Think
Strategy. Research. Ventures.
A platform for eclectic work and big ideas for the AI era.
First company at 14. Spent twenty years on Exbabylon building people and clients. Exited to PE in 2021, then served as platform CIO and worked M&A at North America's second-largest MSP roll-up. Always building.
/now
Opening keynote build for I-90 Aerospace+ Corridor Conference. Next-phase Reflexive-Core + AgentGateway integration and the security architecture underneath it. Gonzaga University AI conference. Post-IIA + MSP Summit: co-authoring with Omdia Media on what the AI Era actually means for the Future MSP — the real next chapter, not the vendor narrative. Early-stage build on Narrows Intelligence. Always on effort to support the Foundation for Agentic Networks and further Project NANDA's mission.
Strategy
M&A + Venture
Helping look around the next corner (or two). Worked both sides of the table. Sponsor alignment, founder:founder trust, product market fit, LOI → acquisition → integration.
AI + Human
Humans are the crux. AI amplifies that. Leadership development and people-building > tech+tools. Transparency and clarity to bring everyone along.
Cybersecurity + Risk
Board + Exec + Research + Product + GTM. A lifetime in cyber— from early product and SaaS to critical infrastructure IR with CISA, DIB executive roundtables with the FBI, and CMMC readiness.
Research
Reflexive-Core
A single-context metacognitive security architecture for frontier AI models.
Released February 2026.
Early work I'm proud of, a researched back framework that can be adapted heavily for many applications but born from a cybersecurity thesis. We must start baking security into the foundation of the model interaction itself; hardening the attack surface at patient zero, allowing for high-trust interactions to move with less friction with telemetry/gating at a deterministic layer before a multi-turn run even happens.
If you work in AI and care about defense-in-depth, please connect and collaborate.
Gonzaga University / Institute for Informatics & Applied Technology
A proposed 18-month applied research collaboration with Gonzaga University's Institute for Informatics & Applied Technology, under Dr. Shanchieh Jay Yang that would blend the ThinkPurple AI Transformation Framework with Gena Hoxha, PhD, Chief Human & AI Officer's Transformer methodology to develop a practical standard for how mid-market enterprises build lasting internal AI capability.
gonzaga.edu/informatics-and-applied-technology ↗Ventures
Drip7
Board AdvisoryCybersecurity for the Human layer. Designing Mentor7 AI at the core of micro-learning, phish simulation and GRC workflows.
drip7.com ↗Initiatives
Foundation for Agentic Networks / Project NANDA
A Cambridge lab initiative building decentralized infrastructure for an Internet of AI Agents.
The agentic web should be open. The same way the internet I grew up building on was open.
agenticnet.org ↗
Center for Intelligent Industrial Robotics
Full stack AI, robotics, automation and manufacturing research in collaboration with industry. Applied AI that touches physical atoms.
uidaho.edu/engineering/research/intelligent-industrial-robotics ↗
North Idaho College — Cybersecurity & IT
Building the regional pipeline for the next generation of cybersecurity practitioners.
nic.edu/cybersecurity ↗
LaunchPad INW / InnovateINW
Regional entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem connecting startups, mentors, institutions, and capital across the Inland Northwest.
launchpadinw.com ↗/on-the-record
/about
Hello World.
ThinkPurple is a home for my Collective. I've always had an eclectic to-do list and this platform is where I blend personal passion and professional energy.
I love humanity. I travel the world, eat and explore everything. And I believe that the AI Era is the most important inflection point in human history. We're alive to not just see it unfold, but participate in shaping how it affects humanity's future!
If you're thinking of working with me and want the unfiltered view, checkout my GitHub Readme. Or LinkedIn for the things you would expect. Or put your AI agents to work and build a profile. [research prompt]
Spend five minutes with me and I'll want to know: "What do you do for fun?" Because "what we DO" (for work) isn't "who we ARE".
Me? I like novelty. Curious AF. I'm a husband, friend, uncle, sailor, scuba diver, high elevation mountaineer, long distance trail runner, beekeeper, gardener, cook, and amateur architect with a passion for constructing physical projects from paper to dirt up — leaving beautiful spaces that inspire work and life behind, designed to last well beyond my lifetime.
Cheers, Alex Stanton
"Over the long term – the future is decided by optimists." — Kevin Kelly
Affiliations
Special Collaborators
/connect
Speaking & Keynotes
Selective. Reach out if it feels like a fit.
Research Partnerships
Labs or individuals building where I can add value.
Deals / M&A / Portfolio
Investors, operators, and boards working through important decisions. Happy to be a backboard.
Boards & Governance
Strategy, oversight, and trusted perspective.
Special Initiatives
Hard problems. Audacious Projects.
Press & Media
Bio, headshots, and speaking topics available.