The 1% of the 1% are already at work.

Marty Bicknell

Chairman and CEO · Overland Park, KS

Mariner

In RIABiz, Sep 12

He is replacing the advisory industry's hire-in-step-with-clients growth model with a contracted AI workforce of 700 full-time equivalents run under human direction.

“Just about every firm in our industry has grown the same way: serve more clients, hire more people," said Bicknell. "That model has a ceiling, and we decided to break it.” investmentnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“For Mariner, the partnership represents an operating model decision.” morningstar.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“Mariner has signed a five-year agreement to embed more than 700 AI full-time equivalents across its operations, betting that the move will let the national advisory firm expand capacity without following the industry's usual...” investmentnews.com

Found through Route 20

Anthony McCusker

Chairman · Boston, MA

Goodwin Procter LLP

As chair he committed Goodwin to about $25 million a year to build its own AI products, starting with a lawyer-built venture financing tool on a firm operating system, to move a million lawyer hours a year to...

“The financing tool is powered by a custom version of Anthropic’s Claude platform and will provide the basis for programs in other practice areas, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, litigation and fund formation, McCusker...” abajournal.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 334

Nasser Abujbarah

Managing Partner · Phoenix, AZ

Phillips Law Group

The managing partner of a family-owned Phoenix injury firm who spent three years building its own case system and closed AI, then changed the service model to keep cases it used to refer out.

“We used to refer these cases out because the economics didn't justify the resources required to manage them ourselves," said Nasser Abujbarah , Managing Attorney at Phillips Law Group.” prnewswire.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Phillips Law Group deployed Supio across its entire case pipeline. The process is now systematic: once a case is rated C or above, it flows automatically into Supio.” supio.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 72, Route 75

Sandeep Ahuja

Co-founder and CEO · Atlanta, GA

cove

Turned a design-software and consulting firm into a full-service architecture practice run on its own AI framework, to replace slow, fragmented design workflows.

“cove CEO Sandeep Ahuja told Bisnow that the tool is already in use on one project, helping to optimize costs and streamline the design process. “What we have been able to do, as AI has continued to grow, was take that final leap and pull...” cove.inc

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 56

James Alibrandi

President and CEO · North Billerica, MA

Interstate Electrical Services Corporation

President and CEO of a family-owned New England electrical contractor who rebuilt how the work is done around a 100,000 sf prefabrication center and lean construction.

“The Operation Center isn't just a one-time exercise for us, this is our future. Every one of us at Interstate is 100 percent committed to internalizing the concepts and philosophy of lean construction and to actively engaging in the...” high-profile.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2016)“Employees from every Interstate office gathered inside the company’s new 100,000sf operations center, consisting of a warehouse and prefabrication facility, located at 515 Woburn Street in Tewksbury, Mass.” high-profile.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 129

Dean Allen

CEO · Seattle, WA

McKinstry

Moving McKinstry's mechanical and electrical work off the job site into factory-built ceiling systems through its own prefab venture, Overcast Innovations.

“We’re building out a truly integrated type delivery model, being able to not only prefabricate and build components, but then preassemble them, take them out in the field, and then install them on site” spokanepublicradio.org

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“entered a strategic partnership and equity investment in Overcast Innovations, a venture established by leading construction and energy services company McKinstry” armstrong.com
2. Acted again (2014)“McKinstry has grown from a $20 million company to an organization with 1,700 employees and $500 million in annual sales.” cleantechalliance.org

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 143

Frank Aluisio

Physician President · Durham, NC

EmergeOrtho, P.A.

Physician President of North Carolina's largest physician-owned orthopedic practice, who co-founded PELTO Health Partners with two other independent groups as a shared services platform built without outside...

“PELTO is founded on creating a partnership to offer an alternative to external private equity which preserves independent private practice. We bring together our leaders, strength in numbers and build across each other’s infrastructure.” proliancesurgeons.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Three of the nation’s largest physician owned, independent groups – EmergeOrtho (NC), OrthoIndy (IN), and Proliance Surgeons (WA)– bring together their expertise to collectively devise a platform for optimizing clinical and...” emergeortho.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 133

Darin Anderson

Chairman and CEO · Irvine, CA

Salas O'Brien

As chairman and CEO of an employee-owned engineering consultancy he is funding staff-built AI tools for design markups, commissioning, proposals and contract review, changing how the firm's core engineering...

“AI helps us learn faster, design smarter, and deliver solutions that truly raise the bar for our company and clients, while keeping the innovation, care, and excellence that define our work.” salasobrien.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Expanded our capabilities through 11 mergers with like-minded partners Launched Project AI to empower team innovation with artificial intelligence” salasobrien.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 199

Brad Arends

Co-Founder and CEO · MN

intellicents

Co-founder and CEO of an 80 person, employee-owned Minnesota RIA who is rebuilding a 401(k) consultancy into a worksite financial-planning firm that gives every plan participant a yearly plan, staffed with...

“That's why we rebranded our 40-year-old company and built a national brand dedicated to improving the financial aptitude of the American workforce.” intellicents.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Advisory firm intellicents recently announced it has selected The Standard to roll out its intelli(k) pooled employer plan, or PEP .” 401kspecialistmag.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 285

Jeff Arnold

Founder and CEO · Tucson, AZ

RIGHTSURE

Founder rebuilding a 42-state personal-lines agency so AI handles nearly every customer-facing and operational process while staff are coached in real time, which he frames as customer advocacy.

“Arnold says the goal is not underwriting gain or cost reduction, but customer advocacy.” insurancebusinessmag.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“In the past 18 months, RIGHTSURE integrated AI into nearly every customer-facing and operational process.” agentforthefuture.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 67

Kamran Asghar

Co-founder and Global CEO · New York, NY

Crossmedia

Runs a founder-controlled media agency built against holding-company principal trading, and in 2025 folded every office into one global brand and operating standard under a hired Dentsu CTO.

“We'll be much larger, of course, but we'll retain our single-company worldwide culture, just like the consulting firms. We'll still call ourselves a 'media agency,' but one that is always under construction.” mediavillage.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Kamran will oversee all media operations worldwide as part of a more streamlined, single brand approach to media services, while continuing to deliver innovative, transparent, client-first solutions.” newswire.ca

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 170

Eric Ayzenberg

Founder and CEO · Pasadena, CA

Ayzenberg Group

Founder-owned social-first agency that built its own native AI and measurement products (Soulmates.ai, Social Index) and sells them alongside its managed services.

“The industry asked for these channels for years, and we deliberately didn’t add them until we could measure them properly,” said Eric Ayzenberg, CEO of Ayzenberg Group.” martechcube.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“We have been incubating the technology for Soulmates.ai for over a decade now, rebuilding and expanding to create our own native AI that is now available for enterprise and white label use,” said Eric Ayzenberg, CEO of a.network...” martechseries.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 184

Jon Ballis

Chairman of the Executive Committee · Chicago, IL

Kirkland & Ellis

Committed more than $500 million to build Kirkland's own AI from its lawyers' knowledge instead of relying on shared vendor tools, and says it could speed the move off the billable hour.

“Ballis suggested Kirkland has little interest in competing with technology available to every rival firm. Widespread AI adoption, he said, was “raising the floor for everyone” in the legal market, but Kirkland & Ellis was not hired “for...” lawyer-monthly.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Jon Ballis was quoted on Kirkland's decision to set aside $500 million to create its own AI platform using proprietary technology.” kirkland.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“The investment would be directed towards developing proprietary AI systems tailored to the firm’s operations with an initial spend of more than $100 million this year and “hundreds of millions more in the next three to four...” nonbillable.co.uk

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 32

Sayandeb Banerjee

Co-founder and CEO · Chicago, IL

MathCo

He is moving his analytics services firm to an AI-native way of working, with forward deployed engineers and an owned platform, so the firm rebuilds delivery around AI instead of analyst hours.

“Transforming into an AI-native organization is about fundamentally rethinking how businesses operate, solve problems, and create using AI.” mathco.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“Sayandeb points to the company’s investments in its proprietary platform, NucliOS, and expansion into the US and Europe as strategic moves that are strengthening MathCo’s global presence” mathco.com
2. Acted again (2026)“As it marks ten years, MathCo is shifting towards what it calls an "AI-native" operating model. Over the next four years, the company aims to build a workforce of more than 4,000 AI-native professionals across India and the US” ciol.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 339

James Barlow

CEO · Kanarraville, UT

BZI

He runs a family-founded steel contractor that moved work from the air to the ground through panelized assembly and built an owned equipment arm, InnovaTech, to engineer its own tools for faster, safer...

“Early on, we developed what we call the 'panel table,' This was an innovative new process for doing a lot of work on the ground, converting what would be aerial hours, or time spent in the air doing connections, and putting a lot of those...” businessviewmagazine.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“In contrast, BZI's unique methods allow panelized joist and decking to be lifted as a single module after being constructed on the ground.” silicon.co.uk
2. Confirmed by a second source“Innovatech designed Beam Champ to facilitate faster and safer beam loading and access for welding teams.” silicon.co.uk

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 150, Route 199

Tim Barrett

Owner and CEO · Franklin, MA

Barrett Distribution Centers

Owner and CEO of a third-generation family 3PL who has run the firm on open-book management and profit sharing for 20 years and is now moving its warehouse network onto a networked physical AI platform.

