Amir Ansari is an inventor and serial entrepreneur with a passion for designing and building innovative technologies in the areas of telecommunications, artificial intelligence, edge computing, personalized healthcare, and multimedia services.  He has shaped these industries by fostering collaboration between regulatory entities, public-private partnerships, universities, and non-profit organizations in applying technologies to complex business, environmental, and social problems.

Amir is the Co-Founder and Inaugural Executive Director of the IDEA Factory at the University of Maryland and is responsible for leading a multi-million-dollar initiative that promotes innovation, collaboration, creativity, entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary design.  This initiative aims to help address society's grand challenges and provide the skills and experiences necessary for effective problem-solving.

He is the Founder and General Partner of VaticX, a global hybrid accelerator that optimizes value creation for growth-stage technology-based companies by providing them with market access, mentorship, monetization expertise, and access to capital.  In addition, Amir serves on the board of leading-edge companies in Artificial Intelligence, Web 3.0, and Crypto Technologies. 

Amir started his career in telecommunications as the Co-Founder and CTO of telecom technologies inc, the pioneering developer of Voice Over IP technologies that dramatically reduced the cost of telephone calls and became the key technology innovation for telecom operators in the late 1990s.  After the acquisition of telecom technologies by Sonus Networks in 2001, Amir Co-Founded and was the CTO of Prodea Systems, a groundbreaking developer of Internet of Things services and technologies.

As an inventor, Amir holds over 60 US and foreign patents in multimedia distribution, data privacy, edge computing, and Voice Over IP.  These patents are used in popular consumer products such as media streaming devices, smart-home solutions, smart speakers, elder care systems, smart buildings, and connected cars.  Additionally, his patents also help define how users can maintain control over the privacy and safety of their data while benefiting from the capabilities of smart devices.

Amir is actively involved with several non-profit organizations that strive for social development and a more sustainable environment.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the XPPRIZE foundation and is a member of the XPRIZE Foundation's Vision Circle.  Together with his family, he was a title sponsor for the Ansari XPRIZE, a $10 million cash award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.