Meet Our Team
Science and technology come together to build solutions that advance conversational intelligence
Scott Sandland
CEO AND CO-FOUNDER
Scott is the former world's youngest hypnotherapist. A few companies (and decades) later he is the CEO of a company focusing on artificial empathy and strategic linguistics. As a former executive director and CEO of a mental health clinic and longtime technologist, he has experience leading purpose driven organizations. He has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, Psychology Today, Forbes, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Scott has presented his AI work at the United Nations AI for Global Good Conference and is a frequent guest lecturer at various universities.
Dan Paris
CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER
For 23 years, Dan has managed content delivery for multi-billion-dollar enterprise organizations and SaaS companies.
His ability to systematize talent into a scalable process has been the center point of his success, and with Cyrano.ai, Dan develops linguistic models which will lead to one of the world’s first truly emotionally intelligent AIs.
Dan got his B.A. in Sociology at UCSD and is a Senior Professional in Human Resources. His experience spans: Travel & Hospitality, Insurance, Leadership Development, Real Estate & Mortgage, and Artificial Intelligence.
Ryan Huff
COO
Ryan brings over 15 years’ experience is growing start-ups and 20 years’ experience in technology the technology industry, beginning with consulting at IBM.
Ryan has spent 10 years in the Salesforce.com ecosystem, including starting Cirrus Insight in 2011. As CEO of Cirrus Insight, until their exit to private equity in 2018, the company grew to over $12M ARR, 71 employees, and was featured in the Inc 500 list 3 years in a row, including being listed at #41 in 2013.
Ryan lives in Orange County with his wife and family. He received his MBA from UCI and BA in Business from UCSB.
David Van Wie
BOARD MEMBER
David is a 25 Year Silicon Valley veteran with IPO & management history including large transaction experience. A 20 year tech financier, startup coach & advisor, he is experienced at invention of market changing IP monetization strategies. David is named on 600+ patents, and referenced on over 18,000 patents by global companies including Microsoft & Apple.
Board of Advisors
Neil Sahota
- IBM Master Inventor (27 patents)
- Early member of IBM Watson Group
- AI Advisor to United Nations
Meredith Sandland
- Fortune 500 CDO
- Property Tech COO
- Billions in M&A
- Funded by Google Ventures
James Williams
- Former CTO, Veritone, Inc.
- AI products and platforms expert
Dr. John Hunter
- Psych Researcher: Influence of Technology
- Educator
Ryan Shea
- CEO, Entrepreneur Media
- Lead Investor in Cyrano.ai
Erik Logan
- CEO, Pogo Linux
- COO, ioCurrents
Leila Entezam, LMFT, MBA
- Executive Leadership Coach
- Educator, Speaker
- Therapist