Zapata AI Welcomes Derron Blakely as General Counsel
04 June 2024 - 6:15AM
Zapata Computing Holdings Inc. (“Zapata AI” or “the Company”)
(Nasdaq: ZPTA), the Industrial Generative AI company, announced
today that Derron Blakely has joined the Company as its General
Counsel, effective today. Mr. Blakely’s track record of counseling
public companies in the AI, government, and defense industries will
add tremendous value in supporting Zapata AI’s growth as the
recently public company expands its offerings, customer pipeline,
and partnership network.
“Derron brings invaluable expertise in
counseling varied clients throughout his career that have had a
similar journey to our own, including public companies in the
defense, software and AI sectors,” said Christopher Savoie, CEO and
co-founder of Zapata AI. “We’ve seen a lot of interest in our
anomaly detection, generative AI, optimization, and predictive
capabilities from the government and defense sectors and we will
lean on Derron’s background to negotiate contracting and licensing
agreements in these sectors as well as other industries. I have
confidence that Derron will help us build the world-class legal
infrastructure that we will need as we scale our business.”
Mr. Blakely brings a strong legal background at
fast-growing public companies in the AI and defense industries. In
his most recent position as General Counsel at C3.ai, a public
enterprise AI company, Mr. Blakely played a critical role in
commercial and federal contracting, compliance, employment,
litigation, and corporate governance. He previously served as
Deputy General Counsel for Elbit Systems of America where he played
a pivotal role in all aspects of federal procurement and strategic
growth initiatives, including large scale M&A. Mr. Blakely
began his career at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.,
and holds a J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of
Law.
Mr. Blakely will join the Company reporting to
CEO and co-founder Christopher Savoie. “Zapata AI is at the
forefront of a transformative movement in industrial generative AI,
empowering organizations with unparalleled operational insights
that will catalyze growth and unlock value," said Mr. Blakely. "The
Company already has a world-class team of problem solvers that
Christopher has assembled to reshape how organizations conduct
their business, and I am looking forward to building a legal
function to match. It is a truly exciting and unique opportunity to
help the Company in this critical growth phase.” Mr. Blakely will
replace Nicole Fitchpatric, who is leaving Zapata AI on June 14th
for personal reasons. "I want to thank Nicole for her contributions
over the past few years as we transitioned to operating as a public
company," said Savoie. "Her legal counsel was critical to our
success during this transformative period. We wish her all the best
in her future endeavors."
About Zapata AI Zapata AI
(Nasdaq: ZPTA) is an Industrial Generative AI company,
revolutionizing how enterprises solve complex operational
challenges with its powerful suite of generative AI software
applications and cutting-edge reference architecture. By combining
numerical and text-based generative AI models and custom software
applications to power industrial-scale solutions, Zapata AI enables
enterprises and government entities to drive growth, cost savings
through operational efficiencies, and critical operational
insights. With its proprietary data science and engineering
techniques, and the Orquestra® platform, Zapata AI is accelerating
Generative AI’s impact across industries by delivering solutions
which are higher performing, less costly, and more accurate and
expressive than current, classical approaches to AI. The Company
was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston,
Massachusetts.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made herein are not historical facts but are
forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor
provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words
such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,”
“would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,”
“outlook,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future
events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters.
These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding future events and other statements that are
not historical facts. These statements are based on the current
expectations of Zapata AI’s management and are not predictions of
actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided
for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as,
and must not be relied on, by any investor as a guarantee, an
assurance, a prediction, or a definitive statement of fact or
probability. These statements are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties regarding Zapata AI’s business, and actual results
may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, Zapata AI’s ability to attract new customers,
retain existing customers, and grow; competition in the generative
AI industry; Zapata AI’s ability to raise additional capital on
non-dilutive terms or at all; Zapata AI’s failure to maintain and
enhance awareness of its brand; and the risks and uncertainties
discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (including those described in the Risk Factors section
in the Company’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports
on Form 10-Q).
While Zapata AI may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Zapata AI
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as
representing Zapata AI’s assessments as of any date subsequent to
the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should
not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.
Contacts: Zapata AI:Media:
press@zapata.ai Investors: investors@zapata.ai
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