# James Rebesco

> James (Jim) Rebesco is the co-founder and CEO of Striveworks, an Austin-based AI company that helps the U.S. defense and national-security community build, deploy, and monitor machine-learning models at scale through its Chariot platform. A physicist by training (Caltech) and a computational neuroscientist by doctorate (Northwestern), he spent seven years as a partner at high-frequency trading firm Virtu Financial before turning to operational AI. Under his leadership Striveworks has landed a $70M enterprise government agreement, raised a Series B led by Washington Harbour Partners, and become the first company to bridge the U.S. Army's two largest battlefield AI efforts.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Striveworks
- **Organizations:** Striveworks, Virtu Financial, Army Science Board, Sayari
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Physics, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Ph.D. in Neuroscience (computational neuroscience), Northwestern University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Striveworks into a leading operational-AI / AIOps company for defense and national security., Won a $70 million multi-year enterprise agreement with the U.S. government to put its platform in front of up to ~950,000 defense personnel., Made Striveworks the first AI company to bridge the U.S. Army's two largest battlefield AI efforts.

## Career timeline

- **2000-2004** — Studies physics at Caltech, earning a B.S.
- **2004-2009** — Completes a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience at Northwestern University.
- **2009-2017** — Partner at Virtu Financial, leading trading and data-science teams; helps build capabilities behind the firm's 2015 IPO.
- **2017** — Co-founds Striveworks and becomes CEO, focused on deploying and maintaining AI/ML at scale.
- **2019-2021** — Serves on the U.S. Army Science Board, advising senior military leaders.
- **2019** — Joins the board of Sayari, an open-source threat-finance and corporate-intelligence firm.
- **2025** — Striveworks expands Army partnership for force protection along the U.S. southern border; helps advance battlefield decision-making.
- **2026-03** — Striveworks closes a Series B led by Washington Harbour Partners to scale AI for U.S. and allied defense.
- **2026-04** — U.S. government awards Striveworks a $70M multi-year enterprise agreement to scale AI deployments across defense agencies.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Striveworks into a leading operational-AI / AIOps company for defense and national security.
- Won a $70 million multi-year enterprise agreement with the U.S. government to put its platform in front of up to ~950,000 defense personnel.
- Made Striveworks the first AI company to bridge the U.S. Army's two largest battlefield AI efforts.
- Chariot platform selected to support the Army's multi-billion-dollar Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) initiative.
- Closed a Series B led by Washington Harbour Partners (2026).
- As a Virtu Financial partner, helped build trading and data-science capabilities behind the firm's 2015 IPO.
- Recognized subject-matter expert on AI for the Federal Reserve Board, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Military Academy.
- Striveworks recognized among the fastest-growing technology companies in North America (Deloitte).

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — U.S. government awards Striveworks a $70M multi-year enterprise agreement to scale AI across defense agencies.
- **2026-03** — Striveworks closes a Series B led by Washington Harbour Partners to expand AI operations for U.S. and allied defense communities.
- **2025-08** — U.S. Army expands its partnership with Striveworks to bolster force protection along the southern border.

## Links

- Website: https://striveworks.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrebesco/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-rebesco
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-01