“The continued growth of eCommerce requires a structural realignment across supply chains” ajot.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“Investment in automation will continue in the new Dallas facility, as it will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including drones and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), to ensure efficient inventory management and order...” barrettdistribution.com
2. Acted again (2026)“The continued growth of eCommerce requires a structural realignment across supply chains," said Tim Barrett, CEO of Barrett.” ajot.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 258

Jeremy Beaver

Chief Executive Officer · Pleasanton, CA

Del Grande Dealer Group

In CBT News, Sep 14

Turning a 15-store family-owned Bay Area dealer group into a data company by building its own data lake and its own agentic CRM, DealerCloud LLC, which it now sells to other dealers.

“When these dealerships have significantly different value in the future because of technology, and they start trading more like tech companies or SaaS companies, that's where they gain the ability to invest in larger and different scales.” news.dealershipguy.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“To fix this, DGDG built a Microsoft Azure "data lake" in-house that aggregates everything (DMS transactions, service records, marketing touchpoints, industry data) into one normalized system.” news.dealershipguy.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 71

Jeff Beck

Co-founder and CEO

AnswersNow

In HIT Consultant, Sep 30

Co-founder and chief executive of an autism therapy provider that staffs only board-certified analysts, drops the technician layer and pays for outcomes with far fewer therapy hours, against the industry's...

“Our powerful care-delivery model makes proven autism therapy accessible for families and financially sustainable for payors.” citybiz.co

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“AnswersNow is a digital autism therapy provider that only staffs board-certified behavior analysts (BCBAs) and leans into parent-mediated interventions. Their model calls for far fewer therapy hours and does an end-run around...” bhbusiness.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 45

Jessica Beck

Co-founder and CEO · New York, NY

Alfred / Arqline

Turning a property technology vendor into a Top 50 property manager that folds three management companies into one AI-driven, centralized operating model.

“This is not a pure play tech game. This is about having all the tech talk to itself, and having the operating system, and it's about how people change what they're doing because they have more and better tools.” multifamilydive.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Building on that success, Alfred merged Quarterra Living with RKW Residential in June 2025, doubling its portfolio overnight and bringing together teams, systems, and processes across 31 markets.” citybiz.co
2. Acted again (2022)“In March 2022, the New York City-based software provider began bringing tech and operations together by acquiring RKW Residential, gaining access to 30,000 single-family and multifamily homes in Southeastern markets.” multifamilydive.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 36

Daniel Berman

Co-Founder and Executive Chairman · Los Angeles, CA

Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman LLP

Co-founder and executive chairman who rebuilt how a national defense firm prices and runs litigation, moving to portfolio-based alternative fees on performance data and putting generative and agentic AI into...

“Being able to align the objectives of our clients in case resolution while providing an incentive to both the client and law firm is a difficult but achievable task when everyone sits down at the table with an open mind.” wshblaw.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“He has led the firm's shift toward large-scale, portfolio-based alternative fee arrangements grounded in objective performance data drawn from thousands of matters.” wshblaw.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“Berman has also driven the implementation of generative and agentic AI into litigation workflows, positioning the firm ahead of industry trends.” wshblaw.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 309

Rohan Bhobe

Co-founder and CEO · Washington, DC

Nava PBC

Co-founder and CEO of a DC public benefit corporation of over 500 people who set up Nava Labs, a philanthropically funded arm that builds and pilots AI tools for benefit caseworkers, to change how public...

“Our mission is not about better websites; our mission is about better government. We are building capacity deep within our public institutions” navapbc.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“Nava Labs, along with two partner organizations, received a $3.6 million grant from the Gates Foundation to pilot artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools that support benefit navigators” navapbc.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“It’s located within Nava Labs, the company’s research and development arm that experiments with new technologies to change government policies and practices.” technical.ly

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 171

Kathy Bloomgarden

CEO · New York, NY

Ruder Finn

Rebuilding an independent PR firm's operating model so AI tools built by its own 20-plus engineers run through client work, workflows, hiring and training.

“What our industry needs now is an immediate reexamination of structure, upskilling of talent, and re-assessment of how work is designed, executed, and delivered to clients” odwyerpr.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“RF Studio 53 will combine the creative and tech teams from recently acquired Osmosis Films and SPI Group with Ruder Finn’s US and UK-based design and video teams” ruderfinn.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 34, Route 73

David Bolt

President and CEO · Holland, MI

GMB

Turning an employee-owned education architecture and engineering firm into a non-hierarchical 'team of teams' and a full-service education company by buying a higher-education marketing agency.

“GMB is building a new kind of firm that more holistically impacts students and supports the success of educational institutions across the country.” gmb.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“By welcoming Up&Up into the GMB brand, we are redefining what a full-service education company can look like" said David Bolt, President and CEO of GMB.” highereddive.com
2. Acted again (2020)“Over the last three years, Team of Teams has changed the way GMB builds teams, connects disciplines, develops regional offices, grows empathy and trust within a multi-generational workforce, and structures the business itself.” knowledge-architecture.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 305

Erik Braden

CEO · Fishers, IN

Braden Business Systems, Fishers, Indiana

Owner-CEO who moved a copier dealer into managed IT and now runs AI through every service line under a three-question investment test, starting with technicians' documentation and sales proposals.

“That sounds basic, but it is the discipline that keeps AI from becoming a side hobby” enxmag.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“For our service technicians, that meant AI assisting with documentation and ticket summaries. For our sales team, it meant faster proposal development and better client research. Real time savings on real work.” enxmag.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 218

Dean Broadhead

Founder and CEO · Minneapolis, MN

broadhead

In MarComm News, Sep 25

Rebuilt how his 145-person independent agency does scoping, briefs, media planning and design by building and running its own AI platform, Butter, as the daily backbone of the work.

“Instead of building tools to automate what individual practitioners make, we’ve created systems that speed up intelligence flow on an enterprise basis.” forbes.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“Last summer, we launched “Butter,” our proprietary, OpenAI-powered tool, and it already shows promise of being the most consequential advancement to benefit our clients in a generation.” broadheadco.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 66

Brent Brodeski

Founder and CEO · Rockford, IL

Savant Wealth Management

In InvestmentNews, Oct 2

Rebuilding a $55 billion RIA around a firm-owned data model and AI operating system (WiseOS) so advisors stop being the human integration layer between disconnected software.

“What if advisors could spend 60%, 70% or 80% of their time advising?” rethinking65.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Headquartered in Rockford, Ill., Savant has committed $50 million over the next three years” rethinking65.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 21

Chet Buchman

Partner · Newton, KS

Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk & Loyd

He is redesigning a 100-person Kansas CPA firm around a capped working week, repricing, and dropping low-value compliance work to move toward advisory services.

“At SJHL we are on a journey to "fix" busy season, or what we refer to as our Path to 45.” sjhl.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 22

David Callis

Chief Executive Officer · Concord, CA

Swinerton Incorporated

As CEO of an employee-owned builder, he regrouped its subsidiaries (mass timber, energy EPC, development, consulting) under one operating head in 2024 to diversify the product line and control the supply...

“Tim will support the entire Swinerton Family of Companies in our efforts to diversify our product line and exercise greater control over every aspect of project delivery—including the supply chain—to withstand market fluctuations and...” swinerton.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“Tim will support the entire Swinerton Family of Companies in our efforts to diversify our product line and exercise greater control over every aspect of project delivery” swinerton.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 280

Jackie Cardello

Managing Partner · Bethesda, MD

GRF CPAs & Advisors, Bethesda, Maryland

Replacing an eat-what-you-kill partner pay formula with a goal-based one-firm model so partners work as one team instead of as separate books of business.

“We had started with what we call a purely formulaic, or some people like to call it, eat-what-you-kill model, which is based purely on a book of business. That tends to drive very selfish behaviors, and we wanted to change that.” journalofaccountancy.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 87

Paul Carlan

President and CEO · Florence, MA

Valley Medical Group

Kept a 400-person primary care group out of hospital ownership by moving it into a physician-owned IPA and into Medicare and commercial risk contracts, paid for with layoffs.

“If we keep people out of the ER, keep them out of unnecessary hospitalizations, we save money for the system and we create more income for the PCPs, which is dreadfully needed.” nhpr.org

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“This collaboration facilitates Valley Medical's direct participation in commercial and Medicare risk contracts, which can be challenging for independent groups to access alone” yahoo.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 147

Paul Carr

CEO · New York, NY

Welo Global

Reorganizing a localization services firm into five client-segment businesses, each with its own general manager and delivery teams, around an agentic AI translation platform.

“The CEO emphasizes that AI has driven major change, particularly through the development of the company’s Opal platform.” slator.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Over the last two years, the company has been on a pathway of organizing the business around client segments and developing specialized solutions and expertise to better serve them.” slator.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 78

Robert Cashman

President and CEO · Chelsea, MA

Metro Credit Union

Redesigning branch and contact-center work at a member-owned credit union around multi-skilled universal roles with a $50,000 pay floor and a four-day week option.

“By offering resources and training employees need to master new skills, we not only uplevel our entire organization, but also impact the career trajectory of qualified individuals across the Credit Union.” metrocu.org

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Under the four-day work week model, eligible employees can work four 10-hour days at a Metro office, allowing employees one day off per five-day work week.” cutoday.info

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 299

Bob Clark

Founder, Chairman and CEO · St. Louis, MO

Clayco

Built Clayco as a single integrated developer, designer and builder to replace the fragmented design-bid-build model, folding owned architecture firms into the contractor.

