Exited founder focused on Applied AI. Built and sold Materia AI, an AI platform for CPA firms, to Thomson Reuters (Nasdaq: TRI). Most interested in the intersection of AI & Society, prior to Materia was working on Newsfeed ranking for Political content at Facebook.

Novel/experimental applications of AI, Intersection of AI & Society, Subjective/qualitative Measurement Problems, Tools for thought

At work: building automated tax prep and agentic systems for CPA firms. For fun: building personal software and tools for thought

Austin is a Co-Founder of NEUKO, an AI-native creative agency and product studio building infrastructure for persistent digital brand identity and entertainment agents. NEUKO’s flagship IP, G*BOY, has driven 150K+ interactions and $417K in revenue, earning recognition as a finalist for Most Viral Campaign at Solana Breakpoint. Before NEUKO, Austin held roles at Amazon Music, Venice Music, and Doodles, where he led major brand partnerships and the $DOOD token launch. He writes the Founder’s Journal newsletter and hosts the One Big Idea podcast. He’s based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Entertainment & IP Austin is drawn to the intersection of story, identity, and culture. He thinks deeply about what makes characters and brands endure — and how AI changes the economics of building them. G*BOY is the live experiment. AI Agents & Persistent Identity His core intellectual obsession right now: what happens when agents have memory, relationships, and recognition at scale. He believes entertainment is the highest-value layer for this, and he’s building toward it.

We’re building an interactive media studio to help brands go viral. Currently focused on character agents, models as memes, media production, story systems, product development, and custom training and APIs

Long time Amazon PM, working in Applied AI now for Audible - consulting and building internally

Always looking to learn from technical and design folks

-Formal verification in software -Agent native applications See: https://petermerkel.substack.com/