CEO Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria will tap advisors’ diverse perspectives, networks, and experiences to expand into new markets, including the United States
Bilbao, Spain, November 02, 2017 – Sherpa announced today that it has formed a global Advisory Board and named its first advisors. Newly appointed advisors are British Airways Chairman and CEO, Alex Cruz; former Vice President and General Manager of Intel EMEA (retired July 2017), Christian Morales; technology analyst and former DEMO Conference Executive producer, Chris Shipley; and IDEO fellow and former Chief Strategy Officer at Apple and Palm, Doug Solomon. The Advisory Board will work with Sherpa CEO Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria to bring to market AI-based virtual personal assistant technology with predictive capabilities that enable virtual assistants to learn about users and anticipate their needs before they are asked. The Board will also assist the company as it expands into new markets, including the United States.
“Sherpa has a big vision for the future of predictive AI in virtual personal assistants,” said Uribe-Etxebarria. “A top-notch human personal assistant knows you well enough to anticipate your needs. To be truly valuable, virtual personal assistants should be no different. They should be able to learn facts about you, your preferences, and what you like to do. They should proactively deliver information, anticipate your needs, make helpful, timely suggestions—before being asked—and maintain a conversational thread. The people joining our Advisory Board share this vision, and have extensive experience and capabilities that will contribute to our success. Together, we will make it real.”
Sherpa technology is designed for manufacturers of consumer products, such as automobiles, intelligent ear speakers, in-home speakers and appliances, and wearables, seeking to add intelligence to their products and explore new business models based on offering digital services. Sherpa also makes a Spanish-language consumer app for smartphones and tablets. Preloaded on Samsung smartphones since 2016, the Sherpa app has been downloaded more than 1 million times and is the most widely used Spanish-language personal assistant app for consumers.
About the Advisors
Alex Cruz
Alex Cruz has spent his entire career in the aviation industry, having gotten his start at American Airlines and gained entrepreneurial experience as the founder of Clickair, a low-cost airline he started in 2006. Mr. Cruz led the merger of Clickair with Vueling, another low-cost airline, in 2009, and the acquisition of the airline by International Airline Group in 2013. He was appointed Chairman and CEO of British Airways in April 2016.
Christian Morales
For nearly 40 years, Christian Morales held senior international management roles at Intel, including most recently, Vice President and General Manager of Intel EMEA (retired July 2017). Mr. Morales has extensive experience in marketing and building brand awareness for new product segments as well as expanding and driving business into new and emerging markets. As Chairman of NeuroMem Technologies, he is helping bring to market technology inspired by the human brain that will allow everyday objects to have perception of their environment and interact with users through pattern learning and recognition.
Chris Shipley
Chris Shipley has worked at the crossroads of emerging technology and new companies throughout her career. As Executive Producer of the DEMO Conference for more than 15 years, and subsequently as an independent consultant, Ms. Shipley has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,500 startup companies and products to market. In 2002, Fortune Small Business Magazine cited her as a “most perfect board member;” in 2004, the San Jose Business Journal placed her at the top of its list of Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley; in 2009, the DEMO conference gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award; and in 2010, SVForum honored her with its Visionary Award.
Doug Solomon
Doug Solomon has more than 30 years’ leadership experience at the intersection of technology and people, and a special interest in collaborative approaches that enable people to innovate in ways they never thought possible. Dr. Solomon has led the design of products and services for Apple, Palm, and IDEO (as Chief Strategy Officer at both Apple and Palm and as Chief Technology Officer of IDEO). He also worked in the organizations of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Microsoft founder Paul Allen.
About Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria
Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria, Chief Executive Officer of Sherpa, is a serial entrepreneur, having founded Sherpa in 2011 and in 2009, Anboto Group, provider of customer engagement technology based on artificial intelligence and natural language processing. Uribe-Etxebarria has master’s degrees in Industrial and Organizational Engineering and Technical Industrial Engineering, specializing in Electronic Engineering, and Business Innovation from Deusto University, Bilbao, Spain, where he also did graduate work in Natural Language Processing. He is currently completing a master’s degree in Architecture. He also holds certificates in Entrepreneurship Development from MIT Sloan Management School, Negotiation from Monterrey TEC, and Digital Marketing from Harvard Business School. Uribe-Etxebarria holds a number patents, and has been recognized for innovation and entrepreneurship, including in the TR35, an annual list of the top innovators under the age of 35 published by MIT Technology Review and on the EL PAÍS “Top 100 of the Year” list of the most influential people in the Spanish-American world.
About Sherpa
Sherpa, based in Bilbao, Spain, is developing AI-based virtual personal assistant technology with predictive capabilities that enable virtual assistants to learn about users and anticipate their needs before they are asked. Sherpa technology is designed for manufacturers of consumer products, such as automobiles, intelligent ear speakers, in-home speakers and appliances, and wearables, seeking to add intelligence to their products and explore new business models based on offering digital services. Sherpa also makes a Spanish-language consumer app for smartphones and tablets. Preloaded on Samsung smartphones since 2016, the Sherpa app has been downloaded more than 1 million times and is the most widely used Spanish-language personal assistant app for consumers.
For more information, visit sher.pa.com.
