experiential-ai
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Julie Kim’s Long Apprenticeship in Making Technology Feel Human
Before she led a digital-human company, Julie Kim learned the business of attention through beauty counters, ecommerce systems, a Dogpatch workshop and on-demand delivery. Her career is a study in collecting practical skills before the job title arrives.
Soul Machines
Soul Machines was a New Zealand-founded, San Francisco-headquartered deep-tech company that built lifelike, animated 'Digital People' - AI-driven avatars powered by a patented Digital Brain and Autonomous Animation technology modeled on human neuroscience. Spun out of the University of Auckland by Academy Award-winning technologist Dr. Mark Sagar and serial entrepreneur Greg Cross in 2016, it raised roughly US$135 million to bring emotionally responsive virtual humans to brands like Nestlé, P&G and the World Health Organization. After both founders departed and major customers moved on, the company was placed into receivership in February 2026.