“I believed the traditional construction process was too adversarial, too fragmented, too inefficient, and way too complicated. There had to be a better way.” bobclarkbeyond.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2019)“Our integrated delivery model will set a new standard by completely disrupting the inefficiency of the traditional paradigm of design-bid-build.” bdcnetwork.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 26

Dwayne Clark

Founder and Chairman · Bellevue, WA

Aegis Living

In PR Newswire, Sep 9

Rebuilding a senior living operator's labor and growth model around owned arms (an in-house staffing agency run as a separate entity, a development consulting affiliate) and leaders hired from hospitality and...

“The [staffing] philosophy that we've used for years and years and years is going out the window.” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“By filling up the bench with talent from outside the industry, Aegis also maintains a roster of general managers, 50% of whom bring experience from the hospitality industry.” seniorhousingnews.com
2. Acted again (2022)“Aegis Living is focused on its next stage of company growth, unveiling an affiliate development company known as Aegis Development LLC.” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 60

April Clobes

President and CEO · East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union

Splitting a member-owned university credit union into standalone digital brands built for each life stage (students, then graduates) rather than one generic account.

“If you don't have a path forward to grow, it's harder to be relevant and to sustain.” creditunions.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“AlumniFi, the digital banking platform of Michigan State University FCU, has expanded its partnership with the United Soccer League's Detroit City Football Club” cutoday.info
2. Acted again (2023)“MSU Federal Credit has launched AlumniFi , a digital credit union designed to maintain relationships with graduates of Michigan State University.” cutoday.info

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 299

Yotam Cohen

Co-founder and CEO · New York, NY

Daisy

Co-founder and CEO of a New York condo and co-op manager who is redesigning property management roles around AI agents that own repeatable workflows, with a support agent already handling a fifth of requests.

“Our AI-driven platform has transformed how boards and buildings operate," said Yotam Cohen, CEO of Daisy.” nyrej.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 140

Tom Cole

Chair · Atlanta, GA

Troutman Pepper Locke LLP

As chair he runs a 1,600-lawyer firm on its own in-house AI agent, Athena, and keeps folding new research AI into that firm-controlled platform instead of buying tools lawyer by lawyer.

“Now at our size we can be a little more experimental and make sure we’re trying to stay up with our peers,” Cole emphasized. “We’re not looking at just efficiency but also effectiveness.” troutman.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“We are excited to bring a leading, agentic legal research capability inside our own proprietary AI environment. This integration underscores our commitment to responsible, practical innovation that improves the way we serve our...” troutman.com
2. Acted again (2023)“NEW YORK – Troutman Pepper announced today the firmwide release of Athena, a firm-approved, ChatGPT application to help attorneys and business professionals safely and effectively use generative AI to improve workflows and...” troutman.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 334

Peter Coratola

Founder and CEO · Columbus, OH

EASE Logistics

In GlobeNewswire, Sep 23

Trying to run a privately held freight broker on its own AI execution layer, where voice agents and automated bids do a growing share of the work operators used to do by hand.

“We built AMMI because we wanted to be the easiest company to do logistics with, not just for our largest customers, but for everyone we serve.” easelogistics.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Voice agents built on the platform now place more than 110,000 calls a month to carriers and drivers, collecting status updates and pushing loads to the next stage without waiting on manual check-ins.” globenewswire.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“Built to meet the needs of and upskill the internal team, it was embedded into daily operations and has been running at scale ever since.” globenewswire.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 52

Jim Coughlin

Co-founder and CEO · Burlington, MA

The Northbridge Companies

Re-engineering how care hours are staffed and measured (a proprietary caregiver-hours tool, an in-house CNA career ladder) and taking an affordable assisted living model to new markets.

“it’s been surprising to see how simple it is to remove roadblocks by contributing $500 for books and paying a fee for CNA training.” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“Northbridge has a proprietary tool that tracks work hours of caregivers, which the company used to better manage employee working hours with the goal of reducing burnout.” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 166

Ty Crane

President · Fulton, MS

FL Crane & Sons

Crane, the fourth-generation family president, is moving a 79-year-old wall and ceiling contractor from field framing to panels built in its own off-site facilities, cutting on-site manpower on large jobs by...

“Crane’s long-term vision for FL Crane & Sons is to become the go-to contractor in its region for prefabricated interior and exterior wall panels, as well as exterior metal panel systems.” wconline.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2022)“We produced more than 4,500 interior/exterior load bearing wall panels for this project while utilizing 75 percent less manpower on-site” wconline.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 182

Tim Culpepper

Chief Executive Officer · Cullman, AL

Cullman Electric Cooperative

Turned a rural electric co-op into a fiber internet provider for its own members, starting with an $18 million first phase and building toward every member by 2026.

“Making reliable, high-speed fiber internet service available to the communities we serve will be just as significant today and into the future.” cullmantribune.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2020)“Construction on the first phase started this month and should be complete in 12 to 18 months. According to the cooperative, it’s an $18 million investment for the co-op.” cullmantimes.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 321

Nir Bar Dea

Chief Executive Officer · Westport, CT

Bridgewater Associates

He is moving a 50-year-old macro investment firm from human judgment to machine learning as its primary decision-maker, through the AIA Labs division and a fund that division runs.

“The push into machine learning is a “good manifestation of us taking the flag and putting it at the top of the mountain,” Bar Dea said in an interview, while declining to provide specifics about the new fund.” fortune.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Chief Executive Nir Bar Dea told employees that the firm intends to make “more than half the company real owners of Bridgewater” hedgeweek.com
2. Acted again (2024)“Bridgewater Associates, the hedge fund major led by CEO Nir Bar Dea, has launched a new strategy that uses machine learning as the primary basis for its investment decision making process” hedgeweek.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 391

Bill Dean

Chairman and CEO · Tysons, VA

M.C. Dean, Inc.

Third-generation family CEO moving the firm's electrical and systems field work into an owned modular manufacturing campus and, from 2026, an enterprise lean transformation.

“Modular delivery is faster, higher quality, and safer, at equal or lower cost” zweiglist.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Following continued investment in this area, he now returns in an expanded role to drive M.C. Dean’s lean transformation across the enterprise. Reporting to CEO Bill Dean” mcdean.com
2. Acted again (2023)“With a total campus investment of $83 million to date, this building marks the completion of the company’s five-year $63 million Phase 3 expansion” mcdean.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 366

Stephen DeSimone

Chairman and CEO · New York, NY

DeSimone Consulting Engineering

Second-generation chairman and CEO of a family-run structural engineering firm who has bought detailing, BIM and modeling teams so engineering and detailing happen together in the design phase instead of at...

“Together, we are building a global digital design and detailing team, which allows us to offer structural solutions for clients inclusive of design, detailing, BIM and virtual construction services.” re-nj.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Through the acquisition of Dowco’s detailing and BIM services business, DeSimone can now more quickly deliver projects by bringing engineering and detailing into the design phase early,” said Stephen DeSimone, chairman and CEO...” dowco.com
2. Acted again (2026)“Further deepening DeSimone's modeling and detailing expertise with the addition of the ESS team strengthens our ability to deliver integrated solutions and multidisciplinary engineering services to clients around the world.” briefglance.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 297

George DeVries

Chairman and CEO · San Diego, CA

American Specialty Health

The co-founder of a national physical therapy and chiropractic network manager is moving MSK care from in-clinic visits to a self-serve digital platform with low-cost virtual therapists, sold to health plans...

“With the injury prevention module, we’re growing our efforts to deliver practical, evidence-informed digital tools that help health plans and employers ensure their members can address MSK needs earlier” aijourn.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“1/8/2026 New Digital MSK Platform Already has 100+ Million Eligible Members and Offers Savings Upwards of 50-70% Compared to Many Other Digital MSK Offerings!” ashcompanies.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 373

Vince DiPofi

President and CEO · Toledo, OH

SSOE Group

Turning a privately owned architecture and engineering firm into one that thinks like an AI company, with an AI implementation and R&D team and self-built resourcing tools.

“To truly transform the AEC industry, we must think like an AI firm aiming to deliver A/E services — not like an engineering firm merely trying to incorporate AI.” ssoe.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Instead of waiting for the perfect tool, we’re building it. SSOE’s in-house technology team has developed and piloted a tool that aims to forecast optimal staff mix and duration for new projects against existing workload” ssoe.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 91

Vic Drabicky

Founder and CEO · New York, NY

January Digital

Gave the whole agency AI build licences and turns the best staff-built tools into its own Mikey operating system, while spinning up a new division run on that platform.

“If you continue to help us build great tools, what that means, is that you guys will continue to be here, we'll be more efficient and will look differently” digiday.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“January Digital has launched January Growth, a specialized division of January Digital designed to fuel fast-growing ecommerce brands” januarydigital.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 34

Ralph Dumke

Founder · Seabrook, NH

Waterline Industries, Seabrook, New Hampshire

Sold his water and wastewater contractor 100 percent to an ESOP in 2018 and seller-financed the whole deal himself so the company would owe no bank debt, at the cost of losing the bank the day after closing.

“Ralph Dumke, founder and CEO of Waterline Industries, joins Chuck Mazzanti to share how the Seabrook, New Hampshire water and wastewater contractor became 100% employee-owned through an ESOP eight years ago.” iheart.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2018)“Website: http://waterlineind.com Location: Seabrook, NH Employee Ownership Type: ESOP Employee-Owned Since: 2018” certifiedeo.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 80

David Duncan

President · Buckeye, AZ

4 Gen Logistics and its sister firm Duncan & Son Lines

The family owner is converting the whole drayage fleet to battery-electric and fuel-cell trucks a decade before California requires it, and builds his own 90-charger depots to run the work differently.

“We are committed to leading the charge with the most sustainable drayage fleet in the industry.” comvoy.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“We have more than 15,000 miles on our first Volvo VNR Electric that was deployed in 2022. Driver feedback has been extremely positive and played a crucial role in our decision to invest in additional Volvo VNR Electric trucks” electrifynews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 128

Paul Dyer

CEO · New York, NY

/prompt

Folded two independent agencies into one AI-native firm, /prompt, saying AI is the base of how the work is done rather than an added layer.

“The inception of /prompt. is a pivotal moment for us. We are uniting the distinctive expertise of Lippe Taylor and twelvenote with a new engine for augmented intelligence – data science, AI, and a scalable operations platform, to forge a...” martechcube.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“In 2023, the agencies launched /prompt as an AI-focused joint venture to expand their product offerings. Now, they are shrugging off their existing company names, joining forces, and rebranding to /prompt entirely.” adweek.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 170

Bryan Dylewski

CEO · Middletown, CT

Solenvia Caregivers

He rebuilt non-medical home care around an owned caregiver transportation fleet with W-2 drivers and dispatch, and in 2026 turned that operating model into a franchise system.

“I learned the real issue of caregiver reliability started with transportation. A lot of caregivers that are in the marketplace are limited to one vehicle or don't even have a vehicle or have a vehicle that is not reliable.” cthosp.org

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“It rebranded as Solenvia in January 2026 and began franchising that year.” americasbestfranchises.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 289

Edwin Eaton

Founder and CEO · Wenatchee, WA

iPro Building Services

Turned the bidding, proposal, scheduling and work-order system he built to run his own cleaning firm into a self-funded software product, Cinch, for the trade.

“everything that's within my software, my janitorial software system is everything that I use within my company to get me to where I'm at now.” networkedpodcast.buzzsprout.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 143

Andy Eby

CEO · Olathe, KS

Bickford Senior Living

Moving his family's assisted living chain from fee-for-service housing to a value-based senior health model that coordinates primary care, data and care teams across every community.

“It's all about helping our seniors live happier, healthier and longer lives. It's a much more proactive form of senior care and we're very passionate about transforming that.” bickfordseniorliving.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Bickford has been the petri dish for Serviam’s HigherPath model of care, with a focus on resources at the local level, being a key driver in better outcomes.” bickfordseniorliving.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“The Olathe, Kansas-based company has spent the last nine months building out a new “Higher Path” care model that aims to coordinate various health care services across its network of 60 communities in nine states, according to...” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 134

Richard Edelman

CEO · New York, NY

Edelman

He folded Edelman's specialist boutiques into one integrated firm and put money into a proprietary large language model built on 25 years of trust data.

“As competitors navigate mergers, Edelman has reduced barriers and is operating as a more integrated team. It’s our moment to charge, to continue to lead.” edelman.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“As part of a restructuring, Edelman will shutter Edible, Revere, Salutem, Mustache, EGA and Delta brands.” prdaily.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 343

Jayson Elliott

CEO and Managing Attorney · Palo Alto, CA

Bay Legal, PC

He rebuilt a small California law firm around an AI-enabled operations framework and a remote global staff, then spun the operating system out as a separate company that sells it to other law firms.

“The last two years have been about building the infrastructure necessary to support that model.” prnewswire.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“XPRTS Inc., the operator-led execution partner born inside the high-growth U.S. law firm Bay Legal, PC, today announced the formal expansion of its Systems & Automation business unit.” prnewswire.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 75

Andrew Elsener

Co-Founder and CEO · Indianapolis, IN

Spot

The co-founder of a self-funded brokerage rejected off-the-shelf broker software, built an in-house TMS, spun it into an owned technology company and now deploys AI through it in the core freight work.

“While operating Spot, my business partner Andrew Elsener and I knew that there had to be a better way to use technology versus basic “out-of-the-box” software,” said Andy Schenck, Red Technologies co-founder.” insideindianabusiness.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“For years, Spot’s wholly-owned subsidiary and technology arm, Red Technologies, has been building and deploying AI in ways that reflect the real-world pace, pressure, and complexity of freight.” spotinc.com
2. Acted again (2020)“Fast-growing Indianapolis-based logistics company Spot Freight Inc. has spun off the software portion of its business into a new independent company called Red Technologies.” ibj.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 100

Will England

CEO and Co-founder · Minnetonka, MN

Walleye Capital

Rebuilding a 400-person hedge fund around AI by making AI fluency a job requirement in every function, backed by leaderboards and cash bounties.

“England shares how he uses LLMs to write memos and evaluate risk with his team, as well as his larger vision for turning Walleye’s institutional knowledge into a living, searchable intelligence system.” every.to

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Walleye Capital’s England turns adoption into a competitive sport: $25,000 bounties for tool suggestions, public leaderboards with "real cash prizes," weekly meetups.” every.to

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 1

Larry English

Co-Founder · Dayton, OH

Centric Consulting

Co-founder CEO of a virtual-first consultancy turning the firm toward AI, with a new solutions model that builds AI into every service line and a dedicated AI team.

“Our vision is to not only adapt to the changing landscape but also to be at the forefront. We're committed to expanding our AI capabilities, deepening our strategic partnerships, and continuing to provide unmatched experiences for both...” centricconsulting.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“The firm launched a new solutions model that integrates AI capabilities throughout its service offerings and established a dedicated AI team to drive innovation for clients.” centricconsulting.com
2. Acted again (2026)“Larry is an expert on AI-driven transformation and has worked directly with organizations navigating large-scale business and technology change. He has also been leading AI adoption and operational transformation within his own...” everydaymba.libsyn.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 98

Joseph Esteves

Chief Executive Officer · Charlotte, NC

Maine Pointe

Rebuilding a mid-size supply chain consultancy around AI after buying it back from its multinational owner, starting with its own redesigned workflows.

“As an independent company, we can now move faster, invest more aggressively in AI and digital innovation, expand our world-class talent base, and stay completely focused on one thing: helping our clients drive rapid, measurable results.” consulting.us

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“The consulting firm says that, in the functions where it redesigned core workflows, there have been productivity increases of 30% to 50%.” consulting.us

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 255

James Farrin

Founder · Durham, NC

Law Offices of James Scott Farrin

Committed his 300-person North Carolina injury firm to one AI platform across every role, with playbooks per role, so the firm can take more cases without growing headcount at the same rate.

“Technology has moved from being an accelerant for businesses to being essential to thrive,” he explains. “AI is an important tool. We'd be fools not to use it.” eve.legal

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Rather than adopting AI in isolated use cases, the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin have committed to using Eve consistently across the organization, with clear playbooks and role-specific workflows for attorneys, case...” prnewswire.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 40

Franklin Farrow

Co-Founder and CEO · Chattanooga, TN

Morning Pointe Senior Living

Moving control of the schedule from the director of nursing to the frontline care team: teams self-regulate scheduling, call-offs and PTO and earn above-market bonuses for filling target hours.

“We've turned over the scheduling, call-offs, and the PTO engagement to them to self-regulate.” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“But that provided a learning opportunity which resulted in the development of new training programs for staff and the creation of an in-house “university” where workers can hone their skills.” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 148

Kelly Ferguson

CEO and Majority Owner · West Des Moines, IA

Meyocks

Bought majority control of a 40-year-old Iowa ag and food agency in 2024, then rebuilt its testing and research work around a proprietary AI audience simulator and a new in-house research and data science...

“They are in the room with us to pressure test and refine strategy, headlines, imagery, copy, ads and the myriads of other materials we create to support our clients.” meyocks.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“That same year, we launched Meyocks Research + Insights, a dedicated market research and data science practice that gives clients an in-house partner for everything from concept testing to brand health tracking.” aminworldwide.com
2. Acted again (2024)“over a year ago, 11 of our team members from across disciplines formed a group they affectionately called the AI Outlaws.” meyocks.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 138

Tim Fields

Co-founder and CEO

Ignite Medical Resorts

Rebuilding a post-acute operator's back office around centralized admissions and an in-house AI department that builds tools the market does not sell.

“Ground-up construction of new, luxury skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities presents an opportunity to bring something new to the market, and is worthwhile despite the many challenges involved, Ignite CEO Tim Fields told Skilled...” skillednursingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“By centralizing our admissions and case management departments, we were able to realize approximately $900,000 in annual savings.” –Tim Fields , CEO and Co-Founder” exacare.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 46

Tom Finegan

Co-founder and CEO · Durham, NC

Clarkston Consulting

Co-founder CEO of a 35-year-old consultancy rebuilding project delivery around AI, training every client-serving professional and putting an enterprise AI engine (CLAIRE) into day-to-day delivery to cut...

“Our AI transformation represents a direct investment in our stewards and, ultimately, in our clients.” clarkstonconsulting.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Over the course of the initiative, Clarkston has prioritized upskilling and enablement at scale. To date, client-serving professionals are trained to identify opportunities to apply AI in ways that reduce cost-to-serve, improve...” clarkstonconsulting.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 98

John Fish

Chairman and CEO · Boston, MA

Suffolk Construction

Rebuilding how a $7.6 billion private contractor plans and runs jobs by putting full-time AI engineers on every jobsite on top of a decade-long data platform.

“As costs continue to rise, labor shortages persist and productivity declines, the construction industry has reached an inflection point," said John Fish, chairman and CEO of Suffolk, in a news release.” bdcnetwork.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 26

Celia C. Flowers

Owner and CEO · Tyler, TX

East Texas Title Companies dba RecordsOnline, with Flowers...

Owner of a Texas title, closing and title-plant group who rebuilt title production so AI engines assemble the chain of title, runsheet and commitment and a human examiner signs off at each stage.

“We didn’t build the AI Suite to replace that judgment — we built it to extend it. A chatbot that occasionally confuses Tuesday’s answer with Monday’s is fine. A commitment that occasionally hallucinates a release is not.” recordsonline.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Every piece of AI-generated work, from the initial chain of title to the final commitment draft, is reviewed and approved by a human examiner before it proceeds.” briefglance.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 126

Phil Fogg Jr.

CEO · Milwaukie, OR

Marquis Companies

A founder-owner who turned a nursing home operator into a population-health company that owns its own physician services, pharmacy, rehab and Medicare Advantage insurance plan so it can take risk on its...

“We’re managing that population and anything that enables us to do that and achieve the triple-aim goal of creating efficiencies, better customer experience and satisfaction, and better quality outcomes, we’re going to probably try to own...” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“To this end, Marquis has launched its own Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans. Doing so is a daunting endeavor, which Fogg has spoken about frequently over the years” skillednursingnews.com
2. Acted again (2016)“So, to be able to do care management effectively, we’ve developed our own physician services, [introduced] liaisons into hospitals and SNFs, and changed the way we’ve done home health and home care.” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 180

Eric Fortmeyer

Co-Founder and CEO · Fort Wayne, IN

Circle Logistics

The co-founder of a private brokerage moved spot quoting, load-board bidding and carrier calls onto AI bots and voice agents so brokers handle far fewer manual calls.

“We are confident that his leadership will not only drive transformative change within our organization but also enhance the experiences of our valued customers and partners.” thescxchange.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“Circle Logistics announced that they have completed over 100,000 AI-driven calls in its operations. This achievement is credited to their partnership with Happyrobot.ai, an AI technology provider, and Transport Pro” freightcaviar.com
2. Acted again (2022)“Using its Spot Quote system Circle Logistics has successfully built multiple AI-enabled bots to monitor those boards and bid in real-time using the rate engine.” globenewswire.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 100

Dave Forystek

Founder and CEO · Burton, MI

Premier Security Solutions

Turning a retired-police guard company into a remote-first operation: a bought and built global command center, camera trailers and autonomous dock drones that watch sites in real time alongside officers.

“It's more than just reactionary and going back and looking at what happened. We're watching it in real time and stopping it from happening in many cases.” abc12.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Premier Security has established itself as an industry innovator, evolving from traditional guard services to technology-enhanced security operations.” flytbase.com
2. Acted again (2023)“Premier Security Solutions purchased the former ELGA Credit Union administration offices along Center Road in Burton. The new location will give Premier a space to build a state-of-the-art command center to provide cutting-edge...” abc12.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 302

Joe Furey

President and CEO · Princeton, NJ

Michael Graves Architecture & Design

A non-architect owner-CEO is turning a famous-name design studio into a design and technology firm by buying a Revit practice-technology consultancy that now trains and integrates every acquired office and...

“Technology is a key focus in our daily work and was one of several focal points in our strategic plan.” zweiggroup.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“We have been working closely with Parallax for some time, and have remained impressed with the way their team is able to seamlessly integrate these important technologies into day-to-day practice,” says MG President and CEO Joe...” michaelgraves.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 319

Mark Gabriel

President and CEO · Brighton, CO

United Power

Took the largest Tri-State member out of an all-requirements wholesale contract and rebuilt power supply as a hyperlocal portfolio of batteries, solar and a gas plant inside its own territory.

“Instead of working with us in the pursuit of lower-cost, cleaner options, Tri-State has resisted these developments. Tri-State recently purchased additional coal generation, is limiting our members’ ability to add more carbon free...” unitedpower.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 47

Tim Gary

Founder and CEO · Atlanta, GA

Galerie Living

Rebuilding how a founder-owned Atlanta senior living operator runs: an owned operations and health-data platform (Fynn) built in a sister company, a hospitality management layer over care, mandatory in-house...

“pouring tons of money into building our Fynn platform, which helps reduce the employee turnover rate and create more efficiencies.” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“To that end, the company has a training program called Galerie University that all workers must go through. Galerie also uses technology to track staff workloads, with the intention of using that data to support them if their...” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 194

Michaela Gascon

President and CEO · Rochester, NY

KJT Group

She is rebuilding an employee-owned healthcare research firm around AI-run interviews and digital-twin modeling, first as a separate brand and then inside the core service.

“These AI capabilities are already being embraced by our healthcare clients and embedded into how we work together every day,' comments company President and CEO Michaela Gascon” mrweb.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Healthcare consulting firm KJT has brought its AI research business Sparq Intelligence into the KJT brand.” research-live.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 185

Christopher Geier

Chairman and CEO · Chicago, IL

Sikich

Took a $250 million minority investment and dissolved Sikich's partnership model, replacing it with a managing incentive plan, to build a technology-led professional services company.

“But I think once people understood that the old models are dying and we had to take destiny by the hand, it was clear that we had to make a strategic move.” sikich.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“At the same time, he dissolved the firm's partnership model and restructured its equity-sharing model with a managing incentive plan that spreads the rewards of success to more team members” accountingtoday.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 31

Chip Gibson

CEO · Wellesley Hills, MA

Deland, Gibson Insurance Associates

Took a family agency off the producer-owned-book model into team-based service with in-house bots and its own training department, to stay independent at scale.

“We moved away from a model where producers owned their own book of business” agencychecklists.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2022)“Three years ago, we made a strong push into robotic process automation, so we’ve been working with bots and setting up our own processes internally for several years.” agencychecklists.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 121

Philip Gisi

Founder and CEO · Grand Forks, ND

Edgewood Healthcare

Is turning his assisted living chain from housing with meals and activities into a care platform that runs its own care-coordination network, home health and hospice and puts clinical services inside the...

“Most assisted living facilities across the country provide meals and activities and things like that. What we’ve done is we’ve started implementing health care services right in the building.” grandforksherald.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 134

Mike Gitlin

President and CEO · Los Angeles, CA

Capital Group Companies

Takes a 94-year-old public-markets fund house into public-private funds and model portfolios with KKR, a new service line for everyday investors and 401(k) plans.

“Our goal is to redefine what’s possible for investors through best-in-class strategies that combine the strengths of both public and private markets” capitalgroup.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 338

Eugene Goland

Founder and CEO · New York, NY

DataArt

The founder of a privately held New York engineering firm committed $100 million over three years to move its delivery onto AI. He then launched Artisyn as the firm's AI-enabled operating model and delivery...

“We’re not just updating our offerings. We’re reshaping how we deliver, how we grow, and how we support our people and our clients through the next phase of this industry.” dataart.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“2026 Launched Artisyn, our AI-enabled operating model and delivery platform, to help enterprise teams design, build, and deploy AI solutions at scale” dataart.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 204

Jordan Goldstein

Co-CEO · San Francisco, CA

Gensler

He is changing how the largest US architecture firm designs buildings, with in-house AI software and firmwide generative tools that now touch most of its projects.

“The architecture, design, real estate and construction industry has never really experienced massive disruption. Buildings and the process itself hadn’t changed, really. There’s design process, bid process, build process.” commercialobserver.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Gensler handles roughly 3,000 projects annually. Today AI touches the majority in some form. Designers simulate sunlight patterns in hallways. They model sound propagation across open offices.” webpronews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 339

Heidi Golledge

Co-founder and CEO · Newport Beach, CA

Jobot

A founder-CEO who built a recruiting firm around its own AI software, Jax, and keeps moving more of the core recruiting work (screening, ranking applicants, instant interviews) onto it, now inside an...

“The job market can be overwhelming for both clients and candidates right now, and we built Jeni to create stronger matches for both. Jeni ensures every applicant feels heard, gives recruiters more time for meaningful conversations, and...” staffinghub.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“At the center of this release is Fast Track, a powerful candidate-sorting tool that automatically identifies and surfaces the top 10% of applicants for every open role.” jobot.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 211

Steven Gonzalez

Co-Owner · CA

HealthView Home Health and Hospice

In Home Health Care News, Sep 18

Co-owner of a Southern California home health and hospice firm making AI fluency universal across staff and turning its management method into owned software for firms it buys.

“We bought CultureAI.com with the idea of, 'Let's turn what we do into software that we integrate across any businesses we invest in or buy” homehealthcarenews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“We bought CultureAI.com with the idea of, ‘Let’s turn what we do into software that we integrate across any businesses we invest in or buy” homehealthcarenews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 24

Doreen Granpeesheh

Founder and CEO · Woodland Hills, CA

Center for Autism and Related Disorders

She bought back the autism therapy company she founded out of bankruptcy and rebuilt it as a flat, lean, debt-free operator that insources functions, pays technicians for hours of care and makes AI its top...

