ROB DEMILLO
Rob DeMillo is the CEO of Sophia Space, a company building next-generation orbital computing infrastructure. Sophia Space is pioneering modular, space-based data centers designed to meet the rising demand for AI, edge computing, and secure cloud services in orbit. In addition, DeMillo serves as a Venture Partner at SparkLabs Global Ventures.
DeMillo has been a successful entrepreneur since the 1990s, having an impressive portfolio of 7 acquisitions and IPOs out of 9 companies. Prior to founding Sophia Space, he was awarded the position of Chief Technology Officer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in April of 2019, becoming the first CTO in the 80+ year history of the influential architecture and design firm. DeMillo joined SOM after his previous company, Nimble Collective, was successfully acquired by Amazon Web Services in early 2019.
Previously, Rob was the CTO of Discovery Digital Networks, a role he assumed following Discovery's acquisition of Revision3. In 2012, DeMillo was named to EContent’s Fabulous 15: The Top Digital Media Influencers, listed alongside Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg.
Earlier in his career, DeMillo was the Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Transpera, leading its technology and operations before its acquisition. He also served as CTO for Third Screen Media, a mobile advertising company acquired by AOL, and as SVP of Mobile Technology at VeriSign following its acquisition of m-Qube, where he managed over 1,000 engineers.
DeMillo founded and served as CEO of MediaRush, an early leader in in-home media distribution, and held senior technology roles at ATG (a personalization and eCommerce leader) and SynaPix (a computer graphics and video effects company). Before becoming a serial entrepreneur, DeMillo was a research scientist and engineer at Lincoln Laboratories and Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL), applying technology to planetary science and aviation safety research.