AI researcher & entrepreneur
Derek Whitley began his career as a Cryptologic Technician in the United States Navy. After completing his service, he pursued computer science and software engineering, working on embedded systems including electro-optic camera drivers, radar systems, and low-power computing solutions.
He returned to academia to earn dual doctoral degrees from Indiana University Bloomington — in Complex Systems at the Luddy School of Informatics and in Cognitive Science at the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. His research, funded by NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the Office of Naval Research, focuses on evolutionary AI methods that don't rely on traditional computing architectures.
As CTO and Co-Founder of Vivum AI, Derek leads a team developing biologically-inspired neural networks that reduce power consumption by orders of magnitude — enabling real autonomy on edge devices for applications in defense, drone operations, and beyond.