Dylan Fox

Yo, you gotta hear about Dylan Fox. The dude is the real deal in the voice AI game. He’s the founder and CEO of AssemblyAI, which he kicked off back in 2017, same year he jumped into Y Combinator’s S17 batch, so the guy’s got that startup hustle from day one.

Before all this, Dylan was deep in the tech trenches at Cisco. He was a senior software engineer and research engineer, working on AI stuff, basically, he was already playing with the future of voice tech before most of us even knew what was possible. That Cisco stint gave him some serious chops and a taste of what’s coming next in AI, especially voice-powered products like Alexa.

But Dylan’s real genius was spotting a gap, he saw how voice tech was blowing up but there weren’t really developer-friendly APIs out there to tap into voice data. So, he jumped into the deep end and started AssemblyAI to fix that. And man, did he crush it. Now, AssemblyAI’s a powerhouse, raised over $115 million, serving more than 5,000 customers. They’re basically the top dogs when it comes to speech recognition APIs.

What’s crazy is he’s not just in it for the tech, it’s about making voice AI accessible and practical, really pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. It’s like he saw the future of voice tech and was like, “No cap, I gotta build this.” His process shows he’s driven by curiosity and a real desire to solve big problems. Starting AssemblyAI wasn’t just about making money, it was about building something that could change how we interact with tech day-to-day.

And he’s more than just about AssemblyAI. He’s dipped into other projects too, YouGive1, NDP Consulting, though details are pretty sparse. Still, it’s clear he’s got that entrepreneurial itch to try new things and see what sticks.

Now he’s based in Brooklyn, NY, and you can find him on Twitter dropping insights and updates, dude’s all about sharing the process and the lessons.

Bottom line? Dylan Fox is a tech innovator who saw a need, jumped into the voice AI world early, and completely crushed it. He’s proof that if you’re passionate, curious, and not afraid to jump into the deep end, you can build something really significant. That’s why he’s so important, he’s not just riding the wave of AI, he’s helping to shape it.