AUSTIN, Texas, May 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — EY today announced that Amir Husain of SparkCognition is a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2018 Award in the Central Texas region. The awards program recognizes entrepreneurs who are excelling in areas such as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Husain was selected as a finalist by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala event on June 8, 2018 at the JW Marriott in Austin.

“It’s an honor to be recognized as an Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist,” said Amir Husain, SparkCognition’s Founder and CEO. “This award highlights SparkCognition’s innovation and impact in the artificial intelligence field and supports our mission to continue advancing the most important interests in society.”

SparkCognition, one of the world’s fastest growing artificial intelligence (AI) companies, builds AI systems that enable large enterprise customers around the world to adapt to a rapidly changing digital landscape and accelerate their business strategies with AI capabilities. SparkCognition’s AI software solutions optimize operations and find new solutions to old problems in defense, Industrial IoT, and finance industries. The company has been recognized on multiple frontiers, including being named to Entrepreneur magazine’s Entrepreneur 360™ list and making a top 20 listing on the CNBC Disruptor 50 in 2017.

Now in its 32nd year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries throughout the world.

Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National competition. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced at the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 17, 2018. The awards are the culminating event of the Strategic Growth Forum^®, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.

Sponsors
Founded and produced by EY, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the US by SAP America, the Kauffman Foundation and Merrill Corporation.

In Central Texas, sponsors also include Broadway Bank, Colliers International, ADP, Aventine Hill Partners, Bridgepoint Consulting, Watkins Insurance Group, Shearman & Sterling, the Austin Business Journal and San Antonio Business Journal.

About SparkCognition
With award-winning machine learning technology, a multinational footprint, and expert teams focused on defense, IIoT, and finance, SparkCognition builds artificial intelligence systems to advance the most important interests of society. Our customers are trusted with protecting and advancing lives, infrastructure, and financial systems across the globe. They turn to SparkCognition to help them analyze complex data, empower decision making, and transform human and industrial productivity. With our leading edge artificial intelligence platforms, our clients can adapt to a rapidly changing digital landscape and accelerate their business strategies. Learn more about SparkCognition’s AI applications and why we’ve been featured in CNBC’s 2017 Disruptor 50, and recognized two years in a row on CB Insights AI 100, by visiting www.sparkcognition.com.

About Amir Husain
Amir Husain, recognized as Austin’s Top Technology Entrepreneur of the Year, is a serial entrepreneur and inventor based in Austin, Texas. He is the founder & CEO of SparkCognition, a member of the Board of Advisors for The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Computer Science, and the Board of Advisors for IBM Watson. He is also a member of the Center for New American Security Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security.

In March 2016, Husain won the prestigious Austin 40 under 40 award for Technology & Sciences and in September 2016, he was listed by the Austin Business Journal on the Best CEOs of 2016 list. He is a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Award.

While in graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin, Husain developed the ideas that led to his first venture-funded startup, Kurion. After Kurion was acquired by iSyndicate, Husain started a systems management company that merged with PC Blade manufacturer ClearCube Technology. Husain was appointed ClearCube’s Chief Technology Officer and later to the Board of Directors of ClearCube’s holding company. In 2009, Husain became CEO of VDIworks, a Cloud Computing and Virtualization software vendor and grew the company successfully until his departure in early 2013. Husain also serves as advisor and board member to Makerarm, uStudio, ClearCube Technology, S&BMK Foundation, Alif Laila Children’s Educational Society, and others.

Husain is a prolific inventor with 22 U.S. patents awarded and over 40 pending applications. In 2013, a low-cost computing platform Husain invented was inducted into the collection of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, the world’s largest such institution. His work has also been published in IEEE conferences and in leading tech journals including Network World, Computer World and others. His companies have won numerous awards such as the 2015 Austin Chamber of Commerce A-List, the InnovateApp 2014 competition, the VMWORLD Gold award, Network World’s Hottest Products, CRN’s Innovation award and PC World’s best product award, and SparkCognition was recently named the fastest-growing company in Central Texas.

As the driving force at SparkCognition, Husain is known for his honest, open, approachable leadership style. His book, “The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence,” was published by Simon & Schuster in November, 2017.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year^®
Entrepreneur Of The Year^®, founded by EY, is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for entrepreneurs, chosen from an independent panel of judges including entrepreneurs and prominent leaders from business, finance, and the local community. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries. ey.com/eoy

About EY’s Growth Markets Network
EY’s worldwide Growth Markets Network is dedicated to serving the changing needs of high-growth companies. For more than 30 years, we’ve helped many of the world’s most dynamic and ambitious companies grow into market leaders. Whether working with international mid-cap companies or early stage, venture-backed businesses, our professionals draw upon their extensive experience, insight and global resources to help your business succeed. For more information, please visit us at ey.com/sgm or follow news on Twitter @EY_Growth.

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, a member of the global EY organization that provides services to clients in the US.

For more information, please visit ey.com.

For Media Inquiries:
John King
SparkCognition
jking@sparkcognition.com
512-956-5491

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SOURCE SparkCognition