Thanks for checking in—if you’re here to talk about startups, AI, or bold ideas will change the world, you’re in the right place.

I’m a serial entrepreneur turned professor and venture advisor. After founding 5 AI companies (with several exits), raising over $50M in capital, and working in AI, drug discovery, search engines and health-tech, I’ve stepped back from the CEO grind—but haven’t slowed down. Twice named "Entrepreneur of the Year", I now mentor founders and help high-impact ventures find their edge.

I split my time among teaching at NC State as a Professor of the Practice, public speaking, guiding AI startups via my firm EdAddisonLLC and the RTP Venture Studio (which backs startups at the intersection of AI, life sciences, and quantum computing).

I’m Executive Chairman of Cloud Evident (formerly Cloud Pharmaceuticals), where we’re building a platform for AI-powered precision medicine. I’m also active with QPMind, an AI/simulation-driven CNS biotech company, and Aperix, a multi-agent operating system for human/AI collaboration.

Most of my advisory and board roles involve AI applied to hard problems—from neurodegenerative diseases to to drug discovery to predictive healthcare and to intelligent infrastructure.

With an eclectic background, I’ve taught AI, engineering management, product development, and bioinformatics for over 30 years, including 18 years at Johns Hopkins, and 15+ years at NC State University. I’ve held advisory board roles with pharma companies, AI societies, and startups around the world. I completed all courses for a PhD in AI/Computer Vision at MIT, a masters in BME/bioinformatics and EE/control theory atJohns Hopkins and an MBA with a healthcare focus from Duke, and I stay current via Coursera. I’ve authored 2 books—Leveraging the Horizon and its upcoming follow-up ReLeveraging the Horizon: Powering Your Startup with AI, and “50 Ways to be the World’s Greatest Dad”, available on Amazon.

At this point in life, I’m focused on what matters: meaningful work, scalable impact, and a flexible schedule. That means time for competitive swimming, jazz piano, wine with friends, frequent world-wide travel and long conversations with my 16 grandchildren. I’ve flown planes, written code, managed teams and started companies, but now I mostly inspire others to achieve their dreams. I'm not the retiring type, but I live big and limit my working hours.

If you’re building something daring in AI, healthcare, or tech—and you’re not afraid of shaking up the status quo—reach out. Just no cold sales pitches, please (I don’t even open those).