Dave Drach

Background

About Dave Drach

Responsibly bringing knowledge from data at a massive scale.I've gone back to my early days of data analysis and AI. At Boeing Computer Services in the late '80's I was part of the Boeing full digital definition team designing the data model for full digital definition of aircraft. That evolved into architecting two AI systems, one in engineering and one in manufacturing. I then attended Carnegie Mellon going deeper into Computer Science and AI in the '90s. In 2023 I returned to Carnegie Mellon to learn the latest deep learning models and approaches and now taking data modeling and design forward building platforms making it easier to aggregate and manage data for our current generation of AI.I’ve worked at the interface between some of the most innovative startups in the world and the largest corporate partners for over 20 years. In these roles, I built relationships between startups and corporates so they can prosper together. With a small team at Techstars I crafted the first corporate backed, partnership driven, startup accelerator with the powered by Techstars model and built that model into deep, successful partnerships with corporations like Microsoft, Barclays, Disney, Nike, and Ford. I have also built a wide variety of engagement models with companies like Google, Chase, Amazon, Verizon, P&G and IBM.Prior to Techstars I worked at Microsoft and helped create BizSpark, which became a leading example of a corporate startup engagement program. In that role I worked with startups such as Evernote, Mojang (aka Minecraft), Datallegro, Yammer and others that either evolved into deep partnerships or acquisitions.I joined Microsoft through the acquisition of a company I helped build called Great Plains Software, which is now the Microsoft Dynamics division. Prior to Great Plains I got to build massive robots and AI systems at Boeing, which was just so ridiculously fun.Specialties: Data, AI, innovation, corporate transformation, creative deals, strategic investing, channel development, business intelligence, ERP, technology architecture, computing, venture capital, acquisitions, due diligence, operating discipline, contract law, product marketing and HR.