# Igor Jablokov

> Igor Jablokov is the Raleigh-based founder and chairman of Pryon, which helps organizations retrieve and use their internal knowledge. He previously co-founded cloud speech-recognition company Yap, acquired by Amazon in 2011, and led natural-language research work at IBM. His public work emphasizes attribution, privacy and practical uses of AI.

- **Role:** Founder & Chairman at Pryon
- **Organizations:** Pryon, Yap, IBM, Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network North Carolina, Global Shapers Raleigh, Techstars Alexa Accelerator, With Honor, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
- **Education:** B.S. in Computer Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, MBA, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Belk College of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded Yap, acquired by Amazon in 2011., Led IBM work described by institutional biographies as a precursor to Watson and an early multimodal web browser., Founded Pryon, which closed a $100 million Series B in September 2023.

## Career timeline

- **Early 1990s** — Began at IBM as an intern; later became a program director working on multimodal and natural-language systems.
- **1997** — Graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in Computer Engineering.
- **2000** — Earned an MBA at UNC Charlotte.
- **2006** — Left IBM and co-founded Yap with his brother Victor.
- **2007** — Demonstrated cloud speech technology at the inaugural TechCrunch conference.
- **2011** — Amazon acquired Yap; its technology contributed to the foundations of Alexa.
- **2012–2017** — Served as an entrepreneur-in-residence with the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network North Carolina, according to his career listing.
- **2013** — Received Penn State’s Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award.
- **2017** — Founded Pryon.
- **2023** — Pryon closed a $100 million Series B led by US Innovative Technology Fund.
- **2026** — Public conference and institute biographies identify him as Pryon founder and chairman.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Yap, acquired by Amazon in 2011.
- Led IBM work described by institutional biographies as a precursor to Watson and an early multimodal web browser.
- Founded Pryon, which closed a $100 million Series B in September 2023.
- Penn State Outstanding Engineering Alumnus, 2013.
- UNC Charlotte Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
- Recipient of Eisenhower and Truman National Security fellowships.
- Named an Industry Luminary by Speech Technology Magazine.
- Named co-inventor on US8117268B2, Hosted voice recognition system for wireless devices.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Penn State’s innovation event agenda listed a fireside chat with Jablokov moderated by Katie Teuber on October 2; the agenda alone does not establish attendance.
- **2026-03** — All Things AI’s 2026 impact report describes a fireside chat with Jablokov and organizer Mark Hinkle.
- **2026-01** — Listed as a speaker for the Potomac Institute’s January 22 Securing Trust in AI Technology session.

## Links

- Website: https://about.me/ijablokov
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ijablokov/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/ijablokov
- GitHub: https://github.com/ijablokov
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ijablokov/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/ijablokov

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/igor-jablokov
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-08