Amir Husain

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Amir Husain
Amir Husain
Born (1977-11-07) November 7, 1977 (age 46)
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
NationalityAmerican
EducationBA, Computer Science
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, Author, Inventor
Known forFounder of SparkCognition
Artificial intelligence expert
WebsiteAmirHusain.com

Amir Husain[1] is a Pakistani-American artificial intelligence (AI) entrepreneur, founder of the Austin-based company, SparkCognition, and author of the book, The Sentient Machine.

Childhood & Education[edit]

Husain was born in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. His father was a businessman while his mother was an educator. At the age of four, Husain interacted with his first computer: A Commodore 64. Amazed by what the machine could do, he went back to his room and started building a contraption of a computer out of toys and cardboard, starting his lifelong obsession with computer science. He dropped out of middle school in the eighth grade, and began writing software and selling it for a profit. At the age of 15, Husain began attending the Punjab Institute of Computer Science from which he graduated two years later with a bachelor's degree in computer science.[2]

After graduating, Husain spent time searching for an ideal research organization, and eventually found the Distributed Multimedia Computing Laboratory (DMCL) at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas. He joined UT Austin in 1996, but upon arrival was denied entrance to the Masters program, because of his young age. He then spent a year in the Bachelors program in computer science and obtained a second BS degree from the University of Texas at Austin. While still an undergraduate, he obtained his desired position at DMCL. In 1999, while working towards his Ph.D., Husain dropped out and launched his first start-up, Kurion.[2]

Career[edit]

Husain launched Kurion in 1999, a web services company offering website personalization engines.[2][3] The company was purchased in 2001 by iSyndicate, then the largest internet content syndication company.[2]

In 2002, the second startup he had founded, Inframanage, merged with ClearCube Technology. Husain became Chief Technology Officer at ClearCube, and later, CEO of ClearCube's software spin-off.[2]

In 2013, Husain founded SparkCognition, an artificial intelligence company.[2][4] His first investor at the new company was Michael Dell. Boeing, CME Group, Verizon, State Street and others followed.[2] Since its inception, the company has gained clients such as Apergy,[4][5] Boeing and Aker BP,[6] Honeywell Aerospace,[7] Flowserve,[8] and Defense Innovation Unit.[9] As of 2019 June, SparkCognition has raised more than $72.5M through VC investors.[10]

In 2018, Husain became CEO of SkyGrid, a joint venture between Boeing and SparkCognition aimed at developing an aerial operating system that uses AI and blockchain technology to integrate autonomous cargo and passenger aircraft into the aerospace industry.[11]

Awards, Patents, & Achievements[edit]

Husain has been named Top Technology Entrepreneur of the Year by the Austin Business Journal.[12] Other awards he has received include being listed as an Onalytica Top 100 Artificial Intelligence Influencer,[12] receiving the Austin Under 40 Technology and Science Award in 2016,[13] and being a finalist for EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018.[14]

Husain has 33 awarded patents to his name, and several dozen additional patents pending.[1][15] He has been published in journals such as Network World [16] Computerworld,[16] and the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings,[17] along with major news outlets such as Foreign Policy.[18] A computer designed by Husain is in the collection of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.[16][19] He served on the Board of Advisors for IBM Watson and the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Computer Science,[16] and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[20] He has also received various awards from CRN, Nokia, PC World, and VMworld, among others.[16]

Personal life[edit]

Husain married Zaib (née Iqtidar) in 2002.[2] He lives in Austin, Texas.[21]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Husain, Amir (1995). The distributed learning environment (DLE). IEEE Conference.[22]
  • Husain, Amir (1997). The Interaktiv tutor. IEEE Conference.[23]
  • Husain, Amir (2014). The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence. New York, NY: Scribner. ISBN 978-1501144677.
  • Husain, Amir; Allen, John R.; Work, Robert O.; Cole, August; Scharre, Paul; Porter, Bruce; Anderson, Wendy R.; Townsend, Jim (2018). Hyperwar: Conflict and Competition in the AI Century. SparkCognition Press. ISBN 978-1732597006.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Patents by Inventor Amir Husain". Justia. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Dinah Eng (2019-02-19). "Amir Husain Is Building the Future of A.I." Fortune.
  3. ^ Walker, Rob (2000-10-01). "Momentumville". CNN Money.
  4. ^ a b "SparkCognition-Developed To Solve Major Problems Organizations Face Daily". Innovate. 2019.
  5. ^ Foster, Tom (2020). "These 5 Power Players Show Why Austin Is the Most Exciting Startup Hub in the U.S." Inc.
  6. ^ Hawkins, Lori (2019-10-08). "Austin's SparkCognition raises $100 million to boost AI platform". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  7. ^ Kartchner, Chad (2017-04-04). "Honeywell: Three ingredients for augmented intelligence". IBM.
  8. ^ "SparkCognition partners with IBM to provide revolutionary security solutions to customers". IBM. 2017.
  9. ^ Censer, Marjorie (2017-08-03). "SparkCognition wins DIUx award". Inside Defense. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  10. ^ Spalding, Rebecca (2019-10-08). "Boeing-backed start-up SparkCognition raises $100 million". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  11. ^ Neville, Jen (2018-11-20). "Boeing and SparkCognition to Launch Joint Venture SkyGrid". Infocast. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  12. ^ a b Shakil, Wasif (2018-11-22). "By giving minds to machines, a Pakistani-American whizkid is retooling the future". The News International. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  13. ^ "2016 Austin Under 40 Award Winners". Austin Under 40. 2016. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  14. ^ "26 Central Texans pushing the envelope: EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists unveiled for 2018". Austin Business Journal. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  15. ^ "USPTO Search Results for Amir Husain". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  16. ^ a b c d e "Amir Husain". The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  17. ^ Allen, General John R.; Husain, Amir (July 2017). "On Hyperwar". Proceedings. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  18. ^ Allen, John R.; Husain, Amir (2017-11-03). "The Next Space Race Is Artificial Intelligence". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  19. ^ "Artifact Details". Computer History Museum. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  20. ^ "Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  21. ^ "About Amir". AmirHusain.com. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  22. ^ "IEEE The distributed learning environment (DLE)". IEEE. doi:10.1109/ICSMC.1995.538470. S2CID 62699272. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  23. ^ "IEEE The Interaktiv tutor". IEEE. doi:10.1109/ICSMC.1997.635332. S2CID 61764781. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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