Theodore G.

As the CEO & Founder of AVNR, I’m dedicated to bringing the next generation of privacy-first AI solutions to life.

With a focus on secure, local-first processing, AVNR aims to redefine how businesses and individuals interact with AI.

Our mission is to create tools that empower users allowing them to harness AI’s potential without compromising their data integrity. I am leading AVNR to be at the forefront of ethical AI adoption, blending cutting-edge technology with compliance and user empowerment.

Designed scalable systems and drive technical excellence across projects. Spearheaded development of cutting-edge, adaptable products, ensuring they meet quality standards and business objectives. Mentor junior engineers, promoting a culture of continuous learning and growth.

• Spearheaded launch and subsequent market growth of the revamped, now web-component based Chrome extension and web app product lines, growing the extension’s user base to 100K.

• Innovated industry-leading standards for unintrusive user productivity and security via within-software Smart Integrations, enabling anonymous email viewing and safe document browsing. Enhanced user experience, increased overall productivity and strengthened brand trust.

• Boosted product flexibility and scalability by revamping and architecting core software products into a into a modular, technology-agnostic framework.

• Transformed the technical working environment pivoting from outdated programming practices and reliance on external vendors to modern structured programming with leading web technologies such as custom elements and shadow Document Object Model (DOM).

• Fostered a productive and agile development culture by ensuring closely aligned system design and team dynamics and encouraging efficient communication and collaboration.

• Served as company representative and thought leader at key technology conferences such as RootCon, establishing the startup as a frontrunner in the industry and facilitating valuable networking opportunities.

Joined to push the frontier in public service technology, spearheading projects under the auspices of Li Hongyi, Director of Open Government Products at GovTech Singapore. Guided and mentored team, ensuring high-quality code and adherence to best practices. Collaborated closely with product managers and stakeholders in translating requirements into technical strategies. Led architectural decisions throughout the software development lifecycle.

Led development and launch of major initiatives such as:

• Armoury. Innovated public service with enhanced equipment tracking capability for critical emergency services in partnership with the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF). Incubated and developed solution during OGP's 1-month hackathon. Guided system architecture, framework and design decisions, from concept to successful trial launch with 4 vehicles and 2 fire stations. Notably chosen as 1 of 5 projects out of 40 for further development.

• SmartGov. Implemented an AI-powered, open-domain question-answering system which simplified the public's access to information. Led team through development challenges, making critical decisions on system architectures and frameworks.

• AskGov 2.0/OGP Careers. Soft launched within 4 months, introducing new frameworks and practices and leading team to tackle 69 stories, tasks and bugs, along with 39 sub-tasks, totalling 132 story points.

• Drove operational excellence via introduction of Agile, Lean and Scrum methodologies. Sped up project development by incorporating retrospectives to rapidly iterate and advance projects. Also established SOPs and continuous integration practices.