Brendan Foody

Brendan Foody is the co-founder and CEO of Mercor, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence platform focused on leveraging human expertise to train and improve AI systems. Foody and his co-founders developed a model that connects companies with skilled engineers abroad, manages logistics, and facilitates the creation of training data and evaluations for AI models. Mercor's marketplace enables professionals—including consultants, lawyers, bankers, and doctors—to develop rubrics and assessments that test and refine AI reasoning and performance.

Before Mercor, Foody built an AWS credits consulting business for sneaker resellers, scaling it into a six-figure venture. He studied business administration and economics at Georgetown University before leaving to pursue entrepreneurship. Alongside co-founders Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, Foody received the Thiel Fellowship, a grant awarded to young entrepreneurs to support company-building efforts.

Mercor has achieved significant growth, becoming one of the fastest-growing companies to reach major revenue milestones. The company collaborates with leading technology firms and top AI research labs to source experts who create training data and evaluations that enhance AI model accuracy. Mercor compensates contributors who train artificial intelligence systems and has reached a multibillion-dollar valuation following a Series C funding round.

Foody and his co-founders became some of the youngest self-made billionaires following Mercor's valuation. Foody has been recognized on the Forbes Billionaires list and Forbes 30 Under 30. With a background in competitive speaking, including national recognition in extemporaneous speaking, Foody is an active voice in discussions about the future of AI and the evolving nature of work. In public forums such as Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders, he has discussed the importance of agentic data in AI training and the growing demand for human-led AI evaluation and benchmarking. Foody describes this trend as a new category of work, emphasizing the role of contractors in improving AI model accuracy and reasoning.