Iterate.ai provides an Enterprise AI platform that accelerates AI application development. Interplay, our flagship product, is a drag-and-drop platform with 4,000+ components and AI model management, enabling fast, efficient creation of advanced AI applications.
In 2011, entrepreneur and investor Igor Shoifot, PhD—renowned for backing startups like ScentBird, Backblaze, Wrike, ShareThis, and Vinebox—invited Brian Sathianathan and Jon Nordmark to serve as board members for the premier Eastern European accelerator in Kyiv, Ukraine. This accelerator attracted hundreds of startup applications annually, selecting approximately twenty high-potential ventures each year. Their job: teach Eastern European founders to think and operate like American entrepreneurs.
Data source: upfront ventures
Discovering Resourceful Innovation
The Ukrainian accelerator (much like TechStars or Ycombinator) nurtured startup founders from Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Russia. Those who graduated earned a fully funded, three-month immersion in Silicon Valley, where they learned from leaders like the founders of 500 Startups. This was a massive deal for these graduates because they were building startups in regions like Ukraine, where the GDP per capita is 3x lower than Mexico’s.
While mentoring these startups, Brian and Jon had an “aha” moment. As they watched these brilliant, cash-starved entrepreneurs building cutting-edge technologies, they realized the barriers to creating technology startups had shifted dramatically. By leveraging open-source software and Amazon Web Services, these Eastern European entrepreneurs launched sophisticated products on shoestring budgets. This was a striking contrast to the $5 million Jon needed to start eBags.com in the late ’90s.
From a different vantage point, John Grech noticed something similar. A seasoned sales leader, John held senior roles at digital commerce startups like Omniture (acquired by Adobe), PowerReviews (acquired by Bazaarvoice), and HookLogic (acquired by Criteo). Later, he joined GiftNow (acquired by Synchrony Financial, where he became Chief Commercial Officer) and today serves as CEO of Litmus7.
John saw cash-strapped founders building impressive technology but struggling to get noticed by large enterprises—many called him for advice because they couldn’t afford a salesperson. John believed this gap could be bridged by offering big companies an unbiased vetting and referral service for emerging innovation. Because of this shared vision, John, Brian, and Jon joined forces to launch Iterate.
The Shift to Intellectual Capital
The Ukrainian experience revealed a profound shift: the real barrier to innovation was no longer capital. Brian and Jon often said, “The new barrier to entry is brains, not capital,” echoing Thomas Friedman’s insight that “The world is flat.” This concept applied to many new software-based startups that were built in a garage or with the help of other startup accelerators like Founder Institute, Techstars, Y-combinator and Startup Basecamp in Europe.
For the first time, nearly anyone, anywhere, could build powerful technologies. We’re seeing this again today, as AI models like DeepSeek’s R1 emerge from China—despite intense GPU restrictions and limited resources.
Bridging Enterprises and Emerging Tech
In 2013, inspired by their experiences in Eastern Europe, Brian, Jon, and a small team launched IterateStudio.com. They recognized an opportunity to connect global enterprises with an emerging technical talent pool—resource-constrained innovators who built impressive technologies but lacked access to marketing, sales, and distribution due to geography and capital.
As Iterate collaborated with enterprises and startups, it became clear that artificial intelligence (AI) would be a defining force in the years ahead. The team’s deep expertise—including kernel engineers from Apple’s Secret Products division and a Ph.D. in Swarm Computing—naturally led to a strong focus on AI and AI processing. In February 2015, IterateStudio became Iterate.ai—years before AI hit the mainstream and 7 years before the ChatGPT moment.
Developing Interplay for Seamless Integration
By 2017, Iterate.ai introduced Interplay—a connector platform designed to integrate startup innovations, emerging technologies, and AI into enterprise tech stacks. Initially built by Brian and John Selvadurai while vacationing in Australia, Interplay gave executives fast access to transformative tools they needed to remain competitive.
When ChatGPT shocked the world, Interplay was already primed to run generative AI—supporting the development of AI Agents and Agent Swarms. By 2025, it featured more than 400 AI nodes, including Large, Small, and Nano Language Models (LLMs, SLMs, NLMs), plus 4,000 additional nodes. Many integrate seamlessly with legacy systems like SAP, Salesforce, and Oracle—enabling faster, lower-friction innovation.
We are a team of over 100 technology experts, with over 85% of the crew possessing advanced degrees in computer science, machine learning, mathematics, and other advanced disciplines. Our applications and solutions appeal to executives and corporate innovators who seek low-risk, systematic ways to scale in-house near-term digital innovation initiatives and long-term strategic planning. Our Executive Briefing and Training Center is located in Silicon Valley, and our team spans the entire globe.
Iterate fosters customer success through a comprehensive global partner ecosystem, collaborating with leading technology and service providers such as Intel, FujiFilm, Amazon, Google Cloud, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Hughes, and TD Synnex. Each of our partnerships involves collaborative business and software development initiatives.
Iterate.ai and its clients have been recognized by worldwide, national, continental, and state organizations:
