Nico is the CTO of OTO.ai, a San Francisco/Zurich spin-off of SRI International (Siri, Nuance) that built a real-time platform to decode the subtle emotional and behavioural cues hidden in human speech. He holds a PhD in complex systems from ETH Zurich, where his research focused on modelling social behaviour at scale. Prior to founding OTO, he led the AI team at Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, and held various data-oriented roles in industries ranging from blockchain to sustainability.