Who we are

Since 2016, we have been convening a cross-disciplinary group of academic and industry experts and the general public to explore the impacts AI, machine learning, and other frontier technologies have on our personal and professional lives.

Artificial Intelligence Los Angeles (AI LA) is a public benefit 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization; supporting the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) communities of the Greater Los Angeles area. 

Our mission is to catalyze innovation through education, conversation, and collaboration. Our dedicated community explores the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other emerging technologies on humanity. We offer guidance and create professional and industry development opportunities by delivering programs and initiatives—on contemporary topics and multidisciplinary applications of AI— to serve our region. 

On this journey, we have helped many professionals and organizations find jobs, business partners, new hires, funding, friends, lovers (yep), and a general sense of belonging.  

Since 2016, we have been trusted conveners of cross-disciplinary groups of academics, industry experts, and the general public to explore the impacts of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other frontier technologies, on our personal and professional lives. So far, we have hosted over 100 in-person and virtual events; including panel discussions, technical workshops, hackathons, design workshops, summits, symposia, and (soon) citizen science projects.

Our story has only begun, and we hope you'll join us, as we transform the Greater Los Angeles region into a hub for responsible AI research, development, and application.

Team

Team

Aerospace Ambassador

Ameed Taylor

Ameed Taylor merges his entrepreneurial and cloud expertise with his roles in Cloud ERP, Analytics, and AI. His work focuses on medical and aerospace sectors, utilizing advanced models and tools like GPT-4, Google Gemini, and LangChain. Ameed excels in enhancing AI models for diverse applications, including multimodal and computer vision.

Climate Ambassador

Emy Li

Currently a student at the University of Southern California studying Applied and Computational Mathematics and Economics. She is passionate about green innovation and hopes to combine her interests in technology, entrepreneurship, and sustainability to create positive environmental and social impact.

Director of Ambassadors

Fil Graniczny

Generative AI Ambassador

Grant Hosford

Grant has been building successful technology businesses in Seattle and Los Angles for over 20 years. His company codeSpark, the most used coding platform for young kids, was recently acquired by BEGiN.  He currently runs Sun Gem an AI Consultancy and advises several early stage start-ups, including Nexa AI.

Biotech Ambassador

Julianna Montano

Julianna Montano is a law student under Southwestern Law School's Two-Year Accelerated Program. She is a recent graduate of USC, where she was a member of the AI Safety Governance Fellowship and pursued a dual-degree in Philosophy and Pharmacology. Through AI LA and Students for Technology Law and Entrepreneurship, she is exploring the social and political impact of AI technologies across the biotech industry. (edited)

Community + Partnerships

Kimberly Jo

Climate Ambassador

Kyle Evenson

As a Triple USC Trojan, earning a Bachelor's in Applied Math, a Master's in Business Analytics, and working part-time within people analytics at the University of Southern California, Kyle Evenson is a data analyst devoted to actionable change toward sustainability and social equity.

IDEAS Mentor

Rex Ordonez

Rex Ordonez, studying his Masters in Computer Science at USC, specializes in utilizing AI to change education. With direct experience as a software engineer and program mentor he is committed to enhancing educational experiences.

IDEAS Program Moderator and Founders & Investors Ambassador

Rita Sargsyan

With an Applied Mathematics background from UCLA and active involvement in the VC and startup landscape, Rita is dedicated to fostering innovation within the entrepreneurial community. Her passion for AI, particularly in healthcare and biotech, has fueled her efforts to mentor and inspire, bridging the gap between technology and human-centric solutions. Through collaboration and education, Rita aims to empower the next wave of innovators, driving meaningful advancements in the AI realm.

Founders & Investors Ambassador

Shree Radhakrishnan

Shree is a technologist dedicated to accelerating human progress with AI. His experience spans building, advising, and investing in startups, where his passion lies in empowering entrepreneurs and catalyzing innovation in the venture universe. Shree is a fierce techno-optimist, and believes that AGI will emerge as the most transformative force in humanity’s existence. 🚀

Executive Director and President

Todd Terrazas

As an innovator in the tech information and education space, Todd focuses on creating a robust ecosystem of resources and collaborative partnerships that can enhance LA's AI literacy, catalyze innovation, and advance workforce development opportunities.

Board of Directors

Vice President

Ross Mead

Founder and CEO of Semio and the Vice President of the AI LA Community. Ross's research focuses on multimodal natural language processing in face-to-face human-robot interaction, resulting in more than 40 peer-reviewed publications supported by over $10-million in grants for which he was a primary contributor.

Executive Director and President

Todd Terrazas

As an innovator in the tech information and education space, Todd focuses on creating a robust ecosystem of resources and collaborative partnerships that can enhance LA's AI literacy, catalyze innovation, and advance workforce development opportunities.

Margeaux Randolph

Margeaux is an innovator in the edtech sector. She is cofounder of Kr8 Ventures, a software development company and edtech incubator for early stage startups. Kr8’s programs focus on equity-centered, engineering design thinking to build products that transform learning and the way education institutions operate. She is passionate about AI in the classroom, data science and virtual reality innovations. Margeaux is also creator of C-Tech, a STEAM school in South LA, and board member at CalCreative Learning Academy.


Secretary

Shawn Poiley

Shawn Poiley is the Founder/CEO of Receptor—a business incubator focused on digital health. He is a 16-year Disney/Marvel alum with deep experience in strategy and marketing. Shawn has served on the board of AI LA since 2018. He holds a BS. Accounting and an MBA from the University of Florida, and is a Masters candidate (expected graduation May 2022) in Integrated Design, Business, and Technology at USC’s Iovine and Young Academy.

Treasurer

Lara Jeremko

Lara Jeremko is Founder & CEO of Beyond Ventures, a strategic investment and advisory firm partnering with entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, brands and creatives. She advises Pivotal Ventures, the incubation and investment company founded by Melinda French Gates. Lara also led the XR Education Prize Challenge funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously, Lara was an investment officer managing a $1.5 billion venture fund portfolio at the University of Texas endowment assets, and a private equity analyst at Credit Suisse.

advisory board

IV.AI, CEO

Vince Lynch

PARC, Head of AI Solutions

SURESH KUMAR

Microsoft, GM - AI Platform - Cloud + AI Division

Maria Alvarez

EZAI.io, CEO

Lawrence Mansour

Starburst Aerospace, Accelerator Program Director

Elizabeth Reynolds

UCLA, Chair Department of Computational Medicine

Eleazar Eskin

NKP.AI. Founder

David Herman

I have over 12 years of experience researching and managing data/algorithms in: psychometrics, human-machine interaction, psychophysics, biophysics, robotics, MRI, image processing, machine vision, time-series algorithms, matching, recommendation, & reinforcement algorithms, animal-models, control systems, cost-optimization models, and iterative bayesian methods.

Verdant AI, CEO

Brian Dolan

Health & Equity Committee

Providence - Program Manager, Nexus & AI Studies at the Health Research Accelerator

Sean Yee

responsible ai COMMITTEE

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