When Jack Hidary discovered coding at the age of 12, he was immediately fascinated by what computers could do to connect the world. And he has never lost that curiosity.
Today, Hidary is CEO of SandboxAQ, which creates enterprise solutions that bring together AI and quantum technology – an emerging field of physics and technology that relies on quantum mechanics.
One key focus of Hidary’s career has been neuroscience, which he studied at Columbia University.
“The brain is a fascinating and complex example of bioware. It computes in a very different way than traditional coding,” he tells The CEO Magazine.
“Combining the coding experience with neuroscience led to a deeper appreciation for the emerging field of neural networks, which is now transforming whole sectors in our economy.”
Hidary won the Stanley Fellowship in Clinical Neuroscience at National Institutes of Health, where he went on to work in functional brain imaging – which he likens to a video camera for the brain – and neural networks.
“Instead of just giving us a static picture of how the brain looks as in a typical MRI or CAT scan, fMRI shows us in real time a movie of the brain as it is working,” he says.
“Like movies in a theater, these are a series of images recorded and shown very quickly and so they reveal to us the patterns of how the brain is receiving and sending signals to the rest of the body.”
“I always knew that I would be an entrepreneur, as I find it a very creative pursuit and a great way to interact with a lot of interesting people.”
To envision this, he suggests, picture a subject in the scanner who is asked to move their right index finger.
“A very specific spot on their left hemisphere will light up with activity that drives this movement,” he says. “Functional neuroimaging is an incredibly powerful tool in understanding how the brain’s many functional areas interact with each other and the rest of the body.”
Hidary’s lab team developed early neural networks to find patterns of activity in the functional brain scans.
“It worked,” he says proudly. “I was the computer geek in a group of physician-scientists, so it was a very fun experience to interact and teach each other about these fields that are converging.”
Entrepreneurial beginnings
In 1995, Hidary co-founded EarthWeb, a company dedicated to the needs of tech professionals. He co-founded the company with his brother, Murray Hidary, and friend, Nova Spivack, leading the company from its inception through three rounds of investment and then its IPO on NASDAQ.
Under his leadership as Chair and CEO, EarthWeb acquired Dice.com, which connects visitors with jobs, and other sites dedicated to the needs of IT professionals. He ran the company for three years.
These activities seemed like natural next steps for someone who started businesses in both high school and college.
“One of my first startups was selling books in my community in Brooklyn,” he says. “I made it easy for local community members to buy books for themselves and to gift them to others. People loved it.
“It got to such a scale that I filled up the entire basement of my house with inventory that I had to then deliver all around the neighborhood. I should have gone online with it.”
“SandboxAQ is the embodiment of this mission to use advanced computing – both AI and quantum technologies (AQ) – to address these large problems.”
Startups proved to be a great crash course, giving him insight to everything from serving customers to managing finances.
“I always knew that I would be an entrepreneur, as I find it a very creative pursuit and a great way to interact with a lot of interesting people,” he says. “I love building teams and seeing individuals express their potential. Startups are a great way to challenge yourself and grow in new areas.”
Solving world problems
In 2016, Hidary joined Alphabet, leading teams focusing on AI and quantum technologies. He became part of what was spun out into an independent company called SandboxAQ.
“Every day was an adventure with a great group of smart people who wanted to change the world,” Hidary says. “We started to build a group that combined physicists and other scientists along with engineers to try out some new ideas in computing and applying quantum technology.”
One concept they tested was quantum sensors made of synthetic diamonds that can detect very faint magnetic fields, a capability that has medical applications. The human heart has a very faint magnetic field, and a diagnostic sensor for the heart could have a big impact on detected cardiovascular disease, he says.
Working on projects like this led Hidary to conclude that advanced computing would transform every sector of the economy and could yield solutions to very hard problems facing the world.
“The ability to model a molecule in a large computer system and modify it virtually billions of times to see the effect before synthesizing it and preparing it for clinical trials can dramatically speed the time from molecule to medicine,” he says.
“SandboxAQ is the embodiment of this mission to use advanced computing – both AI and quantum technologies (AQ) – to address these large problems.”
Sharing the impact
Public service has been an important part of Hidary’s life. He is a trustee of the X-PRIZE Foundation, which organizes competitions to find solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, and has been a board member of Trickle Up, which helps thousands of people start small businesses each year.
“My team and I are very active in engaging more people about STEM and the positive impact they can have with STEM skills”
He also established the Hidary Foundation, which funds medical oncology research and has supported projects at Sloan Kettering and the University of California San Francisco. The World Economic Forum has also recognized him for his leadership.
“I am very passionate about learning,” he says. “We have failed as a society to build a great learning process that scales.
“Through SandboxAQ and through personal initiatives, my team and I are very active in engaging more people about STEM and the positive impact they can have with STEM skills.”
Outside of work, Hidary’s passion is travel and exploration. One recent trip was an expedition to Antarctica, where he co-led a group of scientists from multiple fields.
“We are collaborating on ways to apply AI and other computational tools to the fields of glaciology and biodiversity,” he says.
He also loves going to concerts and trying out new restaurants around the world, but never without an AI mindset.
“Friends from many countries are always texting me for novel restaurant tips. I wonder if AI and quantum can help us predict which restaurants will succeed,” he ponders.