“Sangam and I taking over allowed us to make the hierarchy more flat. A lot of the costs were associated with the top level of the company. We were able to make that a lot less. We're starting out with a much more lean company.” bhbusiness.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“She also set about thinning out and flattening the company's corporate structure. She let go of all but one of the company's top executives.” bhbusiness.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 289

Tana Greene

Founder and CEO · Charlotte, NC

MyWorkChoice

The founder-CEO of a 1988 North Carolina staffing firm closed the branch model and rebuilt the firm around an app where W-2 workers pick and drop their own shifts.

“Hear about her company's transition from brick-and-mortar offices to a completely virtual setup, details about the growth of MyWorkChoice, the challenges of building and maintaining software” thestaffingshow.castos.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2017)“Our technology and flexibility- driven workforce solution, MyWorkChoice was founded in 2017 by Tana and Mike Greene.” myworkchoice.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 137

Aaron Grossman

Founder and CEO · Valley View, OH

TalentLaunch

Rebuilt a single Cleveland staffing agency into a network that acquires local agencies, runs them on shared technology and back office, and bought a healthcare staffing software firm to move recruiting toward...

“And and then when you do the research, there's 20,000 agencies, 99% do less than 50 million, 97% do less than 25 million. So a lot of these, it's a very fragmented space with a lot of competition. And these smaller companies” founder-led.transistor.fm

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2022)“With the addition of the Praos technology, TalentLaunch looks to enhance its offering to clients and candidates within its network of operating companies. The company will combine the personalized service of a traditional...” mytalentlaunch.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 225

Nicholas Grosso

President and Founder · Bethesda, MD

The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics

Keeping orthopaedic care physician-owned by merging 20-plus independent practices under one tax ID and then selling that operating model to other practices through a physician-owned MSO.

“Most private equity firms want to name a CEO or negotiate the rights so they are calling the shots. We didn’t want to avoid being owned by a hospital only to end up owned by Wall Street” medicaleconomics.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Through Pronesis, athletes can complete AI-powered movement assessments designed to identify movement inefficiencies and potential MSK risk factors before they become larger issues.” varevolution.com
2. Acted again (2022)“Earlier this month, the private practice physicians who were behind the creation of The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics (CAO) launched MedVanta.” ryortho.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 68, Route 193

Ravit Gutman

CEO

Extropy Advisors

Bought out her partner and rebuilt a mostly offshore finance-transformation boutique around a US director layer, then, when that broke, into client-owning pods.

“Extropy Advisors, a leading financial digital transformation advisory firm, is delighted to officially announce Ravit Gutman, its co-founder, as Chief Executive Officer.” extropyadv.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 77

Jeff Hahn

Founder and Principal · Austin, TX

Hahn

Turning an Austin PR and marketing agency into a measurement-led one by buying a data science firm (2021) and rebuilding its services around AI and its own patented earned-media measurement platform (2025).

“engineered these services to meet the moment by injecting AI into our business for producing even better work products for our clients without losing our clients’ and their customers’ trust” martechcube.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2021)“In the US, marcoms agency Hahn Public has acquired data science and analytics firm Statistical Vision, for an undisclosed sum. The latter company has now been renamed Hahn Stats.” mrweb.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 152

Hoby Hanna

Chairman and CEO · Pittsburgh, PA

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services

Third-generation owner-CEO of the largest privately held US brokerage who pulled the firm's Cleveland listings out of the shared IDX feed in 2023 to put his own agents back at the center of each sale, then...

“We were missing out on the ability to best represent the house and best represent the seller. In the last few years, we have looked at this more and more as new brokers pop up, and have tried to look at how we could be more at the center...” realtrends.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Howard W. "Hoby" Hanna IV , newly minted CEO of the nation's largest independent brokerage, has made a bold move that will effectively keep Howard Hanna Real Estate listings off of competitors' websites.” realestatenews.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“Using Cleveland as a test market has gone so well that brokerage is looking to make a similar switch in other markets as the company maps out its strategy for 2024, Hanna said.” realestatenews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 140

Bryan Hannegan

President and CEO · Glenwood Springs, CO

Holy Cross Energy

In Holy Cross Energy, Sep 29

Replacing grid wholesale contracts with renewable projects built for the co-op and preparing to move it from selling kilowatt hours to delivering energy as a service.

“Our bigger worry, frankly, is that ... we may actually not have enough demand growth to sustain the current business model relying on kilowatt hour sales” aspendailynews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“CEO Bryan Hannegan said in an interview that Holy Cross has replaced wholesale power contracts for energy from the regional grid, which often comes from fossil fuel-based sources, with renewable power projects built specifically...” aspendailynews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 47

Omar Haroun

Founder and CEO · CA

Eudia

Building a law firm in which AI does the volume work and lawyers supervise, sold to in-house teams in place of hourly outside counsel.

“Omar Haroun , CEO of Eudia, said: ‘Most legal departments have lost control of their budgets and their knowledge. Eudia Counsel is the first AI-native law firm built to help companies regain control of their knowledge.” eudia.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 6

Stephanie Harris

Founder and CEO · St. Charles, MO

Arrow Senior Living Management

The founder-CEO is rebuilding how frontline caregivers get their daily work, through an in-house staffing app that started at a company hackathon and a 2025 split of leadership roles.

“This year, Harris said her corporate leadership team is working to create a new way for frontline caregivers to navigate their daily assignments more efficiently. To get there, Arrow hosted its latest “hackathon” technology-event, from...” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Harris highlighted the company’s innovative approach to technology. Earlier this year, Arrow Senior Living held a hackathon that resulted in the launch of a new app, The Archer. Integrated into the existing Arrow App, The Archer...” arrowseniorliving.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 406

John Harrity

Co-Managing Partner · Fairfax, VA

Harrity & Harrity, LLP

Rebuilding a patent prosecution firm around in-house software and AI tools, dedicated drafting teams and production-based pay instead of the billable hour.

“If you have any hesitation as an attorney or agent about using AI, we are not for you. If you're against change in any way, this is definitely not the place for you.” harrityllp.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Team members choose when, where, and how much they work, with compensation tied to efficiency and production rather than face time.” harrityllp.com
2. Acted again (2018)“establishing an in-house analytics department in 2014 and a dedicated software department in 2018” software.harrityllp.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 64

Fahad Hassan

Founder and CEO · Seattle, WA

Range

He is rebuilding his advice firm so software gives the advice instead of advisors using software, and he charges a flat-fee subscription in place of the asset-based fee.

“We're able to deliver that same plan or better in a matter of days, and that's really because of the power of the technology we've built” technical.ly

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“But what we did about six months ago is we flipped a switch. Our advisors aren't just using the tools, now AI is using the tools we've built for advisors.” investmentnews.com

Found through Route 20, Route 155

Matt Henry

CEO · Kennett Square, PA

Chatham Financial

Redesigning a capital-markets advisory firm around outcomes rather than inherited processes, rebuilding workflows from zero with AI-built tools (Process Zero).

“The more I experience AI, the less I believe the widespread adoption of LLMs is mainly a technology story. It is a work redesign story. A management story. And, pretty quickly, a human story.” cf.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Through Process Zero, Chatham reengineers workflows around outcomes. For each workflow, the firm identifies the minimum inputs and evidence required, determines where human judgment is essential, and decides how AI and AI-built...” openai.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 4

Bill Hetherington

CEO · Bandera, TX

Bandera Electric Cooperative

He turned a small distribution co-op into an operator of its own distributed-energy software (Apolloware), a battery-leasing service and a virtual power plant that sells member battery output into the ERCOT...

“For the first time they have a financial incentive to conserve electricity. Before, it's always been, 'Conserve for the good of the cause.' Now you will be paid market price if you conserve. That is a substantial change.” cooperative.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“proudly announces that its Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (ADER) program, known as a Virtual Power Plant, successfully qualified for participation in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) wholesale power...” prnewswire.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 81

Jimmy Hiller

Founder and CEO · Nashville, TN

Hiller Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical

Rebuilt how a family-owned home services firm gets its technicians by buying a trade school and turning it into an owned training pipeline for veterans, instead of competing for scarce licensed workers.

“One of our biggest problems is always getting good people and I can't think of a better group of people than ex-military” army.mil

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2016)“That partnership worked out so well that Hiller acquired the school, investing over $2.5 million into developing state-of-the-art training and equipment in both classroom and lab settings, and expanding its offerings to include...” hvac-blog.acca.org

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 175

Casey Hite

Co-Founder and CEO · Asheville, NC

Aeroflow Health

Co-founder CEO rebuilding a home medical supplier's intake and patient-service work around AI agents, automated insurance validation and data pipelines in place of fax and phone queues.

“At Aeroflow, we address this by investing in real-time eligibility and benefit verification, including customization at the employer-group level. We use structured data integrations and automated validation checks to confirm coverage...” aitimejournal.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“The implementation of Five9 IVA has led to a 10-15% reduction in call volume by automating common inquiries such as order status and insurance guidelines.” aeroflowhealth.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 323

Chris Hoffmann

President · St. Louis, MO

Hoffmann Brothers

Rebuilt a family HVAC shop's work model from waiting for inbound calls to outbound-booking its maintenance-agreement base days ahead, and built an in-house university to train new technicians.

