Damon Horowitz

Athlete, Consultant, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Idea generator, Inventor, Musician, Performer, Startup, Technologist, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Dr. Damon Horowitz is a Philosophy Professor and Serial Entrepreneur. His work explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities. Damon helps individuals and organizations identify their fundamental vision and purpose, articulate their culture and values, and develop a strategy for manifesting their potential. His distinctive approach combines elements from the humanities, technology innovation design, and mindful somatic psychology. As a professor, Damon teaches courses in philosophy and related areas at Columbia, Stanford, U. Penn., NYU, and San Quentin State Prison (now Mt. Tamalpais College). He has a special interest in leading "Great Books" seminars to bring the history of Western thought to life for contemporary students. As a technologist, Damon has co-founded three successful startup companies -- including the social search engine Aardvark, where he was CTO -- and led teams at each through acquisition. He was the first "In-House Philosopher" at Google, where he was also a Director of Engineering leading a breakthrough cross-company AI research initiative. He now consults with mission-driven companies on strategy, with a particular specialty in AI and ethics. Damon has extensive experience in public speaking at venues ranging from TED to academic conferences to large corporate events. He founded "The Oracular Theatre" and has professional experience as a writer, director, producer, and performer. He earned a BA from Columbia, a MS in Artificial Intelligence from MIT, and a PhD in Philosophy and Cognitive Science from Stanford. He has also completed comprehensive training in Hakomi Experiential Psychotherapy, which he integrates into his advising and coaching work. Damon has served on the Board of Directors for several arts and humanities non-profits, ranging from the Del Sol String Quartet to California Humanities.

experimental participatory theatre

transcendental intelligence in the era of artificial intelligence -- aka, the limits of reason

natural language processing, unnatural language processing

I am a pianist, happily amateur. And recently attempting to become a guitarist, saxophonist, fiddler, and trombonist as well. I love playing music with others...