Power Moves is a recurring series where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us at [email protected].
Pittsburgh’s massive push into the physical AI scene could mean more jobs for locals in the near future.
A new venture studio launched last week aims to scale AI ventures and grow jobs, while an AI hardware company says it intends to hire hundreds to fill new roles over the next five years.
Plus, a Pittsburgh business school gets a new interim dean.
Keep reading for more details on those stories, and other recent power moves.
2 tech experts launch AI venture studio
Arsenal AI last week launched to foster regional AI startups while providing strategic consulting to established businesses.
The company primarily operates as a venture studio that — alongside cash investments via SAFE notes — trades its engineering team’s time for equity in portfolio companies. Unlike some venture studios, Arsenal doesn’t intend to own the IP of startups it works with, according to cofounders Jacob Rayburg and Chris Quimby.
“We’re looking for leaders of industries that have great ideas that are primed to innovate, and we want to apply emerging, cutting-edge technology to make that innovation possible,” Rayburg told Technical.ly. “So, though it’s deeply related, we do think of ourselves as a venture platform and AI consultancy.”
Four startups are already working with Arsenal:
- SymphonyMR — A medtech company developing virtual reality goggles that allow surgeons to view and manipulate imaging like CT scans during surgery.
- Assembuild — An AI platform for housing developers to navigate zoning and other regulations.
- Fathom Shield Solutions — An IT and cybersecurity modernization company focused on military and federal government applications.
- Heirwise — A legal-tech startup helping people execute last wills and testaments.
Arsenal AI’s cofounders met through mutual friends at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Schwartz Center of Entrepreneurship. Both have technical backgrounds and experience implementing technology in large, data-heavy enterprises.
“We believe deep in our core that AI not only makes it possible to create a company in half the amount of time and with half of the amount of money,” Rayburg said, “but we believe that that will empower many more entrepreneurs in the world.”
There’s a deeper mission behind Arsenal though — to grow jobs and the tax base in Pittsburgh.
“We want to keep the most innovative, exciting companies in Pittsburgh,” Rayburg said, “because they’re already being created here.”
Arsenal is currently operating out of the coworking space Field Day in Lawrenceville, but Quimby said the company plans to make a move to a new space later this year.
Hellbender expands HQ, expects to hire in Hazelwood
AI hardware developer Hellbender is doubling its footprint in Pittsburgh and anticipates hiring 500 more local positions over the next five years.
The company secured a 10-year lease for a 90,000-square-foot space at the Roundhouse at Hazelwood Green. Its accompanying 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at nearby Mill 19 is expected to open in early 2027. The company previously had plans to move its headquarters at the University of Pittsburgh’s Applied Research Center in Harmar to a space along AI Avenue, but ultimately didn’t make the transition.
“Our new facilities give us the infrastructure to scale with that demand [for physical AI], and the opportunity to attract the industry’s best talent and build critical AI infrastructure in the United States,” Brian Beyer, cofounder and CEO of Hellbender, said in the announcement.
Hellbender plans to make some of the new jobs — which span across manufacturing, hardware engineering, product development and operations — available to Hazelwood and surrounding neighborhood residents by partnering with local workforce and community organizations, according to the release.
Founded in 2021, Hellbender makes smart camera systems for robots, machines and industrial sites. Its expansion comes after the company closed a $12.5 million seed round in May.
Hellbender’s new Mill 19 manufacturing facility places it near other major manufacturing operations, including CMU’s Manufacturing Futures Institute, the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, as well as CMU’s Robotics Innovation Center and the University of Pittsburgh’s BioForge biomanufacturing center.
“We considered several potential sites, including Bakery Square, and we were grateful for the strong interest and support there,” Beyer said. “In the end, Hazelwood Green was the right fit for Hellbender’s needs and long-term growth, giving the company a full campus with the space, infrastructure and ecosystem it needs to scale in Pittsburgh.”
New interim dean at CMU’s business school
CMU’s Tepper School of Business named Laurence Ales as its new interim dean in July.
Ales has spent nearly two decades as an educator, researcher and academic leader at the Tepper School, specializing in tax policy and the labor implications of technological change. Now, he’ll be tasked with leading the business school while CMU continues its search for its next dean.
“The Tepper School has been my professional home for the last 18 years, and it is a great honor to serve as interim dean,” Ales said in the announcement. “The school is in an excellent position to seize the opportunities offered by a rapidly transforming landscape in business and higher education.
Ales succeeds Dean Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, who ended her six-year tenure and will return to the faculty in the 2027-28 academic year.
CMU currently outperforms national hiring trends, according to a recent report from the university. At the Tepper School, 83% of grads received a job offer within three months of graduation.
More power moves:
- The ARM Institute launched an expanded RoboticsCareer.org to offer more physical AI job opportunities.
- University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel joined the board of Ambitious Bio, a life sciences startup in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working to generate biological data for AI models.
- Life Sciences PA hired Joe Vanaskey as its vice president of membership development.
- Joe Hipsky, cofounder of software development company IRA Logix, began a new role at fintech startup Troutwood as its new president and head of enterprise sales.
- The University of Pittsburgh’s Life Sciences Bridge Program, which provides career pathways for Greater Hazelwood residents, is launching its second cohort later this month. The program accepts applications on a rolling basis.
- OpenAI Foundation and Group PBC added BNY Chairman and CEO Robin Vince to their boards.
