# Erich Kerekes

> Erich Kerekes is the Chicago-based co-founder and chief technology officer of Hallow, the Catholic prayer and meditation app. A University of Notre Dame computer-science graduate and former McKinsey consultant, he joined Hallow full time in 2018 after an unusually personal discernment process, then helped make completed prayers - rather than screen time - the young company's defining product measure. He now leads Hallow's product, technology, design, and analytics work and writes publicly about the limits and possibilities of technology, including artificial intelligence.

- **Role:** Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at Hallow
- **Organizations:** Hallow, McKinsey & Company, University of Notre Dame, Habitat for Humanity
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree in Computer Science; minor in Corporate Engineering Practice; summa cum laude, University of Notre Dame
- **Known for:** Co-founded Hallow and leads its product, technology, design, and analytics functions., Helped Hallow surpass 20 million downloads in 2024., Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Consumer Technology with his co-founders in 2022.

## Career timeline

- **2012** — Worked with the Hovde Foundation in Washington, D.C., and its partner Challenging Heights in Ghana through the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program.
- **2013** — Translated functional-curation protocol language from C++ to Python for a computational research project.
- **2014** — Completed a ten-week healthcare consulting internship in McKinsey's Chicago Business Technology Office.
- **2015** — Graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame in computer science with a minor in Corporate Engineering Practice and received the Outstanding Computer Science Senior Award.
- **2015-2018** — Worked as a McKinsey business analyst, primarily on high-technology projects; spent his third year with Fuel by McKinsey in the Bay Area advising growth-stage technology companies.
- **2018** — Joined Hallow full time in July as a co-founder, initially serving as head of sales and marketing; Hallow launched publicly in December.
- **2022** — Named with co-founders Alex Jones and Alessandro DiSanto to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Consumer Technology.
- **2024** — Hallow passed 20 million downloads; Kerekes was recognized by Notre Dame's Domer Dozen.
- **2025** — Returned to Notre Dame for IDEA Week to discuss faith, technology, and Hallow's growth; reporting at the time cited 23 million downloads and more than 900 million prayers completed.
- **2026** — Published a detailed personal essay about the intellectual development of his faith and appeared on The Tech Series to discuss digital prayer, AI, and leadership.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Hallow and leads its product, technology, design, and analytics functions.
- Helped Hallow surpass 20 million downloads in 2024.
- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Consumer Technology with his co-founders in 2022.
- Selected for Notre Dame's 2024 Domer Dozen, which recognizes young alumni for professional and public contributions.
- Received Notre Dame's Outstanding Computer Science Senior Award and was elected to the Upsilon Pi Epsilon computer-science honor society.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Published 'One Man's Journey,' a long first-person account of the intellectual and personal development of his Catholic faith.
- **2026-01** — Appeared on The Tech Series in a conversation filmed at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago about Hallow, parish community, AI, and leadership.
- **2025-12** — Published 'Thoughts on AI,' arguing that AI should free people for human creativity, judgment, and connection rather than replace those capacities.
- **2025-04** — Spoke at Notre Dame's IDEA Week about faith in the digital age and Hallow's founding story.

## Links

- Website: https://hallow.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erichkerekes
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/HallowApp
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMDcYEORFIw
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/hallowapp
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/hallowapp

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/erich-kerekes
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27