Sri Satish Ambati

Last updated
Sri Satish Ambati
Born
India
Education University of Memphis (MS)
OccupationsTechnology executive, entrepreneur
Known forCo-founding H2O.ai and Platfora; advocating for democratization of AI
TitleCEO and Co-founder of H2O.ai

Sri Satish Ambati is an Indian-American technology executive and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of H2O.ai, a company specializing in open-source artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning software. [1] Prior to H2O.ai, he co-founded Platfora, a big data analytics company later acquired by Workday, Inc. [2] He is recognized for his advocacy for the democratization of artificial intelligence (aiming to make machine learning tools accessible to non-experts) and his "AI for Good" ethos. [3]

Early life and education

Ambati was born in India. [1] He attended the University of Memphis, where he earned a Master of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. [2] [1] He later pursued academic sabbaticals focused on theoretical neuroscience at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. [2] [1]

Early career

Ambati's early career included engineering and leadership roles at several technology startups, including RightOrder, where he worked on NoSQL indexing, and Azul Systems, where he was a partner and performance engineer focused on Java scalability. He also served as the director of engineering at DataStax. [2] [4]

In 2011, Ambati founded Platfora, a company specializing in big data analytics tools for Apache Hadoop. Platfora was later acquired by Workday in 2016. [1]

H2O.ai and industry impact

In 2012, Ambati co-founded H2O.ai (originally 0xdata) with Cliff Click. [5] Under his leadership as CEO, the company developed the H2O open-source platform, which became widely used for distributed machine learning. [2] The company's flagship open-source platform H2O is used by over 20,000 organizations globally to scale machine learning workflows. [3] The company reached a valuation of $1.7 billion following a Series E funding round in 2021. [6]

Ambati is a frequent speaker at global forums such as the World Economic Forum, where he has contributed to reports on the impact of AI in financial services. [7] In 2024, he was a featured speaker at the Collision conference, discussing AI governance and the future of global wealth creation through technology. [8]

Philanthropy

During the Delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, Ambati spearheaded the "o2forindia.org" initiative. The project sourced and distributed oxygen concentrators to more than 200 public health organizations in rural and Tier 2 cities across India. [1]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sri Ambati - IndiaAI". IndiaAI. Retrieved 2026-01-30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sri Ambati, CEO & Co-Founder at H2O.ai Biography". Rosenblatt Securities. Retrieved 2026-01-30.
  3. 1 2 Tuck, Alex (2021-12-10). "Profile: Who are H20.ai?". Technology Magazine. Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  4. 1 2 "People to Watch 2019: Sri Ambati". BigDATAwire (Datanami). 2019-02-06. Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  5. ↑ Dey, Nilanjan; Hassanien, Aboul Ella; Bhatt, Chintan; Ashour, Amira S.; Satapathy, Suresh Chandra (2017). Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics Toward Next-Generation Intelligence. Studies in Big Data. Springer International Publishing. p. 59. ISBN   9783319604350.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Stuart (2023-06-26). AI and Immigrants (PDF) (Report). National Foundation for American Policy. Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  7. ↑ The New Physics of Financial Services (PDF) (Report). World Economic Forum. p. 162. Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  8. ↑ "'There'll be a million billionaires on this planet because of AI'". Web Summit. 2024-06-19. Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  9. ↑ King, Tim (2019-02-20). "The 10 Coolest Data Science and Machine Learning CEOs". Solutions Review. Retrieved 2026-02-23.
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