Jimmy Freese is the co‑founder and chief executive officer of Hawaii‑based Ai.Fish, a startup that applies cutting‑edge computer‑vision and machine‑learning pipelines to overhaul electronic monitoring (EM) for commercial fisheries worldwide (EM4 Fish, Ai.Fish). Born and raised on Oʻahu—and still an avid surfer and fisherman—Freese channels his lifelong connection to the ocean into creating real‑time, lower‑cost compliance and sustainability tools for fishing fleets (EM4 Fish, HI Now). Before launching AI.fish, he spent nearly two decades as founder and CEO of AkuShaper, pioneering CAD/CAM software and CNC machines that now shape more than half of the world’s surfboards, sharpening both his entrepreneurial and software‑engineering credentials (Ai.Fish, F6S). He holds an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas, leveraging his control‑engineering background to design robust edge‑AI hardware for at‑sea deployments (Ai.Fish). Under Freese’s leadership, AI.fish has become a key player in the emerging “New Blue Economy,” partnering with organizations such as the Environmental Defense Fund and leveraging platforms like Voxel51’s FiftyOne to scale data‑driven fishery‑management solutions around the globe (EM4 Fish, voxel51.com).