“As our business looks to grow organically and by acquisitions, our leadership team was eager to find a President who could step into this mission-critical leadership role and steward us through this next stage of growth.” pr.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it“Hoffmann Brothers University focuses on training new technicians, providing continuing education for current employees, and leadership development for current and future leaders at Hoffmann Brothers.” hoffmannbros.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“Under the new system, every trade has a minimum call goal to schedule before everyone goes home. They work three days in advance.” achrnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 259

Hope Horner

Co-Founder and CEO · Los Angeles, CA

Lemonlight

Co-founder CEO moving a commercial video production firm to generative AI production with human oversight, after choosing to shrink from about 200 to about 75 staff.

“This cutting-edge platform, integrated with AI, is designed not to replace our invaluable team but to amplify their capabilities.” lemonlight.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 288

Christopher A. Howard

Founder and CEO · Houston, TX

Softeq Development Corp.

Turned a founder-owned engineering services shop into a services-for-equity builder by launching its own Venture Studio (2021) and a $40 million Venture Fund (2022), taking stakes in startups in exchange for...

“With the significant growth of our engineering services business plus the addition of our Venture Studio and $40 million Venture Fund, we saw an opportunity to welcome new leaders with global experience and fresh thinking to continue...” houston.innovationmap.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2022)“I am proud to increase our support of the state’s early-stage tech community. Our investment fund is designed to attract tech visionaries from both inside and outside the state and grow innovative concepts in Houston” softeq.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 130

Erik Huberman

Founder and CEO · Santa Monica, CA

Hawke Media, Santa Monica, California

Founder-owned outsourced-CMO agency that bought an AI martech company to automate the strategy and benchmarking work its marketers did by hand, and sells it as a $99 a month SaaS beside its services.

“The question is, how do I automate that?” worth.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2022)“Hawke AI is the outcome of combining Hawke Media’s data, insights, and product roadmap with Morphio, an acquired Canadian-based MarTech platform.” hawkemedia.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“By February 2022, he had a deal to acquire Morphio, and just a few months later, the company launched the first version of its new software-as-a-service (SaaS) product, dubbed Hawke AI, with 2,000 subscribers paying $99 per...” worth.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 184

Stephanie Maderazzo-Hughes

Co-CEO · Tempe, AZ

Canyon State Electric

A second-generation co-CEO who built an in-house university for every employee and moved the firm into a building that puts prefabrication alongside the office.

“Being quick to implement new technology into our processes has greatly benefited the overall success of our company. We ensure that our teams are effectively trained and ready to use all new tech before integrating it into the field.” inbusinessphx.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“The conjoined office and warehouse will give CSE the ability to house both office and prefabrication teams in the same building. “This marks a new chapter for Canyon State Electric,” said CEO Stephanie Maderazzo-Hughes.” arizcc.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 161

Mohamed Hussein

Founder and CEO · Arlington, VA

Piedmont Global

An interpreter-founder who is turning a language services vendor into what he calls a Strategic Globalization Organization, with an owned platform that runs human and AI interpreting in one delivery model.

“For too long, our industry has been seen as the last mile. Piedmont Global flips that script. We embed earlier in the value chain, aligning the people, capabilities, and strategies to unlock growth and impact. This isn’t about words or...” piedmontglobal.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Connexus responsibly consolidates human and AI interpretation within a single delivery model: Over-the-Phone Interpretation (OPI), Video Remote Interpretation (VRI), Onsite Interpretation (OSI), and the real-time...” piedmontglobal.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 301

Jean Hynes

CEO and Managing Partner · Boston, MA

Wellington Management

She is turning an institutional sub-adviser into a firm that builds public-plus-private products for individual investors and owns its own advisor distribution arm.

“AI is also transforming the practice of investment management, and at Wellington we are actively evaluating how and where to utilize it to drive innovation, productivity, and client value.” wellington.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Wellington Management, Boston-based asset manager overseeing more than a trillion dollars in AUM, has agreed to acquire Hartford Funds from The Hartford, according to a Wednesday announcement.” investmentnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 391

Thomas Ioele

Co-founder and CEO · Charlotte, NC

TalentBridge

The co-founder and CEO of a Charlotte staffing firm built an in-house AI recruiter, Caroline, that sources, texts, calls and scores candidates before a human recruiter steps in.

“We combine the best of human and technology to get clients an almost 100% match for their open roles” newswire.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“AI-Driven Virtual Contingent Bench A prequalified, skill-tagged talent bench built by Agentic bots and managed by SME recruiters.” talentbridge.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 137

Brian Jackson

Chair · Harrisburg, PA

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

The elected chair of a central Pennsylvania firm who is turning a law firm into a group of owned professional businesses, adding C-suite consulting and commercialization to legal work.

“Keystone Municipal Solutions is an example of our commitment to proactive innovation in the name of client service.” mcneeslaw.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“The launch expands the range of professional solutions McNees and its affiliated companies provide to businesses and organizations, adding C-suite business consulting and commercialization support to legal, human resources,...” mcneeslaw.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 178

Jeff James

President and CEO · Wilmington, NC

Wilmington Health

Moved a physician-owned multispecialty group off RVU-driven fee-for-service onto provider-owned ACO REACH risk, with a C-corp model, legacy exit payouts ended, and revenue lines that do not depend on patient...

“This initiative represents our shared mission to transform the health care delivery system across the country.” medicaleconomics.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“By adopting a C-Corp model, halting legacy payout models, and building reserves, Wilmington Health shed outdated practices that rewarded physicians for exiting rather than staying.” amga.org

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 94

Mike Jansen

CEO and President · Menasha, WI

Faith Technologies Incorporated

Moving electrical construction off job sites into an owned smart-manufacturing arm (Excellerate) that builds modular electrical buildings for data centers.

“The safe, controlled manufacturing environment supports a diverse workforce, and with our focus on new technologies and increased automation, we've built a more productive, smarter and safer workplace than ever before.” insightonbusiness.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“MEBs are fully self-contained electrical units that can be quickly deployed into data centers, eliminating the majority of on-site electrical work.” foxcitieschamber.com
2. Acted again (2019)“The Oshkosh and Neenah manufacturing spaces will continue to focus on manufacturing and assembly work for electrical construction, while the new Little Chute facility will be the hub for product innovation and research and...” areadevelopment.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 157

Scott Jean

President and CEO · Des Moines, IA

EMC Insurance Companies

Rebuilding how a policyholder-owned commercial insurer underwrites and serves agents: one all-at-once core system replacement from about 2020, then in 2025 a regional structure, specialist underwriting units...

“We selected Guidewire and Guidewire Cloud to help EMC transform into a digital company that can easily adjust to industry disruption and evolving customer expectations” guidewire.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Rather than modernizing incrementally, EMC rebuilt its entire core simultaneously: policy, billing, claims, workflows, quote-and-buy portals, and enterprise data.” insurancebusinessmag.com
2. Acted again (2022)“While an extremely difficult decision, EMC felt this move was necessary to position the company for the future and the achievement of its strategic plans and goals” businessinsurance.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 315

Joe Jedlowski

Founder and CEO · Freehold, NJ

Distinctive Healthcare / Distinctive Living

Founder rebuilding a senior living manager around an in-house analytics team that re-priced and re-tiered care levels, plus owned health services and a middle-market product.

“At Distinctive Living, we make decisions based on data points” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Based on the analysis the team has been able to provide, the company made the decision to shift and expand the levels of care residents can receive based on the needs they have.” seniorhousingnews.com
2. Acted again (2022)“Developing an on-site home health component will allow Distinctive Living to help residents stay in their communities longer rather than transferring out to more costly, higher levels of care, Jedlowski said.” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 250

Kyle Johnson

CEO · Farmington, NY

Leonard's Express

A family-run refrigerated carrier and brokerage CEO who moved load acceptance and dispatch from planners' gut feel onto AI decision software in 2024 to fix operating habits the pandemic boom had hidden.

“This shift exposed a critical truth: “The revenue that we were generating during the pandemic was hiding a lot of operational sins,” said Kyle Johnson, CEO at Leonard’s Express.” optimaldynamics.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2024)“In 2024, Leonard’s Express took measures to improve supply chain efficiency by adopting Optimal Dynamics, an AI-based load acceptance and dispatch optimization software, to make better routing decisions” ajot.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“Leonard’s Express understood the significant advantages of taking a scientific approach to harmonizing asset and brokerage operations for optimal performance and profitability.” dcvelocity.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 216

Brady Jolly

Owner and CEO · Cincinnati, OH

Jolly Plumbing, Drains, Heating & Air

The second-generation owner-CEO of a family plumbing and HVAC firm rebuilt how the work is dispatched and managed, with AI dispatch matching techs to jobs, a home-built reporting tool and an employee-first...

“Our mission now is reimagining how the world experiences home services” digitaledition.pmmag.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“We use ServiceTitan, but we also built our own reporting tool called Service Jack,” Jolly says. “It gives us custom dashboards and accountability.” pmmag.com
2. Acted again (2024)“Jolly Heating Air Plumbing and Electric , which serves Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and has been in business since 1979, began incorporating AI into its business in early 2024. Initially, the team added Dispatch AI and chat.” contractingbusiness.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 101

Anders Jones

Co-founder and CEO · Baltimore, MD

Facet

Co-founder and CEO of a Baltimore planning firm that replaced the percentage-of-assets model with flat-fee memberships, moved from buying other advisors' small accounts to direct-to-consumer in 2019, and...

