Jim Manzi (software entrepreneur)

James Manzi (/ˈmænzi/; born 1963) is an American technology entrepreneur. He was the founder and chairman of Applied Predictive Technologies (a business analytics firm) that was sold to MasterCard in 2015 for $600 million.[1] He subsequently co-founded the artificial intelligence software company Foundry.ai.[2] He is the inventor of a series of related software patents.[3]

This article is about the software entrepreneur. For the former Lotus executive, see Jim Manzi.
Jim Manzi
Born1963 (age 57–58)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
OccupationChairman of
Applied Predictive Technologies
Political partyIndependent

Manzi has also written widely on the philosophy of science, politics and policy. He is the author of the book Uncontrolled, which argues for the more widespread use of randomized experimentation in business and social science.[4][5] He co-authored an article on the use of randomized experimentation in business for the Harvard Business Review.[6] He is a contributing editor at National Review, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and was formerly a contributor to a variety of blogs.[7]

Early life and education

Manzi grew up in Spring Lake, New Jersey, a community that he described as "pretty much Mayberry-by-the-Sea".[8] He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984 with a B.S. in mathematics. He was also awarded a Dean's Fellowship in statistics to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania as one of the eight top matriculants to the business school's doctoral programs.[9]

Career

After college, Manzi joined AT&T Laboratories and developed early PC-based pattern recognition software in their Data Networks division.[9] He subsequently worked as a corporate strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group spin-off Strategic Planning Associates. In 1999, he left and founded Applied Predictive Technologies in his apartment.[10] Manzi served as CEO until 2008, at which point he was named Executive Chairman.[11] He is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.[12]

Political views and commentary

Manzi has written articles for a variety of political publications including the New York Post, The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic, and Slate.

Manzi cites Sir Francis Bacon's New Method as a significant inspiration for and influence on his book Uncontrolled: the Surprising Power of Trial and Error for Business, Politics, and Society, saying of it, "there are an incredible array of insights in that book but one of the most fundamental is his argument that we have a tendency to jump to conclusions, that we see patterns in nature and believe we’ve found what we would call today causal rules, but we’re kidding ourselves."[13] Bacon's idea underpins Manzi's thesis that trial and error plays a significant role in helping companies and societies adapt and progress.

He has also contributed to the blogs of those publications and others, such as The American Scene, Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish, and National Review's The Corner.[7] David Brooks identified him as one of the "reformers" within the Republican Party,[14] and later noted Manzi's National Affairs article Keeping America's Edge as one of the best magazine essays of 2009.[15]

Specific positions

Manzi has written about climate change, prominently in a controversial National Review cover article in which he argued that conservatives should stop denying global warming is happening,[16] which Rush Limbaugh attacked.[17] He has said that while climate change may be a real phenomenon, the current evidence does not justify the economic costs required to reduce carbon emissions.[18] In writing about the future of the Republican Party, he has argued that the primary challenge for conservatives is to "continue to increase the market orientation of the American economy while helping more Americans to participate in it more equally".[19]

See also

References
  1. Heath, Thomas (2015-04-30). "What does Ballston firm have that drew $600 million from MasterCard?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  2. Synced (2018-07-19). "D.C. Startup Foundry.ai Provides Practical ML Solutions for Big Business". Medium. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  3. , "Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for developing, analyzing, and managing initiatives for a business network", issued 2010-10-01
  4. Brooks, David (2012-04-26). "Opinion | Is Our Adults Learning?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  5. Butterworth, Trevor (2012-05-07). "Taking Ideas On a Test Drive". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  6. Thomke, Stefan; Manzi, Jim (2014-12-01). "The Discipline of Business Experimentation". Harvard Business Review (December 2014). ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  7. "Manhattan Institute Scholar James Manzi". Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  8. Manzi, Jim. "In Defense of a Small Town", National Review, June 6, 2008. Accessed March 1, 2020. "I grew up in a small beach town in New Jersey named Spring Lake that is pretty much Mayberry-by-the-Sea: 3,475 people and no traffic lights."
  9. "APT Management". Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  10. Heath, Thomas (2013-10-18). "How dorky APT of Ballston puts the fizz in Coke, the sizzle in supermodels and the guts in a great sandwich". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  11. "APT Management". Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  12. "National Review". Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  13. http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/jim-manzi/
  14. Brooks, David (10 November 2008). "Darkness at Dusk". The New York Times.
  15. Brooks, David (28 December 2009). "The Sidney Awards II". The New York Times.
  16. Manzi, James (25 June 2007). "Game Plan". The National Review.
  17. "Follow the Global Warming Money". The Rush Limbaugh Show, Transcript. 29 June 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  18. "Six questions for Jim Manzi". The Economist. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  19. "What should the GOP do now?". 5 November 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
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