Charlie Muirhead (born 29 May 1975) is a Scottish internet entrepreneur. He founded his first company, internet software firm Orchestream, at the age of 21. His most recent venture, CognitionX, was co-founded with

Tabitha Goldstaub Tabitha Goldstaub is a British tech entrepreneur who specialises in communicating the impact of artificial intelligence. She is the co-founder of CogX, a festival and online platform. She is also the chair of the UK government's AI Council, a m ...

in 2015 but went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

in 2022. It held its first annual AI conference, CogX, in June 2017, to explore the impact of AI. The conference's second installment took place during London Tech Week in June 2018, at

Tobacco Dock Tobacco Dock is a Grade I listed warehouse located in the East London district of Wapping, and thereby the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Part of the London Docks designed by Scottish civil engineer and architect John Rennie, the warehouse was ...

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

with

SoftBank is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...

Investment Advisers as its headline sponsor.

Early life and education

Muirhead was born in London, England and educated at

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventio ...

in Hampshire. At the age of 18, Muirhead handled his first

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

of a musical-equipment rental business. At 19 he enrolled at the

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

to study

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

Founded companies

CognitionX

Charlie Muirhead and Tabitha Goldstaub founded CognitionX in 2015, after identifying the need for greater clarity in the "fast-paced" and "increasingly fragmented" area of artificial intelligence. The company launched with the stated goal of creating a "well-organised knowledge base ... about everything going on in AI, in one place". CognitionX is building a proprietary software platform, the Knowledge Network, powered by augmented intelligence. In March 2018 CognitionX was commissioned by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

to carry out a census of AI innovation in the capital. The free, public version of the Knowledge Network empowers users to immediately access a global network of AI experts, on-demand, while the Enterprise edition also enables large firms to capitalise on internal expertise. In addition, the company issues a daily AI newsletter, authored by

, which has over 11,000 subscribers. CognitionX also produces bespoke research projects and has held over 60 meetups since June 2015 on topics ranging from HRTech to the future of chatbots In 2018, CognitionX was commissioned by the Mayor of London's Office to write a report analysing the AI ecosystem in London. The final report, which looks at London's unique strengths as a global hub of AI, found that London was the AI capital of Europe; highlights include the fact that London hosts over 750 AI suppliers. In June 2017, CognitionX hosted the inaugural CogX, a two-day ‘Innovation Exchange’ for 1,500 delegates discussing how AI will shape the future of society. CogX 2018 saw 6,500 attendees and over 370 speakers at

. CogX 2019, held in the King's Cross area of London, was home to over 10,000 attendees and over 600 speakers. On 29 September 2022 the High Court placed CognitionX into

Orchestream

In 1996, while at university, Muirhead founded the company Orchestream, which allowed web users to prioritise their data on the Internet. In the two decades since, Muirhead has set up a total eight of startups, including NexAgent, iGabriel, InterProvider, t5m, and Brave Bison (formerly known as Rightster). He left Imperial early to work on the company full-time, though he received a note from the university stating that he could return if his business idea fell through. By 1999 Orchestream was worth £1 billion and was listed on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

. Job cuts, management changes, accounting errors, and other mishaps caused the company to lose more than 99% of its value by the mid 2000s. Muirhead stepped down from his position as CEO in 2000, though maintained a position as non-executive director with the company.

NexAgent, iGabriel, and InterProvider

In July 2000 Muirhead founded the data communications company Nexagent, which secured £10.3m in its first round of funding. Muirhead served as President and CEO of the company until 2003, when he relinquished his role as CEO, but retained his role as President of the company. Muirhead also founded iGabriel.net—an Internet incubator fund that invested in start-up web companies. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', "Unlike other incubators, iGabriel only accepts funds from individuals, and mainly from people in the technology or media industries who can help develop the companies in which the fund invests." iGabriel.net would eventually merge with Pi-Capital. In 2001 Muirhead founded the company InterProvider. InterProvider supplied proprietary software and serviced interconnections to telecom operators, and ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine featured Muirhead as an up-and-coming entrepreneur in its coverage of the company's founding.

t5m

In 2007 Muirhead founded the company t5m, standing for "the 5th medium". The website is an online television network that features interviews with prominent individuals talking about socially conscious issues. Early offerings included an exclusive channel run by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

's charity

46664 46664 was a series of AIDS benefit concerts played in honour of Nelson Mandela by South African and foreign musicians between 2003 and 2008. Origin The second time that Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island was in 1964, and he was the 466th ...

, which partnered with t5m for

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immun ...

. The company relaunched in 2008 to

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...

original content

clips CLIPS is a public domain software tool for building expert systems. The name is an acronym for "C Language Integrated Production System." The syntax and name were inspired by Charles Forgy's OPS5. The first versions of CLIPS were developed start ...

between 3 and 5 minutes long, and distribute its own proprietary video-player. t5m combines the traditional television format of network-owned syndication alongside programs with production company-owned rights. The company also produced the television show ''Trinny and Susannah – What They Did Next''.

Rightster / Brave Bison

In 2011 Muirhead co-founded Rightster with

, a software company that automates the end-to-end lifecycle for content owners, publishers, and marketers of digital video content including distribution, marketing, and monetisation of the content. Content partners for the company came from a broad range of industries, from

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

ITN Productions Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...

and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper. The company provided rights management through a cloud-based platform in addition to live streaming, audience development and YouTube/Facebook management services. Events that have streamed on Rightster have included the

Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship since ...

and the

Leveson Inquiry The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of ...

. By March 2012, monthly video views of Rightster's clients grew from approximately one million views per month to 100 million views per month. Its staff also quadrupled during that time, and has offices in London, New York City, and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. On 10 May 2016, it was announced that the company was relaunching under the name Brave Bison.

Awards

* Named the European Technology Forum's "Technology Entrepreneur of the Year" in March 2004 * Selected twice as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer (with Nexagent in 2005 and Orchestream in 2000)

References

External links

The fast man (Red Herring – The Business of Technology)
''Time''.
Righster, video distribution an monetisation specialists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muirhead, Charlie British businesspeople Living people 1975 births