BOSTON, June 3, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zapata Computing Holdings Inc. (“Zapata AI” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ZPTA), an industrial generative AI company, today announced that Deron Blakely has joined the Company as General Counsel, effective immediately. Mr. Blakely has a track record of advising public companies in the AI, government and defense industries and will be of great value in supporting the growth of recently publicly traded Zapata AI as it expands its offerings, customer pipeline and partnership network.
“Deron has valuable expertise having counseled a variety of clients who have been on a similar path to ours throughout his career, including publicly traded companies in the defense, software and AI sectors,” said Christopher Savoie, CEO and co-founder of Zapata AI. “We've seen significant interest from the government and defense sectors in our anomaly detection, generative AI, optimization and forecasting capabilities, and we're relying on Deron's background in negotiating contracts and licensing agreements in these sectors as well as other industries. We are confident that Deron will help us build the world-class legal infrastructure we will need as we expand.”
Ms. Blakely has a strong legal background in fast-growing public companies in the AI and defense industries. In her most recent role as General Counsel at C3.ai, a publicly traded AI company, she played a key role in commercial and federal contracting, compliance, employment, litigation, and corporate governance. Previously, she served as Deputy General Counsel for Elbit Systems of America, where she played a central role in all aspects of federal procurement and strategic growth initiatives, including large scale M&A. Ms. Blakely began her career at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, and earned her J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law.
Blakely will join the company and report to CEO and co-founder Christopher Savoie. “Zapata AI is at the forefront of the transformational movement in industrial generative AI, empowering organizations with unparalleled operational insights to drive growth and unlock value,” said Blakely. “We already have a world-class problem-solving team that Christopher has assembled to reinvent the way organizations do business, and I look forward to building a legal department to match. This is a truly exciting and unique opportunity to support the Company during this critical stage of growth.” Blakely succeeds Nicole Fitchpatrick, who will be leaving Zapata AI on June 14.Number “I want to thank Nicole for her contributions over the past few years as we transitioned to operating as a public company,” Savoie said. “Her legal counsel has been critical to our success during this period of change, and I wish her the best in her future endeavors.”
About Zapata AI
Zapata AI (Nasdaq: ZPTA) is an industrial generative AI company that is revolutionizing how enterprises solve complex operational challenges with its powerful suite of generative AI software applications and cutting-edge reference architectures. By combining numeric and text-based generative AI models with custom software applications to power industrial-scale solutions, Zapata AI enables businesses and government agencies to drive growth, reduce costs through operational efficiencies, and drive critical operational insights. Through its proprietary data science and engineering methodology, and Orquestra® platform, Zapata AI is accelerating the impact of generative AI across industries by delivering solutions that perform better, cost less, and are more accurate and expressive than current traditional AI approaches. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein are not historical facts, but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “will,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook” or similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about 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 for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as a guarantee, commitment, prediction or definitive statement of fact or probability and should not be relied upon by any investor. These statements are subject to many 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, Zapata AI's possible failure to maintain and increase brand recognition, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those described in the Risk Factors section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
Zapata AI may update these forward-looking statements in the future, but assumes no 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. Therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.
contact address:
Zapata AI:
Media: press@zapata.ai
Investors: investors@zapata.ai
