Thomas Dillig, PhD
Tom is a digital engineer. He is very knowledgeable about technology and products, technical leadership, figuring out the best way to implement a blueprint, and building systems well and efficiently.
He has dedicated his life to building things that are useful. His passion is to build well, creatively, and intelligently.
His Story
Deep and comprehensive understanding of digital technology and its applications
For as long as he can remember, Tom has been deeply passionate about any kind of technology. He started exploring anything engineering-related as soon as he could walk. He expanded his digital knowledge by getting a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and PhD in Computer Science from Stanford. During his PhD work, he specialized in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, pioneering new techniques that moved these important topics forward. Later, as a tech and R&D consultant and since the founding of BLU SPHINX®, Tom has developed an extensive and detailed understanding of digital products and technologies that are available to small and large businesses. This ranges from open-source solutions to commercial products to in-house developments. In this capacity, he also observed what works and does not work in the real world, and got first-hand experience with industry benchmarks. Throughout, Tom has worked to uncover the essence of technical problems and find the ways in which seemingly different problems relate to each other.
Master of existing technologies and innovator
During his PhD, Tom realized that with his technical can-do attitude, he can not only master existing technologies, but he also has what it takes to innovate and create new technologies. After his PhD, he held faculty positions at College of William & Mary, University College London, and University of Texas at Austin. In his academic career, he co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed research articles that pioneered new methods in program verification and constraint solving. He was awarded multi-million award grants from public organizations, including the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
His passion for solving important problems led him to work in industry, where at BLU SPHINX® Tom led the technical efforts to create novel solutions such as a digital business war-game platform. Recently he led the technical development of a new AI-based open-source business platform by BLU SPHINX® that replaces legacy ERP systems for small and midsize businesses, and was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Outstanding technical leadership
He believes that intelligent management requires a strong command of facts, both at the big-picture and detailed levels. He relishes switching between hands-on development work and strategic thinking. He is passionate about getting results by putting the right people on the team and empowering them to take responsibility and initiative, in order to bring out the best in them. Tom has demonstrated his technical leadership abilities in multiple efforts, including the rescue of a software product for a leading technology company, the development of new mobile security technologies for the US Government/DARPA, and the digital transformation of a manufacturing company.
A passion for anything engineering-related
He has also applied his skills to residential construction. He is an electrician and has designed and built smart lighting controls, home automation solutions, home media solutions, irrigation systems, pool controls, outdoor living spaces, and HVAC systems for private homes.
He is fluent in English and German and has notions of French. He was born and grew up in Munich, Germany. He spent a year in rural Nebraska as a high-school exchange student. He has lived in the US for more than fifteen years, in Silicon Valley, New York, Virginia, and other places. He now lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife Aurelie.
