Accelerate and Scale – OPEN Austin Forum 2025

Amir Husain
Founder & Chairman, Argon Mechatronics

Founder: SpecFive, Argon Mech, Avathon (prev SparkCognition), SkyGrid, Navigate | Board: UT Austin PAIB & CS, WorldQuant Foundry, Global Venture Bridge

Author: The Sentient Machine, Generative AI for Leaders, and Hyperwar

Note: Amir will be happy to sign the book if ordered/purchased in advance (The Sentient Machine and Generative AI for Leaders)

Amir Husain is a serial entrepreneur, AI technologist, and author based in Austin, Texas. He is a recipient of Austin’s Top Entrepreneur award and has been included in UT Austin’s CNS Hall of Honor, as well as Austin’s 40 Under 40. His ventures have received a number of awards including being placed on CNBC’s fastest growing company list and the WEF Unicorn list.

Amir currently serves as the Chairman of a venture incubator, WorldQuant Foundry, SpecFive, a mesh networking company, Argon Mechatronics, a humanoid robotics company focused on manufacturing applications, and Navigate, a decentralized data platform. He also serves on the University of Texas at Austin’s President’s Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the Department of Computer Science and the Board of Global Venture Bridge.

Amir founded SparkCognition (now Avathon), and the defense technology company SGS (now Avathon Government), chaired by former Deputy Secretary of Defense, Robert Work. Amir also served as Founder, CEO, and Board Director of SkyGrid, a joint venture with Boeing.

Amir has been awarded over 30 patents in AI and distributed systems. He has served on NATO’s Innovation Advisory Board. His work has been featured in publications such as the BBC, Fortune, Forbes, and Proceedings from the U.S. Naval Institute.

Under Amir’s leadership, SparkCognition, the Industrial AI company he founded, achieved a $1.4B valuation. Amir led the firm from its inception until the end of 2023 as CEO, and remains on its board of directors.

He is the author of several books, including “The Sentient Machine,” “Generative Art,” and “Generative AI for Leaders.” He is a co-author of “Hyperwar: Conflict and Competition in the AI Century” and is a regular contributor to Forbes.

• The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence – https://a.co/d/dTWJ742
• Generative AI for Leaders – https://a.co/d/0jlb99Y
• Serious Machines: The Story of the Computers That Built the Modern World – https://a.co/d/aAm2Xs7
• Hyperwar: Conflict and Competition in the AI Century – https://a.co/d/8D3SDMo 

Latest book

• The Cybernetic Society: How Humans and Machines Will Shape the Future Together  – https://a.co/d/b0fjfJm 

Rehan Hameed. CTO & Co-Founder Kinara Linkedin

Rehan Hameed is the CTO and Co-Founder of Kinara, Inc., a pioneering technology company focused on developing novel processor chips and deep learning algorithms for computer vision and deep learning applications. With a strong background in electrical engineering and computer science, Rehan has been instrumental in shaping Kinara’s groundbreaking solutions, which are designed for industries such as security, automotive, and retail automation. His leadership and expertise have driven the creation of a processor architecture that delivers exceptional performance at low power, enabling a wide range of applications including embedded systems, mobile navigation, augmented reality, and smart monitoring. Through his work at Kinara, Rehan continues to push the boundaries of innovation in the field of artificial intelligence and computer vision.

Shams Karim is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nirvana, bringing over two decades of entrepreneurial leadership in financial technology. His career began in Asia’s fast-paced finance sector, where he built a strong foundation in investment banking and trading before earning an MBA in Quantitative Finance and Economics from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

After graduation, Shams joined Morgan Stanley as a specialist in Derivatives and Structured Products, making a global impact across financial hubs like New York and Hong Kong. Recognizing the shifting landscape of fintech, he founded Advanced Financial Applications (AFA) and its subsidiary EGS, pioneering web-enabled Order Management Solutions (OMS) for Alternative Investments and Hedge Funds. Under his leadership, AFA achieved a successful exit.

Determined to reshape the industry further, Shams founded Nirvana to deliver next-generation solutions for asset managers and hedge funds. As CEO, he drives the company’s strategic vision, leading multiple product launches, successful fundraising efforts, and a partial exit for early investors. Most recently, he spearheaded a major capital raise from a premier private equity firm with over $4 billion in AUM.

With deep expertise in asset management and an unwavering commitment to innovation, Shams continues to propel Nirvana’s growth, ensuring it remains at the forefront of financial technology.

Nirvana Solutions is a leader in cloud-based portfolio management, specializing in advanced global trading across multiple asset classes and cutting-edge risk management and analytics. The company delivers powerful automation, seamless data aggregation, and reconciliation solutions that drive efficiency and precision for hedge funds, asset managers, and financial institutions. By minimizing operational risks and eliminating manual inefficiencies, Nirvana Solutions empowers clients to focus on alpha generation. With a client-first approach and adaptive technology, the company is redefining financial operations for a fast-evolving market

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Wajahat Qadeer. Chief Architect and Co-Founder Kinara. Linkedin

Wajahat Qadeer is the Chief Architect and Co-Founder of Kinara, Inc., where he has played a pivotal role in advancing the development of ultra-low power processors and deep learning applications in the fields of computer vision, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT). With over a decade of experience, he has led the creation of technologies that enable embedded devices, such as drones, robots, and smart monitoring systems, to process visual data with exceptional efficiency. Prior to Kinara, Wajahat held research positions at Stanford University, where he contributed to energy-efficient general-purpose chips and developed innovative solutions for memory management and mobile device power performance. His expertise in chip design and embedded systems has also been honed through his work at Quartics, where he developed specialized processors for VOIP applications.

