Cetacean Labs today announced the completion of its executive leadership team, bringing together proven technology veterans with deep expertise in platform scaling, AI systems, enterprise software, and professional services. The team combines decades of experience building billion-dollar technology companies with cutting-edge expertise in artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.
Leadership
Chris McGrath, Founder & CEO
Chris brings extensive leadership experience from AT&T and Accenture Digital, where he led initiatives for Fortune 500 clients including Disney, Marriott, the Department of Defense, and the National Archives. A serial entrepreneur with Wharton executive education, Chris also serves on the Agentics Foundation management team, helping shape global standards for human-centered agentic AI systems.
"We're building the foundational infrastructure that will power the autonomous economy," said McGrath. "That requires not just technical excellence, but deep understanding of how enterprises actually operate at scale. This team brings both."
Anthony Monroy, CTO
A former U.S. Army Engineer with degrees from UCLA and Stanford, Anthony brings expertise in AI safety, robotics, cryptocurrency, and dual-use technologies. His background includes multiple startups in clean tech, AI safety, and small language model R&D, along with experience scaling $100B+ enterprise operations.
"The convergence of AI, robotics, and autonomous systems represents a fundamental shift in how economic value is created," said Monroy. "We're ensuring that shift happens responsibly, with infrastructure that prioritizes safety, transparency, and human agency."
Tom Schmidt, Chief Strategy Officer
Tom brings over 30 years of business leadership, strategy, and technical business expertise, having led IT staffing firms at the $20B+ level throughout his career. His executive roles include SVP at Recruit Holdings ($60B market cap) and VP at ManpowerGroup ($20B revenue). As Chief Strategy Officer of Cetacean Labs, Tom is advancing strategic enterprise customer adoption and leading the Go To Market team for Oceanic, with plans to do the same for future products.
"The convergence of enterprise demand for AI infrastructure with Cetacean's technical capabilities creates a rare opportunity," said Schmidt. "My role is driving enterprise adoption and ensuring we connect with the right partners who understand the magnitude of what we're building."
Strategic Rationale
The executive team's composition reflects Cetacean's dual focus on breakthrough research and rapid commercialization. The combination of enterprise relationships (Schmidt), technical innovation (Monroy), and business leadership (McGrath) positions Cetacean to execute on its ambitious vision of building infrastructure for the autonomous economy.
"We deliberately assembled a team where each member brings complementary rather than overlapping expertise," said McGrath. "Tom has the enterprise relationships we need for rapid adoption. Anthony pushes us on safety and innovation. Together, we can build something truly transformative."
Market Timing
The team's formation comes at a critical inflection point for enterprise AI adoption. Organizations are moving rapidly from AI experimentation to production deployment, creating urgent demand for infrastructure that can support autonomous systems at scale.
"Six months ago, enterprises were asking 'should we deploy AI agents?'" said Schmidt. "Today they're asking 'how do we deploy thousands of them safely?' That's a fundamentally different question that requires fundamentally different infrastructure. Cetacean is providing that infrastructure."
Culture and Values
Despite their varied backgrounds, the leadership team shares common values around technical excellence, responsible AI development, and long-term thinking. Each member has track records of building sustainable businesses rather than chasing short-term hype.
"We're building for the long term," said Monroy. "The autonomous economy isn't a 2-3 year opportunity—it's a multi-decade transformation. That requires infrastructure that will still be relevant in 2035, 2040, and beyond. It requires thinking deeply about safety, ethics, and societal impact. And it requires a team committed to doing things right, not just doing them fast."
Looking Forward
With the executive team now complete, Cetacean is focused on three immediate priorities: scaling the engineering organization to 15-25 team members, accelerating enterprise customer acquisition, and preparing for a Series A fundraising round to fuel rapid growth.
"We have the team, the technology, the customers, and the market timing," said McGrath. "Now it's about execution. The autonomous economy is being built right now, and we're providing the infrastructure that makes it possible."
About Cetacean Labs
Cetacean Labs is the company behind Oceanic, the AI platform that makes building, deploying, and managing enterprise AI applications easy. Oceanic provides a complete infrastructure for creating AI-driven applications, featuring an intuitive App Builder, AI model training capabilities, and seamless multi-cloud deployment. Our mission is to democratize enterprise AI by providing the tools and infrastructure that enable organizations of any size to harness the power of artificial intelligence.
Follow us on LinkedIn
Media Contact
For press inquiries or additional information, please get in touch with our team.