COMPANY INFO
Palona AI's actual company name is Proactive AI Lab, Inc. It was founded in 2024 by Maria Zhang, Steve Liu, and Tim Howes. The company has between 11 and 50 employees and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Palona AI operates in the artificial intelligence and software industries, offering AI technologies that boost direct-to-consumer (D2C) business growth. Palona develops proprietary AI systems with multi-agents and emotional intelligence language models to create personalized customer engagement and sales experiences, helping brands build lasting customer relationships and increase sales volume and order sizes. Their website is palona.ai.
Palona AI (Legal Name: Proactive AI Lab, Inc.) is a Palo Alto-based artificial intelligence company founded in 2024, specializing in AI technologies to empower direct-to-consumer (D2C) businesses. Leveraging proprietary multi-agent and emotional intelligence language models, Palona AI delivers personalized customer engagement solutions, helping brands build enduring relationships and drive higher sales.
The Palona AI leadership team features experienced innovators with deep expertise in artificial intelligence, SaaS, global operations, consumer branding, and product development. With backgrounds at major technology firms such as Google, Meta, Uber, and Shopify, the Palona AI executives bring a blend of technical acumen, operational excellence, and entrepreneurial vision to the company’s mission. The management team works collaboratively to accelerate growth, fundraising, and D2C market penetration, positioning Palona AI as a standout player in the AI industry.
Maria Zhang, as CEO and co-founder, drives Palona AI’s strategy, product roadmap, and vision to humanize AI-powered commerce for D2C brands and restaurants. Zhang led the transformative $10 million seed funding round in January 2025, secured key clients, and established Palona AI’s reputation for building emotionally intelligent AI systems that fuel sales and customer loyalty.
Zhang’s career spans senior leadership roles at Google (VP of Engineering, 2023–2024), Meta (Director of Product, 2021–2023), LinkedIn (Senior Engineering Lead, 2019–2021), and as CTO at Tinder (2017–2019). She holds a BS in Computer Science from Tsinghua University and an MS in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University, bringing 15 years of expertise in AI, machine learning, and consumer technology to her role as Palona AI CEO.
Tim Howes serves as CTO and co-founder, leading research and development of Palona AI’s multi-agent conversational AI engines. Howes architected the proprietary real-time voice-to-action framework, which underpins Palona’s virtual sales agents and achieved a 40% reduction in response latency—directly enhancing user experience for D2C partners.
Howes co-authored the LDAP protocol at the University of Michigan and has held pivotal roles as Director of AI Infrastructure at Meta (2022–2024) and VP of Engineering at Google (2019–2022). Before Palona AI, he co-founded AppSynth, an AI startup, and holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Michigan and a BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT, underlining his two decades of accomplishments in distributed computing and scalable AI systems.
Steve Liu, as COO and co-founder, oversees Palona AI’s global operations, incorporating HR, finance, and partnership development. Liu executed operational frameworks reducing onboarding time by 50% and established alliances with major restaurant chains to drive adoption and market expansion.
Liu brings international perspective from his tenure as Global Operations Director at Uber Eats (2020–2024), where he expanded APAC and EMEA operations, and earlier experience at Amazon as Senior Program Manager and at McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and is recognized for his expertise in scaling tech operations worldwide.
Alexandra Kim oversees Palona AI’s financial strategy, including fundraising and investor relations. Kim drove the company’s $10 million seed round and implemented robust financial models that boosted budgeting accuracy by 30%, supporting Palona AI’s rapid growth and positioning in the AI sector.
Kim’s financial leadership background includes VP of Finance at Stitch Fix (2021–2024), where she led IPO preparation, and earlier roles at Salesforce and Deloitte. She holds an MBA from Wharton and a BS in Accounting from UC Berkeley, with a proven track record in SaaS financial operations and venture capital fundraising.
Rafael Torres is CMO at Palona AI, leading go-to-market and branding initiatives. He launched the influential “Humanize AI” campaign, which increased inbound leads by 60% and elevated Palona AI’s brand presence across D2C and SaaS markets.
With past leadership as Head of Marketing at Zendesk (2020–2024) and branding experience at Coca-Cola and Bain & Company, Torres combines an MBA from Kellogg with over 12 years of experience in SaaS and global brand strategy to expand Palona AI’s marketing impact.
Nina Patel shapes Palona AI’s product vision as Chief Product Officer, pioneering features like the multimodal-ordering interface that increased average transaction value by 15%. Patel champions innovation in voice and chat AI products, strengthening the company’s leadership in D2C customer engagement.
Prior to joining Palona AI, Patel was Senior Director of Product at Shopify, overseeing AR shopping features, and held product and UX roles at eBay and IDEO. She holds an MS in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Industrial Design from Georgia Tech, bringing a strong focus on user experience and AI-driven product innovation.
David Gómez heads engineering at Palona AI, scaling technical teams and enhancing system reliability to 99.99% through microservices architecture. His leadership enabled the platform to support a fivefold increase in concurrent user sessions, essential to Palona AI’s rapid growth.
Gómez joins from Lyft (Senior Engineering Manager, 2021–2024) and Tesla (Autonomous Systems Lead, 2018–2021), with advanced degrees from Stanford and the University of Waterloo, and a decade of experience in distributed and high-availability software systems.
Sarah Williams leads Palona AI’s HR and talent acquisition, doubling the company’s headcount and reducing turnover to under 5%. Williams built a collaborative, high-performing culture crucial to scaling a fast-growing technology company.
Her background includes HR leadership at Docker and Google Cloud, and advanced degrees in organizational psychology from Columbia and Michigan, focusing on talent strategy and organization development for startups and growth-stage companies.
Michael Chen established Palona AI’s customer onboarding and engagement programs, driving retention rates to 90% and increasing user forum participation by 40%. Chen ensures that customers realize maximum value from Palona AI’s solutions, reinforcing brand advocacy and long-term partnerships.
Previously, he led customer success at Intercom, managed client accounts at Salesforce, and holds an MBA from Boston University and a BS from UC Irvine, with a focus on SaaS customer experience and account management.
The Palona AI management team combines exceptional technical, operational, and market expertise, with founders and executives from top global technology firms. This experienced group of Palona AI executives and founders leads the company with a focus on product innovation, scalable business operations, and research-driven AI advancements. Strong cross-functional collaboration and a commitment to customer-centric growth define the Palona AI leadership structure, ensuring the company remains agile and positioned for sustained impact in the artificial intelligence sector.
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