# Itzik Gilboa

> Itzik Gilboa is the CEO of minds.ai, a Santa Cruz-based AI company applying multi-agent reinforcement learning to semiconductor fabrication. With aerospace and materials science degrees from the Technion and decades of experience at Cypress, SanDisk, and Western Digital, he bridges the gap between chip-floor pragmatism and cutting-edge AI research. Under his leadership, minds.ai secured a multi-year partnership with GlobalFoundries to deploy its Maestro(R) platform across global fab operations, aiming to reduce cycle times, improve on-time delivery, and help fabs run at peak efficiency in a world where every nanosecond of lost throughput costs millions.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at minds.ai
- **Organizations:** minds.ai, Algorized (Advisor), Alchemist Accelerator (Advisor), Silicon Catalyst (Advisor), Berkeley SkyDeck (Advisor), International LEAP Network (Executive Member)
- **From:** Israel
- **Nationality:** Israeli-American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Aerospace Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Master of Science, Materials Science, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, MBA, Business Finance, San Jose State University, Strategic Decision and Risk Management Program, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Led minds.ai to a multi-year global deployment partnership with GlobalFoundries, Oversaw development of Maestro(R), an AI platform using reinforcement learning and hybrid simulation for fab scheduling, Built and steered the DeepSim cloud-based AI platform for semiconductor manufacturing

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Director of Wafer Fab at Cypress Semiconductor - first deep dive into the art and friction of chip fabrication
- **2000s-2010s** — Sr. Director of Strategic Programs at SanDisk - led product cost management, supply chain optimization, and managed SanDisk/Toshiba Alliance joint ventures
- **2010s** — Head of Mobile & Components Business at Western Digital - led team developing mobile products and marketing strategies
- **2014+** — Joined minds.ai as Chief Business Officer, later became CEO
- **2023** — minds.ai raised $5.3M Seed round (October 2023), total funding $7.8M
- **2024** — Announced multi-year partnership with GlobalFoundries to deploy Maestro(R) across global fab operations
- **2025** — Announced collaboration with Lavorro to deliver combined agentic AI + generative AI solutions for semiconductor smart manufacturing
- **2026** — Presented at SEMICON Korea in Seoul showcasing Maestro Fab Model results

## Achievements

- Led minds.ai to a multi-year global deployment partnership with GlobalFoundries
- Oversaw development of Maestro(R), an AI platform using reinforcement learning and hybrid simulation for fab scheduling
- Built and steered the DeepSim cloud-based AI platform for semiconductor manufacturing
- Secured $7.8M in total funding for minds.ai including a $5.3M Seed round
- Advises leading accelerators: Alchemist Accelerator, Silicon Catalyst, and Berkeley SkyDeck
- Executive Member of the International LEAP Network
- Managed SanDisk/Toshiba Alliance joint ventures as Sr. Director Strategic Programs

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Presented at SEMICON Korea in Seoul, showcasing latest results from minds.ai's Maestro Fab Model
- **2025-10** — minds.ai attended SEMICON West 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona
- **2025-08** — Announced collaboration with Lavorro for combined agentic AI + generative AI semiconductor manufacturing solutions
- **2025-11** — Featured on Semiconductor Leadership Podcast: 'From Data Chaos to Fab Optimization'
- **2024** — minds.ai and GlobalFoundries announce multi-year partnership to deploy Maestro(R) globally

## Links

- Website: https://minds.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itzik-gilboa
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/minds_ai
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/minds.ai.tech

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/itzik-gilboa
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-06