Aater Hussain

Building a startup accelerator to help founders of early-stage technology professional services | Partner Vixul | Ex-CEO Flux7. Linkedin

Aater Suleman is the Co-founder of Vixul, a startup accelerator that stands apart from typical accelerators by focusing exclusively on early-stage services companies. Recognizing the unique needs of services companies, which are often underserved, Vixul leverages Aater’s deep understanding of this market. Before founding Vixul, Aater and his team built Flux7, a services company in the cloud space, from the ground up to an acquisition by NTT Data Services in just six years. Vixul was born out of Aater’s desire to provide services companies with the support he wished he had during the early stages of Flux7. One of their notable successes includes helping a small web development agency grow by over 50% in under a year.

Asif Habib
President OPEN Austin
x-CEO BizDemy.ai, Wemo Tech, and CTO at Gloopt | Leader, Innovator, Architect | SVP, Head of Innovation and Engineering at PayActiv Inc. Linkedin

Asif Habib is a dynamic leader, innovator, and architect with extensive experience in building the future of technology. A strong leader and technical contributor, Asif has deep knowledge in Enterprise, Client, and Middleware technologies, and excels as both a project manager and technical leader. Known for his business and customer focus, Asif is result-driven, highly motivated, and approaches challenges with a startup mentality. He thrives under pressure, managing aggressive deadlines and multiple initiatives simultaneously. With expertise in a wide range of technologies, Asif has advised and contributed to several startups, including Altia Systems (now Jabra) in smart tele-presence, Grotabyte, and Xiq.ai in machine learning and AI, Quizsence in predictive quizzes, and Digication and Howcast in EdTech. He has also supported ventures in SportsTech, FinTech, HealthTech, EdTech, SaaS, PaaS, Security, and more, providing valuable insights and leadership to numerous stealth-mode startups across various industries.

Zaheer Aziz. Principal AI Infrastructure Advisor – Cisco Systems  Linkedin Zaheer Aziz is an AI Infrastructure Advisor with extensive expertise in customer experience, AI observability, and AIOps. He currently serves as a Principal AI Solution Architect at Cisco, where he leads the AI Infrastructure Advisory practice, guiding top customers in designing, optimizing, and operationalizing AI-ready infrastructure. His focus areas include AI infrastructure strategy, high-performance networking, AI observability, and automation through AIOps. Zaheer’s career spans over two decades, with notable roles in Cisco, where he contributed to various areas such as SDWAN, SASE, and IoT. He has a proven track record of driving transformation in enterprise networks and services, delivering innovative solutions in cloud, security, and AI domains. Zaheer has been instrumental in the success of multiple teams and projects, driving significant growth in the industries he serves.

Faruk Baghani. Enterprise Technology Solutions – Fractional Sales Leader. Helping companies drive growth with warm referrals into the US market. Co-Founder Menasa.  Linkedin

Bilal Ahmed. Bringing clarity in meetings with real-time transcription, translations, and takeaways. Founder, CEO SpeeTch AI  Linkedin

Ali Hussain.  Building the accelerator for tech services/consulting companies. Partner at Vixul  Linkedin

Ed Sattar has invested 20 years in the Edtech and workforce talent transformation industry. His experiences include extensive research and consulting to convert training into high impact personalized learning experience for a modern learner. Has developed a unique proprietary Instructional Delivery Methodology called QS Learn and embedded into industry first cognitive learning platform CLIPP which is based on artificial intelligence. During his tenure, he has identified key criteria and e-learning compliance standards that are currently being published and implemented.
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Raazia Ali is the Director of Data and AI at Trajector, leading the AI transformation of its business. In a career spanning 2 decades, Raazia has delivered massive business value for startups and scale-ups by deploying the optimal combination of people, process and technology. Raazia has a Ph.D. in AI/ML from the University of Florida and is based in Austin, TX.Linkedin

Bilal Zafar. Proven ability to create and implement solutions in an emerging SoC industry in Pakistan by building, growing, and leading high-performance engineering teams. Highly resourceful and flexible, while exhibiting the unique ability to both oversee projects and tend to technical design. Committed team player with strong work ethics and high integrity. Expertise in fostering an atmosphere of accountability, creativity, and performance. Linkedin

Tauseef Rab. Engineering manager at Meta, AI CPU engineer, technical leader, entrepreneur, startup advisor, faculty and researcher. Linkedin

Kamran Shamim: Director GTM | Data & AI Intelligence for DTC linkedin

Usman Ghani: CEO & Co-Founder | 20+ Years of ERP & SAP Excellence | Helping B2B SaaS Startups Scale Faster with SAP Integrations linkedin

Umair Shahid: PostgreSQL Thought Leader | Keeping Critical Databases Fast, Reliable, and Resilient linkedin