Chicago Data Night: Harper Reed (Former CTO Obama for America)

Please join us for our monthly Chicago Data Night, cohosted by and the [Data Science Institute,](https://datascience.uchicago.edu/) in partnership with [TeamWorking by TechNexus](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://teamworking.vc/__;!!BpyFHLRN4TMTrA!-2txmClvWBEacyxJGiPBTwwOwWHw1eG0jUKKphxrbEGr1iAELj7XNYiCj6c2V8K3r1rbtaEmA_1-t1yTzZ_p$). Practitioners, academics, and aficionados within the Chicago area are all invited to be part of a community at the intersection of industry and academia, brought together by a mutual interest in data. Each month, guest speakers will cover a specific data-related topic. Chicago Data Night is generously sponsored by Booth’s Center for Applied AI, Chicago Trading Company, and Every.

*Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be provided. Admission is free, and we strongly encourage an RSVP to attend.*

NEW MEETING LOCATION! TechNexus [20 N Wacker Drive](https://www.google.com/maps/place/TeamWorking+by+TechNexus/@41.8833331,-87.6380214,18z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x880e2cbf6ac71899:0xe4423cbdbedf304d!8m2!3d41.8826202!4d-87.6372731!16s%2Fg%2F1tf2ycr2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgyMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D), 12th Floor Chicago, IL 60606

AGENDA 5:30pm: Networking Reception 6:00pm: Welcome Remarks 6:05pm: Guest Speaker 6:50pm: Q&A 7:00pm: Networking Reception 7:30pm: Event Conclud

Bio: Harper Reed is a technologist who predicts the future for a living. He spends his life traveling around the world showing people the possibilities of tech and sharing his experiences to propel the greater good, all while raising the level of fun in the room. Harper knows his incredible luck has led him to achieve many wonderful things. At PayPal, his roles as Head of Commerce and as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence allowed him to guide teams into the thrilling future of e-commerce. The technology he developed as co-founder at startup [Modest Inc](https://angel.co/modest) had initially garnered the attention of PayPal, which led them to acquire Modest only a few years after launch.

Harper also believes the talent of a great bunch of humans can transform an organization like nothing else and he uses that belief to strengthen, deploy, and inspire every team he works with. Previously, Harper was CTO of the [Obama 2012 campaign](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_presidential_campaign,_2012), where he was the first to bring the mentality and connective capabilities of tech to the political stage. He was also the CTO of [Threadless.com](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threadless), where he pioneered crowdsourcing and grew the company from a 12-person startup to a multi-million-dollar enterprise. Harper is an [MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow](https://www.media.mit.edu/people/harper40/overview/), sits on the advisory boards for [IIT Computer Science](https://science.iit.edu/computer-science/people/advisory-board) and the [Royal United Services Institute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_United_Services_Institute), and is on the Cornell College Board of Trustees.

Before 2389 Research, Harper was the CEO of General Galactic Corporation, a web3 company building software for the new internet. Galactic focused on creating rational crypto off-ramps for crypto workers and others who earn crypto. The company shut down in 2023.

In 2024, Harper founded [2389 Research Inc](https://2389.ai/), a venture-backed AI company where he serves as CEO. 2389 Research is building multi-agent workflows that unlock new possibilities for intelligent automation. You can find Harper hacking on personal projects and enjoying life in Chicago with his partner, [Hiromi](http://nakazawa.com/)