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Executives/Lightning AI CEO
William Falcon, CEO of Lightning AI

Who is the CEO of Lightning AI in 2026?

William Falcon is the Chief Executive Officer of Lightning AI. William has held the CEO seat since 2019, and was previously NextGenVest (acquired by Commonbond) - Co-founder , CTO at CommonBond.co.

Updated September 24, 2026
Research William in Unify
Time in seat
7 years
CEO since 2019
Career span
18 years
First recorded role January 2008
Founded
2019
Founder of Lightning AI
Summary
  • William Falcon founded Lightning AI in April 2019 and has led it as CEO ever since.
  • Alongside Lightning AI, William Falcon serves as Advisory Council Member at Global AI Frontier Lab since January 2026.
  • William Falcon was PhD Student, Deep learning (CILVR lab) (on leave) at NYU Center for Data Science from August 2018 to March 2023.

Current company

Lightning AI

Lightning AI is a The AI development platform - From idea to AI, Lightning fast ⚡️. Code together. Prototype. Train on GPUs. Scale. Serve. From your browser - with zero setup. AI Studio is your laptop on the cloud. Zero setup. Always ready. Persistent storage and environments. Code on CPU. Debug on GPU.

Software DevelopmentHeadquartered in New YorkPrivate company

Source: Lightning AI on LinkedIn

Career and education

William Falcon has been CEO of Lightning AI since 2019. Before Lightning AI, William was NextGenVest (acquired by Commonbond) - Co-founder , CTO at CommonBond.co from December 2016 until August 2018.

Career

  1. Lightning AI2019 to present
    • Founder, CEO
  2. Global AI Frontier Lab2026 to present
    • Advisory Council Member
  3. NYU Center for Data Science2018 to 2023
    • PhD Student, Deep learning (CILVR lab) (on leave)
  4. Facebook2019
    • Facebook AI Research (FAIR) - Research Scientist intern
  5. CommonBond.co2016 to 2018
    • NextGenVest (acquired by Commonbond) - Co-founder , CTO
  6. Columbia University2016 to 2018
    • Deep Learning Researcher - Liam Paninski lab
  7. Goldman Sachs2015 to 2016
    • Software Engineer - Marquee Strategy Studio
  8. Freelance iOS Developer2013 to 2015
    • Founding PM & iOS Lead (7 products launched)
  9. Merrill Lynch2011 to 2013
    • International Financial advisor
  10. Naval Special Warfare Command2008 to 2011
    • Special Reconnaissance Team 1 (SRT-1) - temporary assignment (LTJG)May 2010 to June 2011
    • Naval officer - BUD/S candidate (Ensign)January 2008 to May 2010

Sources: LinkedIn profile

Education

New York University, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Artificial IntelligenceColumbia University in the City of New YorkSource

Decision makers by function

11 decision makers at Lightning AI in Unify, vice president level and above. Choose a function to see who leads it.

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Top decision makers at Lightning AI

Vice president level and above, most senior first
Brian CampbellChief Revenue Officer · USA@lightning.ai
Saurabh GiriChief Product and Technology Officer · USA@lightning.ai
Jarlath DohertyChief People Officer · USA@lightning.ai
Elliot DarvickSVP, Operations & People · USA@lightning.ai
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Frequently asked questions

Who is the CEO of Lightning AI?

William Falcon is the Chief Executive Officer of Lightning AI. William has held the CEO seat since 2019, and was previously NextGenVest (acquired by Commonbond) - Co-founder , CTO at CommonBond.co.

When did William Falcon become CEO of Lightning AI?

William Falcon has been CEO of Lightning AI since 2019, according to LinkedIn profile.

What did William Falcon do before Lightning AI?

William Falcon was NextGenVest (acquired by Commonbond) - Co-founder , CTO at CommonBond.co from December 2016 until August 2018, according to LinkedIn profile.

How long has William Falcon been CEO of Lightning AI?

William Falcon has been CEO of Lightning AI for 7 years, since 2019.

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11 leaders at vice president level and above, with verified work emails and phone numbers in Unify.

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Methodology

The seat holder is identified in Unify's professional profile dataset, then confirmed against the company's published leadership page, its SEC filings, and Wikipedia before publication. Career and education rows carry the public document they were taken from. Leadership team membership follows the company's own leadership page; in-seat dates come from filings where available and otherwise from the profile record. Company figures are read from the Unify headcount page for the same company and are profile coverage measures, never company-reported workforce totals. The employee preview lists vice president and senior vice president level profiles by department. No personal contact details are published.

Identity confirmed against Lightning AI on LinkedIn. Last verified: September 24, 2026.