Chris Gladwin

Chris Gladwin, is the co-founder and CEO of Ocient, a startup focused on “redefining” Big Data and how it’s analyzed. Before Ocient, Gladwin spent a decade building the data storage company Cleversafe, after helping launch a series of successful tech companies including Cruise Technologies and MusicNow, a digital music service provider.

In 2004, he launched Cleversafe to create a new way to store large amounts of data. In October 2015, IBM announced it would acquire the company. Terms were not disclosed.

After the sale, Gladwin donated $7.6 million to the Computer Science Department at Illinois Institute of Technology, where he sits on the board.

“Even in a correctly timed market, it will take time to adopt something new,” he told Blue Sky. “Often, new companies will underestimate how long it will take to get ready. So often companies just don’t last long enough. Years later, you’ll see a same kind of business has now become successful. You should plan to last a good amount of time.”

In July 2016, Gladwin announced that he was looking to hire for his new startup, Ocient. Although the release was relatively quiet about the specifics, the company focuses on developing big data analytics technology.

Gladwin began his career at Martin Marietta in 1986 before moving on to Zenith Data Systems, where he created the first workgroup storage server. He founded Cruise Technologies and MusicNow in the late 1990s.

Gladwin holds a degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the board of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, SmartBet Charities, the Chicago Innovation Awards and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center.

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