# Adam Kerpelman > Personal site of Adam Kerpelman ("Prof Kerp."). Teaching applied AI, entrepreneurship, information systems, and innovation at UVA McIntire. Building with students at UVA Innovates. Otherwise: writing, speaking, podcasting, making, and juggling. I'm a career technologist, entrepreneur, lawyer, maker, marketer, and professor at the University of Virginia. My superpower is curiosity — I like to play with new technology to learn how it works and how it will bend the world. At 14, my friends and I taught ourselves HTML between classes. At 16, I launched a web design company with a hell of a website and zero clients. Over time it merged with a love of cameras and business as I sold sports photos to little league and swim-team parents. Through the lens of sport I've spent years on flow, performance, motivation, teamwork. I trained at North Baltimore Aquatic Club alongside Michael Phelps. I was an All-American at UVA, and competed at the 2004 Olympic Trials. Since then I've founded multiple ventures — marketing companies, a LegalTech company, a mental-health startup — and served as a marketing executive at NetWise (acquired by Dun & Bradstreet) and Mission Control AI. These days the work points one direction: applied generative AI — how it reshapes the way we build, learn, and run companies. I get to chase that question in the open, with students who are building the answers alongside me. Right now that looks like a book about marketing with AI, a startup-simulator game, and an exo-brain that keeps my other projects honest — the working list is just below. And when I'm not doing any of that, I'm hanging out with my family. ## Currently - **Teaching** — Entrepreneurship, Information Systems, Innovation and applied AI. Three courses per year at UVA McIntire. Spring 2026: a new applied-AI studio for builders. _(UVA McIntire · 2025/26)_ - **Building** — Helping students ship companies. Assistant Director of Student Entrepreneurship at UVA Innovates — the founder pipeline, idea to first revenue. _(UVA Innovates · 2024 — Now)_ - **Studying** — Generative AI in code, product, classroom. An ongoing field study. What changes when every student has a senior partner on tap, 24/7? _(Field notes · public)_ ## Projects (building now) - [Marketing Machine](https://marketingmachine.studio): Book · In progress · Drafting — The Way of the Marketing Engineer — a book about complexity, creativity, and marketing with A.I. - [Foundermode](https://foundermode.fun): Game · Building — A tycoon-style startup simulator — build the company, survive the pivots. - [HyperContext](https://hypercontext.me): Research preview · Prototype — An exo-brain that hooks into all of my AI projects — the source of truth on project status. Easter egg: the user-type slider at the top of the site is one of its UI experiments. - [Foundry Competitions](https://competitions.uvafoundry.com): Platform · Live — Software for running student startup competitions — from submissions through judging and results. - [Course Tools](https://coursetools.uvafoundry.com/): Course tools · Private beta — Tools and templates for teaching with AI — the kit I use in class and share with other instructors. ## Publishing - [Marketing Machine](https://marketingmachine.studio): Newsletter · On hold — Weekly notes on how marketing works when AI does most of the doing. On hold while I draft the book. (marketingmachine.studio) - [Zengineering](http://zengineeringpodcast.com): Podcast · since 2018 — Long-form conversations on engineering minds, philosophy, and practice. (zengineeringpodcast.com) - [Juris Project](https://jurisproject.io): Research lab · legaltech — A research lab downstream from my legaltech work — decentralized dispute resolution, smart contracts, and access to justice. The work continues. (jurisproject.io) ## Creative archive A bygone studio era — film, animation, creative direction, photography. Most of this is from 2006–2018. Kept here for the record; I don't take on new creative commissions, but the archives are open. - [Video & Film](https://adamkerpelman.com/film.html): Director · DP · Editor — 23 pieces · 2006–2018 - [Animation & Motion](https://adamkerpelman.com/animation.html): 2D · 3D · Titles — 14 pieces - [Design & Creative Direction](https://adamkerpelman.com/design.html): Brand · Editorial — 31 pieces - [Photography](https://adamkerpelman.com/photography.html): People · Nature · Abstract — 200+ images · 1996 — Now ## Contact - [Book a consulting call](https://calendly.com/profkerp/consulting) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkerpelman/) - [hello@marketingmachine.studio](mailto:hello@marketingmachine.studio)