Background
Shpat supports and enables our senior computer scientists in building impactful R&D programs that push the envelope of what computer science can offer the world today. He supports researchers in being purposeful with their own research and careers, as well as externally with clients and partners.
Shpat emboldens researchers to develop meaningful relationships with clients and strategic partners in service of a vibrant computer science R&D community. He helps provide business judgment where needed, mentorship where sought, and provide career growth opportunities for researchers that want to develop their own research programs.
Drawing from angel investment and computer science backgrounds, Shpat is leads Internal Research and Development (IR&D), our own little mechanism for developing strategic surprise. IR&D supports strategic investments that position our scientists for further impact through sustainable research agendas. Through IR&D, we ensure our research and technology evolves and stays relevant in response to opportunities for client partnerships and thought leadership. Heavily guided by market signals, IR&D also develops promising early-stage technology with the potential to transform into one of our product spin-off companies.
On the sidelines, Shpat hosts the Building Better Systems podcast with Dr. Joey Dodds, where they get to speak with a wide variety of accomplished scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and others that are bridging the gap between the “last word” in computer science research and usable tech that regular engineers can apply to their own systems today. (You can watch the episodes here, or listen to them here & on Spotify, Apple Podasts, and everywhere else Podcasts are found.0
Shpat received his MBA with a focus on entrepreneurship and angel investing from Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School of Management in 2014. He has bachelor degrees in Computer Science and Mass Communications from the American University in Bulgaria. Shpat juggles a number of hobbies, including making music, keeping chickens, and of course, juggling (OK, not that last one).