Miami Connection
Brackeen put Miami on the tech map by founding Kairos, establishing it as a global leader in facial recognition alongside giants like Microsoft, and advocating against bias in AI to promote ethical tech development locally. He boosts Miami's startup ecosystem through personalized 'Miami tours' since 2013-2014, recruiting talent with 90%+ success by showcasing Wynwood, Brickell, Coconut Grove, and cultural spots like PAMM and Frost Science. As a Lightship co-founder, he pushes for diverse VC practices to propel Black entrepreneurship, envisioning Miami as a racially inclusive innovation hub by 2040.
About
Brian Brackeen grew up in Pennsylvania, starting work at 14 as a busboy, before building a career in Silicon Valley as a Senior Project Manager at Apple and Senior Managing Consultant at IBM. He founded Kairos, a Miami-based facial recognition and emotion AI company, recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top 25 startups in 2013, which raised over $15 million and processed nearly a billion faces while addressing racial bias under his leadership. Brackeen has deep Miami roots, moving there to launch Kairos around 2011-2012 and becoming a vocal booster of the city's tech scene. He now serves as General Partner at Lightship Capital, a Cincinnati-based VC firm focused on backing underrepresented entrepreneurs in the Midwest and South, overseeing operations and AI development. In Miami, he conducts popular 'Miami tours' for tech recruits with high conversion rates and lectures on entrepreneurship, AI, and mentors programs like Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code, and Miami-Dade schools.