BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Grabango, the premiere checkout-free technology service provider to existing brick-and-mortar grocers and convenience store chains, announced today the appointment of Ryan Smith as the Vice President of Product and Engineering. As a leading expert in artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision and distributed systems, Smith brings extensive experience in designing and deploying complicated enterprise-class products that dramatically improve operational efficiency.
“I am impressed by Ryan’s passion to enhance people’s lives through technology,” said Will Glaser, Grabango CEO and founder. “Ryan’s leadership will further enable Grabango’s team to deliver advanced products that serve our customers’ diverse business needs and transform everyday shoppers’ checkout experiences.”
Smith began his career at Amgen, a multinational biopharmaceutical company, and led a team of engineers in developing and deploying robotics and novel vision algorithms for pharmaceutical applications. Most recently, Ryan served as the Vice President of Product and Engineering at Sight Machine, a company that enables many of the world’s largest OEMs to leverage artificial intelligence and stream processing for automation. Smith oversaw the initial product creation through the scaling of Sight Machine’s first ten international markets.
“I am excited to join Grabango at such a key moment in the retail tech evolution,” said Ryan Smith. “Innovation continues to play an increasing role in enhancing people's shopping experience. I look forward to advancing Grabango’s leadership position in the checkout-free technology industry.”
Smith will lead a growing team of engineers, developers, and designers at Grabango. A primary focus of his will be completing commercial deployments at Giant Eagle and Grabango’s three other grocery and convenience store clients. Smith will further refine product deliverables and commercial services by working closely with Grabango’s expanding customer base.
Smith studied physics and computer science at Illinois Wesleyan University and has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis.
About Grabango
Grabango is the leading checkout-free technology service provider for existing, large scale stores. Grabango delivers a next-generation shopper experience and is the only enterprise-class, scalable, checkout-free solution on the market today. The Grabango platform includes a fault tolerant, edge computing network that accurately processes millions of simultaneous transactions. The system places no limits on who can enter the store, what can be sold there, or how the shelving is configured.
Grabango was founded in 2016 by Will Glaser, former CTO and co-founder of Pandora Radio. The company has raised $18M to date from top venture capital firms and is headquartered in Berkeley, CA.
For more information, visit www.grabango.com.