Matt Calkins is the co-founder, CEO, chairman, and president of Appian Corporation, and a world champion board gamer.[1][2][3][4]

Early life and career

Calkins grew up in Mill Valley, California.[1] He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1994 with a degree in economics.[1][3] He then joined MicroStrategy, a business software vendor[1] where he was the director of the Enterprise Product Group.[5] When he was 26, he left MicroStrategy and co-founded Appian.[5]

In 1999, Calkins co-founded Appian and began building software tools such as an intranet portal for the U.S. Army.[1] In 2008, the company raised $8 million, and in 2014, raised $36 million in a secondary offering led by venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.[1] Appian later went public in May 2017.[1][6][7] As of 2019, Calkins owns just under half of the company which is valued at $2.1 billion.[1][8][9] Calkins believes there are different dimensions of AI.[10][11]

Appian

Calkins left MicroStrategy in 1999 in order to launch Appian Corporation.[1][2] He was 26 years old.[2][1] Appian creates low-code software that helps businesses build apps more quickly.[1][2][3] It is used by government agencies including the United States Food and Drug Administration, and private companies such as T-Mobile, Bayer, and Exelon Corp.[12] The company went public in 2017 and Calkins owns just under half of it.[1]

Board gamer

Calkins is well known for designing board games and playing competitively.[13] He has collected 1,000 games,[13] and has won a number of events at the World Boardgaming Championships.[1][2][14][15] His philosophy is that business and gaming have a lot of similarities: business skills can make someone a better game player, and playing games helps to make him a better CEO.[13][16]

Calkins created the board games Sekigahara, Tin Goose, Charioteer, and Magnet.[1][2][17]

  • Sekigahara: players recreate the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara in Japan[1][2]
  • Tin Goose: players build one of the first commercial airlines[1][2]
  • Charioteer: a strategic racing game set in ancient Rome[18]
  • Magnet: an “abstract game where players try to get their king to the middle of the board” [8] (runner-up for Games Magazine's Abstract Game of the Year, 2010[13])

Calkins has contributed to The New York Times about the value of board games in business.[19]

Other involvement

In 2017, Calkins was named to the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) board of directors.[20] He also serves on the leadership council of the Virginia Public Access Project and the board of the Sorensen Institute.[21] He was previously on the board for the NVTC TechPAC.[20] Calkins was named to the 2022 Virginia 500: Federal Contractors - Technology.[22]

War against Ukraine

Calkins helped the Renew Democracy Initiative to create fight4ukraine.com, a website that tracks the world's response to Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.[23] This initiative included banning the sale of software to Russia.[24][25][26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Konrad, Alex. "Meet Matt Calkins: Billionaire, Board Game God And Tech's Hidden Disruptor". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Matt Calkins: World-class board game player-turned-tech firm Appian CEO". NS Business. 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  3. 1 2 3 Rogers, Bruce. "Matt Calkins Builds Appian As A Platform For Digital Transformation And A Culture Of Shared Values". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  4. ↑ "Matt Calkins, Appian Corp: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  5. 1 2 "Matt Calkins Appointed to NVTC Board of Directors". WashingtonExec. 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  6. ↑ "Appian's board is giving its CEO a big potential bonus. He intends to donate it to charity". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  7. ↑ Gregg, Aaron (May 25, 2017). "Appian delivers rare IPO to Washington's tech scene". The Washington Post.
  8. ↑ "Greater Washington's newest billionaire is a familiar face — and he won't be distracted". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  9. ↑ Bondarenko, Veronika (2022-11-05). "Appian CEO Calkins Reveals Where Company Stands in a Recession". TheStreet. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  10. ↑ "'AI's not ready' to make human decisions, Appian CEO says". Yahoo Finance. 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  11. ↑ Bridgwater, Adrian. "Appian Advances Low-Code Into New Era Of AI Process Automation". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  12. ↑ "Fast-growing Appian reports higher Q3 loss as expenses soar". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Appian CEO sees games as serious business". Washington Technology. 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  14. ↑ "Matthew Calkins". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  15. ↑ Kira (2022-08-30). "Federal Contractors/Technology: MATT CALKINS". Virginia Business. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  16. ↑ jirehl (2021-04-29). "Billionaire Beat: Appian CEO Matt Calkins Emphasizes Innovation And Strategy Professionally And Personally | The Software Report". Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  17. ↑ "Matt Calkins | Board Game Designer | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  18. ↑ "Charioteer". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  19. ↑ "What a Board Game Can Teach a C.E.O. (Published 2013)". The New York Times. 2013-08-17. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  20. 1 2 Kirkland, Rachel (2017-11-09). "Matt Calkins Appointed to NVTC Board of Directors | WashingtonExec". Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  21. ↑ "vpap.org". The Virginia Public Access Project. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  22. ↑ Kira (2022-08-30). "2022 Virginia 500: Federal Contractors | Technology". Virginia Business. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  23. ↑ "Banning software sales to Russia a 'case of good and evil:' Appian CEO". Yahoo Finance. 2022-04-21. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  24. ↑ "Appian CEO on banning software sales to Russia: 'This is an obvious case of good and evil'". Yahoo Finance. 2022-04-18. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  25. ↑ Kira (2022-08-30). "Federal Contractors/Technology: MATT CALKINS". Virginia Business. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  26. ↑ jirehl (2022-05-19). "Appian CEO Matt Calkins Urges Tech Firms To Join The Global Protest Of Russia | The Software Report". Retrieved 2023-10-12.

Category:Chief executives in the technology industry

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