iot-platform
(3)
Nathan Hanks
Nathan Hanks is the co-founder of BrightAI, a physical AI platform company that deploys IoT sensors and edge AI to monitor and optimize critical infrastructure for enterprises. Previously, he co-founded ReachLocal, scaling it to $500M in annual revenue and 2,200 employees before its NASDAQ IPO in 2010 and subsequent acquisition by Gannett in 2016. He also founded Music Audience Exchange (MAX), a music sponsorship technology platform. At BrightAI, Hanks and his team bootstrapped the company to $80M in revenue before raising a $15M seed round in November 2024 and a $51M Series A in July 2025, with the company now surpassing $100M in annual revenue and 250,000+ AI endpoints deployed.
John Grady
John Grady is the CEO of Ayla Networks, a San Jose-based IoT and smart home software platform that powers over 15 million connected devices and 250 billion annual transactions for brands like SharkNinja, De'Longhi, Canadian Tire, and Schneider Electric. A Boston College and Indiana University Kelley School of Business graduate with 20+ years in technology sales and operations, Grady rose through roles at Brown Brothers Harriman, Covad Communications, Pace PLC, ChargePoint, and Solar Mosaic before joining Ayla in January 2022 as Head of Global Sales and ascending to CEO in 2024. Under his leadership, Ayla was ranked the #1 US-based Smart Home Platform by ABI Research and announced a major Google Cloud partnership in April 2025.
Sunil Kaul
Sunil Kaul is the CEO of Airlinq, a Silicon Valley-based enterprise IoT platform company serving automakers, mobile network operators, and enterprises with a secure, scalable, AI-powered platform for connected vehicle and IoT ecosystem management. With over 20 years in telecommunications, Kaul has grown Airlinq into a globally recognized leader in IoT connectivity management, earning top rankings from Kaleido Intelligence, Counterpoint Research, and Frost & Sullivan, while forging partnerships with major names like Volvo, Verizon, NTT DOCOMO, Jio, and Tata.