryon to provide businesses with AI that is secure, reliable, and trustworthy, as well as what global leaders need to be doing to ensure AI is used ethically and responsibly.
Mentions & Resources in this Episode
Igor’s Fast Company op-ed: POV: Let’s not forget Isaac Asimov’s advice on developing ethical AI
Guest Bio
Igor is the CEO and Founder of Pryon. Named an “Industry Luminary” by Speech Technology Magazine, he previously founded industry pioneer Yap, the world’s first high-accuracy, fully-automated cloud platform for voice recognition. After its products were deployed by dozens of enterprises, the company became Amazon’s first AI-related acquisition. The firm’s inventions then served as the nucleus for follow-on products such as Alexa, Echo, and Fire TV. As a Program Director at IBM, Igor led the team that designed the precursor to Watson and developed the world’s first multimodal Web browser.
Igor was awarded Eisenhower and Truman National Security fellowships to explore and expand the role of entrepreneurship and venture capital in addressing geopolitical concerns. As an innovator in human language technologies, he believes in fostering career and educational opportunities for others entering STEM fields. As such, he serves as a mentor in the TechStars’ Alexa Accelerator, was a Blackstone NC Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR), and founded a chapter of the Global Shapers, a program of the World Economic Forum.
Igor holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, where he was named an Outstanding Engineering Alumnus, and an MBA from The University of North Carolina.