Tom is the Founder of RIoT, supporting AI, IoT and Data Economy disruptive technology industry growth. Under Tom’s leadership, RIoT has launched the RIoT Accelerator Program, RIoT Studios, which includes the RIoT Underground Podcast, and RIoT’s Education series. He has grown RIoT from a Research Triangle focused organization to one with international reach. RIoT has supported more than 160 startup companies that collectively have raised more than $250M in capital and created more than 1,000 data economy jobs. In his spare time, Tom co-instructs Product Innovation Lab, a Forbes award winning multidisciplinary course in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NC State University. Prior to joining RIoT, Tom held an executive leadership role at the ASSIST Center, a National Science Foundation sponsored effort to create wearable electronics for healthcare monitoring. Previously, he spent two decades in product development and technology incubation for multinational technology companies.