Co-Founder and CEO of aiEDU
Alex Kotran is the CEO and co-founder of The AI Education Project (aiEDU). Alex has worked in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector for nearly a decade and has spent much of his career in community organizing and campaigns.
Alex founded aiEDU in 2019 after he learned that the Akron Public Schools, where his mom has taught for more than 30 years, and many other districts did not offer students any kind of instruction designed to help them understand AI or the ways in which career pathways are changing.
Prior to founding aiEDU, Alex was the Director of AI Ethics at H5, a company that pioneered the use of computational linguistics and language models in legal practice. At H5, Alex developed the first-ever judicial training program on AI with NYU Law and the National Judicial College. The program now reaches thousands of lawyers and judges and partners with a range of international organizations including UNESCO, European Parliament, and the European Commission. At H5, Alex also created the company’s first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program and incubated several nonprofits, most notably The Future Society, one of the leading AI governance institutes in the world.
Alex began his career in community organizing and presidential politics. He joined President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign before graduating from The Ohio State University and led student turnout efforts. He later served as a presidential appointee for HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, where he supported state and regional communications and engagement efforts around Open Enrollment, Medicare, and the 2014 Ebola Epidemic.
Alex is a second generation immigrant; his parents escaped the Lebanese Civil War during the 1980s. He grew up in Akron, Ohio, and is proud of his Midwestern upbringing.
