Robert is a seasoned tech industry executive, board member, advisor, investor, speaker with a two decade track record of delivering over $2 Billion in commercial growth - including AI-powered products from launch to $150 Million annual revenue - building strategic public & private partnerships, and directly impacting 100s of careers. He has been a leader in AI Product Strategy, GTM & Growth since 2020.
As the Founder & CEO of Elite Eight Strategies, Robert invests in the global startup ecosystem as a Board Director at Anza Capital, Limited Partner at Zeal Capital Partners, Advisor to the Founders of several early-stage technology companies in the US & Africa, and AI Advisor for the State of Maryland Governor’s Workforce Development Board. Robert has been named as an official member of the 2026 Forbes Finance Council.
Previously as the Head of Revenue & Partnerships at SandboxAQ, an AI + Quantum spinout of Google X, Robert & team drove AI solutions across financial services, healthcare, public sector, and built global strategic partnerships leading to a $450M Series E capital raise with a $5.7 billion valuation in 2025.
Robert held multiple Vice President roles at Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW), launching several AI-enabled cybersecurity business lines including Medical IoT Security, Industrial OT Security, and Cloud Next-Gen Security with AWS, Google, Oracle Cloud. He also led the team responsible for Palo Alto’s Public Sector channel, delivering $950 million in cybersecurity services for the government. At Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) he launched a team focused on scaling strategic relationships with 25 of the Top 50 Independent Software Vendors built on AWS cloud. As a 3rd line people leader and youngest Sales Center Vice President at AT&T (NYSE: T), Robert and his team served over 600,000 small business customers, delivered $700 million in annual recurring revenue, and he directly supported over 50 job promotions and progressions.
Beyond business results, Robert is deeply committed to building talent pipelines and mentoring the next generation of diverse professionals. Robert holds a Master of Business Administration from University of Cincinnati and Bachelor's in Management Information Systems and Marketing from Miami University.
Robert has spoken at industry events from the Bay Area to Dallas to DC to Barcelona to Davos to Tokyo. His work has been featured by World Economic Forum Davos, Bloomberg, Business Insider, CRN, Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Tech Africa, VentureBeat. Based in the Washington DC-Baltimore area, he balances business commitments with family life, membership in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., a quite humble golf game, and creative outlet as a former NFL team DJ.