“The future role of AI in financial advice Decreasing headcount & SaaS spend due to building AI automation tools” saas-scaled.cohostpodcasting.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“We already do tax planning and tax strategy, but then bringing in the actual filing in one seamless way is really the way to bring it all together” wealthmanagement.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 155

Julie Jones

Chair · Boston, MA

Ropes & Gray LLP

Puts agentic AI and a first chief of AI strategy behind every lawyer of a 1,500-lawyer partnership, aiming the AI work at client delivery and growth instead of back-office pilots.

“The AI revolution demands bold leadership and innovative thinking. Ropes & Gray has been leading the legal industry, and Gretchen will help us catalyze our early action to deliver differentiated value to our clients.” pulse2.com

Stood up to review

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 338

Mike Kaeding

CEO · Forest Lake, MN

Norhart

Rebuilt a family apartment developer as a vertically integrated, lean housing manufacturer with its own steel wall-panel factory to cut the cost of housing.

“When we look at the world of construction, it's been mostly flatlined. Over the past 60 years, manufacturing has improved labor productivity by 760%, but construction has done only 10%.” leanblog.org

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Norhart is vertically integrated and owns the majority of the components of production from the manufacturing of wall panels and precast beams to the plumbing and electrical trades to management team leasing properties to the...” sec.gov

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 79

Lance Kaplan

Co-Chair · New York, NY

Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP

As co-chair he took the immigration firm into a digital identity venture it owns with SICPA, building a platform for identity and document verification next to its core mobility and compliance work.

“Fragomen has been investing in digital identity innovation and technology platforms designed to reduce friction across global mobility and compliance processes, and together with SICPA, we will bring trusted infrastructure and verifiable...” fragomen.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“The joint venture will deliver an end-to-end, standards-based platform that connects identity verification, verifiable credentials, document authentication, digital wallets and credential lifecycle management within a single...” sicpa.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 386

Lynne Katzmann

Founder and CEO · Bloomfield, NJ

Juniper Communities

Turning a senior living operator into a co-owner of a Medicare Advantage plan and a provider of its own home health and physician services, so that the operator is paid for keeping residents well rather than...

“They are strongly mission-driven and committed, as the rest of our members are, to an operator-owned plan that can set the standard for benefits and reimbursement between payers and senior living providers” seniorhousingnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“The operator also is developing a new software program referred to as Juniper Connect, according to CEO Lynne Katzmann.” seniorhousingnews.com
2. Acted again (2019)“Also this year, Juniper aims to expand Medicare Advantage (MA) participation through its participation in the Perennial Consortium, the value-based care model the operator co-launched in 2019 to drive MA enrollment among...” seniorhousingnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 60

Danny Kaufman

Group Co-President · Farmington Hills, MI

Burns & Wilcox and H.W. Kaufman Group

Rebuilding a family-owned wholesale broker's operations around a $100M+ digital platform and in-house AI tools that strip repetitive work from brokers and underwriters.

“We're using AI not to replace people, but to enhance what they do - removing repetitive tasks and giving us better data to serve clients” insurancebusinessmag.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2021)“He prioritized the launch of its expert-driven Practice Groups, developed best-in-class operational processes and has led significant transformational technology initiatives.” burnsandwilcox.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 341

Todd Kaufman

Co-founder and CEO · Westerville, OH

Test Double, Columbus

Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of an employee-owned Ohio software consultancy, moved the firm from staff-augmentation requests to outcome targets and phase-by-phase specialist staffing as AI cut the cost of...

“This specificity has already changed how we operate. We can't just respond to a client's request for an embedded software consultant, product consultant, or team without understanding better: What challenges are you facing? What specific...” testdouble.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Our new vision: By 2030, achieve 1,000 client outcomes by solving real problems through people, process, and technology consulting. This specificity has already changed how we operate.” testdouble.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“That shifted how we staffed it. Instead of assigning one or two consultants for a block of time, we rotated in the right subject matter expert at the right phase” testdouble.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 176

Ryan Keepman

Chief Executive Officer · Delafield, WI

Evans Transportation

The second-generation CEO of a family-owned 3PL added a Mexico service line and put AI agents on inbound carrier calls and order entry, the core manual work of a brokerage.

“Seven years ago we chose to completely reinvent the business through technology modernization and by building a differentiated client experience. That overhaul became what is now known as the Evans Experience.” biztimes.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“Huckeba said staff used to manually key 100 to 120 orders per person per day. Now, integrations and AI agents extract shipment details from emails and PDFs and place cleaned data into Evans’ transportation management system” marketscale.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 100

Bryan Keller

President · Defiance, OH

Keller Logistics Group

Second-generation family owner who is turning a regional trucking firm into a technology-enabled national 3PL, adding a dry bulk Ag division in 2025 and a CTO to rebuild its WMS and TMS in 2026.

“Warehousing, trucking, brokerage and industrial real estate are fundamentally technology-enabled businesses today.” thetrucker.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Keller Trucking, part of Keller Logistics Group, launches its Ag Division focused on hopper transportation.” igrownews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 202

Dan Khabie

Co-founder and CEO · San Diego, CA

CourtAvenue

Co-founder CEO of a San Diego independent digital agency who rebuilt its core production around AI, starting with an AI-focused CTO in 2023 and then buying a controlling stake in a Ukrainian AI agent...

“our industry in the digital marketing tech arena is kind of Ground Zero for AI and the advancement of AI in terms of its ability to do the things that we do today whether it’s creative production or copywriting or code or whatever may be.” sdbj.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2026)“CourtAvenue is acquiring data and marketing technology consultancy GTX Solutions, as the independent agency looks to deepen its enterprise data capabilities amid rising client demand for AI solutions.” adweek.com
2. Acted again (2025)“In January, CourtAvenue reported it had acquired a controlling stake in BotsCrew, a Ukrainian firm renowned for developing custom AI-powered chatbots for businesses.” sdbj.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 288

Dave Kievet

CEO · Appleton, WI

The Boldt Group

Moving a 135-year-old general contractor toward industrialized construction by founding an owned modular and prefabrication manufacturer and restructuring the group around the whole built-environment value...

“Bildt can deliver higher-quality work at a lower cost, with complex work broken down into simpler tasks that can be learned quickly in a manufacturing environment.” thebusinessnews.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Building on its 135-year history in the construction industry, Boldt is reimagining how buildings are planned, designed and delivered by launching Bildt, a modular and prefabrication manufacturer.” boldt.com
2. Confirmed by a second source“Dave started to put together the architecture of what our modular business could look like and really wanted to invest in it from a company level” thebusinessnews.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 69, Route 108

Ron Klemencic

Chairman and CEO · Seattle, WA

Magnusson Klemencic Associates

As chairman and CEO of a private structural engineering firm, he puts firm money into a foundation for shared, non-proprietary research and turns it into new design methods (performance-based seismic and wind...

“Prescriptive codes have become increasingly oppressive, often hindering creative thinking or, worse yet, fundamental engineering thinking.” structuremag.org

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2023)“Klemencic championed the establishment of the MKA Foundation built upon the premise that “leadership in structural and civil engineering includes an obligation to engage and invest in non-proprietary research that is...” asce.org
2. Acted again (2018)“Current Chairman and CEO Ron Klemencic received the 2018 ENR Award of Excellence for "daring to innovate, for spearheading the age of cooperative R&D and for his relentless pursuit of a better and more constructible built...” en.wikipedia.org

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 150

Bill Koenigsberg

Founder and CEO · New York, NY

Horizon Media Holdings

Took the largest US independent media agency into a joint venture network built around a combined AI platform and is moving its own pricing off billable hours toward performance-based contracts.

“Built exclusively for the needs of the modern global marketer, Horizon Global is rewriting the agency network playbook” havas.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Horizon Media Holdings and Havas today announced the formation of Horizon Global, a new joint venture” havas.com
2. Acted again (2026)“Horizon Media is attempting to move away from billable hours entirely in favor of performance-based contracts” adweek.com

Found through Route 34

April Koh

Co-founder and CEO · New York, NY

Spring Health

In Bloomberg Television, Sep 30

Moving a mental health provider off episodic care sold as access and onto an owned AI-led continuity layer sold on outcomes.

“Selling to clinics was a dead end. If we hadn’t pivoted to employers when we did, Spring probably would’ve died. So we stopped selling the algorithm and started selling outcomes.” springhealth.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2025)“Spring Health, the leading global mental health solution for employers and health plans, today unveiled its principled approach” prnewswire.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 62

Chuck Kuhn

Founder and CEO · Sterling, VA

JK Moving Services

Founder-owner of the largest independent US mover who rebuilt crew training around an in-warehouse training house and turned long-haul drivers into guaranteed six-figure salaried staff to fix the driver...

“We have a driver shortage in our country that has been exacerbated by growth in online retailing” dcvelocity.com

Stood up to review

1. Acted on it (2021)“With demand high for professional drivers, JK Moving Services has increased annual guaranteed income for experienced Over-the-Road Class-A CDL Drivers to a minimum $100,000.” blueridgeleader.com

No documented path within 3 steps of Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn

Found through Route 115

Anthony Lamacchia

Founder and CEO · Waltham, MA

Lamacchia Realty / Lamacchia Companies

Rebuilt how his brokerage recruits and develops agents, trading agent count for full-time, trained, in-office agents.

“Weekly training changed everything, and we're reaping the rewards.” rismedia.com

Stood up to review