Testimonials

“Tom is amazing, a once-in-a-lifetime special person I feel lucky to have met. He’s a thought leader, “super” polymath, inventor and entrepreneur, with heart and intellect in equal measure. He is always insightful on how things were, how they are now, and how they could be — and should be. I have interviewed him a number of times and always learn profound things. Tom is an A+ public speaker, simply the best in any situation, from keynotes to fireside chats to one-on-on interactions. I have had him speak on humanistic AI, ethics and technology, the impact of AI on society, and advice to start-ups and investors. He puts everyone at ease, and we all come away learning more.”

“I met Tom Gruber in 2008, long before the current wave of commercial artificial intelligence transformed Silicon Valley. At the time I was struck by the fact that he was both a researcher in the field of AI and someone with a close connection to the work of Doug Engelbart who had coined the term Intelligence Augmentation, or IA. Engelbart’s philosophy was based on extending rather than replacing the human with computer systems. Tom went on to help design Siri, an important example of what he describes as humanistic AI, an effort to deploy AI techniques in the context of shared human values. His perspective is even more vital today when AI technologies are being widely deployed by both corporations and governments.”

“Tom Gruber is the rare practitioner who can lucidly explain how things work — and what they mean for us. His understanding of the social impacts of digital innovation is built from the ground up and he brings to the stage an unusual insight into A.I. and a strong sense of how designers and engineers can change digital systems to better confront the ethical challenges that this new age poses. A passionate and profound observer of digital life, Tom is in the first rank of public speakers on emerging technologies and how humans can manage them for maximum benefit.”

“Tom’s breadth and depth of experience with humanistic AI and the ethical application of technology to truly benefit consumers pushes TRU LUV’s mission from ambitious to realistic and achievable as we develop new models for human-computer interaction and application development that optimize for impact to wellbeing. With Tom’s guidance we’re providing intelligent user interfaces that organically amplify self-awareness, compassion and community coming-creation, reversing the industry’s over-optimization on engagement and retention that steals our attention and stimulates reactivity. From our interaction model to our AI architecture to our impact optimization process, Tom’s insight into the underlying principles of consumer software creation empower us to implement our vision efficiently.”

“From our very first conversations more than a decade ago, Tom proved that he is a transformative being. He is rightly famous as a visionary technologist, but this is founded upon his being an artist on many levels. Artists see order and potential in the immutable and chaotic, rendering coherence and beauty from what is around them. That is Tom’s superpower.

Simply put, Tom sees connections and potential everywhere. Not for personal gain, but for the sheer joy and art of taking the initial glow of an idea and stoking it into solid existence. We’ve been friends for years and over that time his advice and encouragement personally changed me from being just a musician into a CEO of a music tech company. He can light up a room with optimism for the human race through his visions for the future, but also takes the time to advocate for oceanic conservation whilst being an explorer and world class photographer. I don’t know how he does it all, but I’m so glad he does. LifeScore simply would not exist without Tom.”

“Tom’s dedication, passion, and mission to heal our ocean align deeply with everything we’re working towards at the Ocean Plastics Leadership Network. As an advisor and ambassador, Tom has helped us navigate an extremely challenging landscape between our activists and industry members. Tom’s calming presence has helped us build trust between arch enemies. He was in the open ocean for hours 500 miles off the coast of Bermuda in the Atlantic Gyre, not only taking powerful, heart-breaking pictures but also helping the 165 plastics executives we had out there with us feel comfortable in an extreme situation. With his camera and with people, his steady hand helped our participants relax in a scary experience for many (snorkeling in the open issue with 2 miles between there are the bottom. Tom views that collective action is necessary to solve the plastics crisis and that we’re only going to get there with cross-disciplinary leadership.”

“Tom is not only one of the early founders cognitive knowledge management, he is a thought leader who totally gets where this space is going. He has proven to be one of my top advisors as Cognizer helps invent the future with Genius. I am able to “pitch and catch” with Tom on nearly a weekly basis, and his value to me and my team has been tremendous.”