Gary Carrier

Who they are

Gary Carrier is Co-founder & CEO of KODIE AI — he previously founded Plataforma Impact, a 501(c)(3) that trained IT workers in low-income communities in Rio de Janeiro, and is writing a book called 'The Fun Economy' for SXSW's book division.

Person

Gary started at the University of Washington (B.A., 2009), spent a year at Universidad Latina de América, then earned an M.A. at UC Berkeley in 2014 — a path that moves from the Pacific Northwest through Latin America and back through academia. His early career ran through impact finance and global ops: investment analysis at MCE Social Capital, operations roles at New Story and Habitat for Humanity International, and a Presidential Fellowship at UNLV where he led technology deployments supporting Super Bowl LVIII and more than 1,000 local businesses. In 2021 he founded Plataforma Impact, a 501(c)(3) delivering IT skills training in low-income communities in Rio de Janeiro and placing junior tech talent with companies — it has since shut down. He also co-founded Toucan Açai (an online açai marketplace, 2008, now closed) and Posto9, a customer management platform built with Andre Lajter. In January 2026 he launched KODIE AI — a startup, early-stage at founding, connecting senior engineering talent in Latin America with U.S. businesses for AI transformation — alongside KODIE Academy, which upskills 1,200+ technologists per year in AI, cloud, data, and cybersecurity. He writes the Plataforma Newsletter on Substack (plataforma.substack.com) covering AI workforce, tech talent, and Latin America, and has participated in NY Tech Week and Boston Tech Week in 2026; he's also a Latitud LF4 Fellow and an advisory group member at Desert Forge Ventures. The through-line is using capital, community, and training to move underrepresented tech talent into the global economy — first through nonprofit, now through a venture.

Network

Gary's most visible collaborator is Andre Lajter, with whom he co-founded Posto9. He engages regularly with Moises Caze on LinkedIn and has amplified content around Brian Chesky's management philosophy. His network orbits Latin American tech, impact investing, and the Las Vegas startup scene through Desert Forge Ventures.

How they likely show up

  • Founded Plataforma Impact as a nonprofit, then shut it down and pivoted to a for-profit model (KODIE AI) — suggests he iterates on the thesis, not just the execution.
  • Consecutive founder roles with no long-time-in-seat periods at large employers → likely moves fast when a model isn't working and builds rather than joins.
  • Active Substack and LinkedIn writer on AI workforce and Latin America talent → comfortable making his thinking public and probably expects the same directness in return.
  • Presidential Fellow at UNLV leading Super Bowl LVIII tech deployments → has operated at event-scale, high-stakes logistics, not just early-stage startup mode.
  • Latitud LF4 Fellow and Desert Forge Ventures advisory group member alongside founding KODIE → runs multiple parallel commitments, high-agency operator.
  • Book forthcoming with SXSW book division ('The Fun Economy', March 2027) → thinks in longer narrative arcs alongside day-to-day building.

Conversation tips

  • → Reference the Plataforma Impact → KODIE AI pivot specifically — he's made a deliberate bet that the nonprofit model wasn't the right vehicle, and he'll have a sharp view on why.
  • → Ask about KODIE Academy's 1,200+ technologists per year number — it's a concrete operational claim and he'll want to talk about how that pipeline feeds the talent platform.
  • → He writes a Substack; reading even one recent issue before the meeting signals you've done the work and gives you a specific hook.
  • → His background spans impact finance, global ops, and founding — don't assume he's purely a 'tech guy'; the Latin America community angle is central to the story, not a footnote.
  • → Possibly — given his philosophy interest and book project, he may respond well to framing conversations around first-principles questions rather than feature-level discussion.

Toolbox

Openers

  • Open on the KODIE Academy stat — 1,200+ technologists per year trained in AI, cloud, and cybersecurity from Latin America. It's an unusually operational anchor for a talent platform founder and signals he's building supply, not just brokering it.
  • Mention 'The Fun Economy' — he's writing a book for SXSW's book division, due March 2027. Few early-stage founders are simultaneously writing a book; it's a distinctive bet and an easy genuine opener.
  • Reference the Plataforma Impact arc — he founded a 501(c)(3) in Rio de Janeiro in 2021 to train low-income IT workers, ran it, shut it down, and rebuilt the thesis as a for-profit. That's a specific intellectual journey worth asking about.

Discovery questions

  1. What did running Plataforma Impact as a nonprofit teach you that changed how you structured KODIE AI — specifically on the talent-matching side?
  2. KODIE Academy is upskilling 1,200+ technologists a year: how much of that pipeline feeds directly into KODIE AI placements, and where does it go otherwise?
  3. You were a Presidential Fellow at UNLV leading tech deployments for Super Bowl LVIII — how does operating at that logistical scale inform how you think about scaling a remote-first talent platform?

Avoid

Don't treat the Latin America talent angle as a cost-arbitrage story — his entire career arc, from Plataforma Impact to KODIE Academy, frames it as a community and workforce development thesis, not a cheap-labor pitch.

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Sources

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources on November 9, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →