Kevin Surace (born July 12, 1962) is an American

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

innovator, speaker, Broadway & Film producer and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. He is the CTO of Appvance, creator of an AI-based software QA platform. He was Inc. Magazine’s 2009

of the Year. He is the inventor of QuietRock Soundproof Drywall Planet Forward,

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

and the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

have recognized Surace as an innovator and a technology pioneer. He has been awarded 93 patents worldwide. Surace is a speaker on AI,

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrate ...

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

and the future of jobs and has given hundreds of talks on the topic including TEDx.

Biography

Surace earned a B.S. in electrical engineering

from the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

. He serves on the RIT Board of Trustees, was alumni of the year in 2011, outstanding alumnus in 2019 and was inducted into the school’s Innovation Hall of Fame. His wife Marita Surace died on February 5, 2012. He married Erica Rogers on January 1, 2014. She is the CEO of Silk Road Medical.

Career

General Magic General Magic was an American software and electronics company co-founded by Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld, and Marc Porat. Based in Mountain View, California, the company developed precursors to " USB, software modems, small touchscreens, to ...

, Surace was the executive vice president of products and network services, led the development of the first large scale artificially intelligent voice user interface, and led the team that developed the

OnStar OnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, emergency services, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada, China, ...

Virtual Advisor for General Motors." He also served as the chairman, CEO and president of WebKnight, Inc. (sold to Micrografx). More recently, he became the CEO then CTO of Appvance, the developer of an AI native quality platform for automated software testing and Chairman of cybersecurity company Token. Surace also held

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

and management positions at

National Semiconductor National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer which specialized in analog devices and subsystems, formerly with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The company produced power management integrated circuits, display dr ...

, IBM and

Seiko Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, or simply known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano ...

. Surace co-founded Serious Energy, a cleantech company that uses disruptive

technologies Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

to reduce energy usage in buildings. Serious Energy’s product EcoRock (an eco-friendly

drywall Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thic ...

) earned a Best New Product award from

Popular Science magazine ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

. and was named the most innovative environmental product of the year by the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

. He also launched the cloud-based procurement platfor
Perfect Commerce
and serviced as its chairman, CEO, and president. In 1992, Surace also co-founded Air Communications Inc., and became the company’s CEO and president. In 2010 he led Serious to replace all of the windows in the Empire State Building to reduce energy consumption. Surace is the CTO of Appvance, creator of an AI driven QA platform. He has served on many boards including

RIT Rit is a brand of dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied i ...

, Zeta Design/Build, WaterCity, Coyuchi, Spot Trender and TweetSecret.

Sustainability

Surace holds several patents in green

, and has authored articles on energy efficiency and the green economy. In 2009, he delivered a TED talk on his patented eco-friendly

and the need to rethink basic materials in a sustainable light. He is quoted as saying, " t takes the equivalent ofeight thousand gallons of gas to build one house. … It’s like driving around the world six times. We must change everything." He delivered an earlier TED talk on Worst Case Climate Change Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Inc. Magazine

of the Year. In 2010,

, one of 15 Leading Innovators for the next decade. In 2010, the

, Tech Pioneer. In 2010 he was the keynote speaker for the Democratic Caucus (

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

). In 2011, Planet Forward nominated Surace as an Innovator of the Year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surace, Kevin 21st-century American businesspeople American technology writers American people of Italian descent Living people 1962 births