# Kevin Surace

> Kevin J. Surace is an American entrepreneur, engineer, speaker, author, and music producer. The Appvance co-founder and CEO and CTO has worked on General Magic’s Portico voice assistant, energy-saving building materials at Serious Materials, and AI-assisted software quality. His career also includes conducting, musical theater production, and service to Rochester Institute of Technology.

- **Role:** Co-founder, CEO and CTO at Appvance
- **Organizations:** Appvance, Serious Materials / Serious Energy, General Magic, Air Communications, Perfect Commerce, CommerceNet, WebKnight, Token / TokenCore, Acclaim Entertainment Group, Rochester Institute of Technology
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Electrical Engineering Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Inc. magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, 2009., RIT Innovation Hall of Fame inductee, 2012., RIT Outstanding Alumnus, 2019.

## Career timeline

- **1985** — Graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in electrical engineering technology.
- **1992** — Co-founded Air Communications and served as CEO and president.
- **1996** — Joined General Magic; his leadership work included the Portico voice assistant and OnStar Virtual Advisor.
- **2002** — Joined Serious Materials, later known as Serious Energy.
- **2009** — Named Inc. magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year and presented EcoRock at TED.
- **2010** — Serious Materials completed its part in refurbishing the Empire State Building’s 6,514 windows.
- **2012** — Inducted into RIT’s Innovation Hall of Fame.
- **2019** — Named RIT Outstanding Alumnus; served as co-chair of its blended fundraising campaign.
- **2020** — Credited as an executive producer of the digital musical Estella Scrooge.
- **2026** — Appvance’s leadership page lists Surace as CEO and CTO; his speaking work focuses on AI and human effectiveness.

## Achievements

- Inc. magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, 2009.
- RIT Innovation Hall of Fame inductee, 2012.
- RIT Outstanding Alumnus, 2019.
- Led Serious Materials during its Empire State Building window refurbishment work, completed in 2010.
- Led the General Magic team working on Portico and the OnStar Virtual Advisor.
- His current official biography reports 95 worldwide patents.
- Executive producer credit on Estella Scrooge.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — SC Media quoted Surace as TokenCore CEO in an October 22 article on PHP2Shell vulnerabilities.
- **2026-09** — Appvance’s September blog coverage emphasizes enterprise quality infrastructure around Playwright.
- **2026-02** — Published “Why AI in QA Has Been Such a Disappointment” on Appvance’s blog on February 24.

## Links

- Website: https://kevinsurace.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksurace
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/kevinsurace
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kskoolstuff
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinsurace/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.surace/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kevin_surace

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kevin-surace
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-24