Artie

Armando was the co-founder and CTO of Artie, an AI company originally focused on real-time, multimodal avatars that later expanded into gaming and web3. From 2017 to 2024, Artie grew to nearly 50 people, launched multiple products, and raised $40M from top-tier investors including Founders Fund, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and YouTube founder Chad Hurley.

Artie built advanced AI infrastructure including:

These innovations resulted in multiple U.S. patents. The company was acquired in 2024.

Virtual Reality and VFX

Before founding Artie, Armando worked in the film industry, primarily in production and visual effects. In 2015 he joined the pioneering VR studio Vrse.works (later Here Be Dragons), providing technical expertise on a range of notable VR projects, including the launch of Google Cardboard. He also worked with Meta on the launch of its first reality-capture camera system.

Select VR Projects

In 2016, Armando began experimenting with using AI to populate virtual worlds. The following year, he secured funding from Google to build the technology for a VR project featuring AI-powered characters that launched at Google I/O 2018 (Forbes). The project’s success convinced him to pursue AI full-time and ultimately led to the founding of Artie.

Select Press

Keynotes & Panels

Patents

Link to patents →