Meet our Leadership
We are a community of investors, technologists, and experts from across the economy. We created Andaris to provide a platform where investors can engage the emerging AI economy with confidence, maximizing opportunity and managing risk.
Mike Kubzansky
Founder and Managing Director
Mike has been making sense of what tech revolutions mean for society and shareholders for more than 30 years, from Web 1.0 to today. He founded Andaris, both excited about AI’s transformative potential, and clear-eyed about the immense work and intentionality it will take to reach that potential. Andaris is dedicated to helping investors play their part in getting us to an AI economy that serves humanity’s best interests. Mike launched Andaris in 2026 after stepping down as CEO of Omidyar Network (ON), where he led the 2023 reorientation of all of ON’s work to center on ensuring the generative AI revolution is well managed, productive, and a force for good.
Mike has been making sense of what tech revolutions mean for society and shareholders for more than 30 years, from Web 1.0 to today. He founded Andaris, both excited about AI’s transformative potential, and clear-eyed about the immense work and intentionality it will take to reach that potential. Andaris is dedicated to helping investors play their part in getting us to an AI economy that serves humanity’s best interests.
Mike launched Andaris in 2026 after stepping down as CEO of Omidyar Network (ON), where he led the 2023 reorientation of all of ON’s work to center on ensuring the generative AI revolution is well managed, productive, and a force for good. Among many other efforts, he spearheaded an investor consortia of other philanthropies and family offices to take stakes in AI startups like Anthropic, Sakana, and Groq, which provided the inspiration for the Andaris community. Equally important, he engaged deeply on AI policy matters in Washington and multiple states from New York to California, and with key ecosystem players from the Foundation for American Innovation to the AFL-CIO to Y Combinator. He served as an IC member at ON in its prior strategies, especially for investments in fin tech and civic tech.
In his 13+ years at Omidyar Network, he worked extensively with upstream investors, including pension funds, philanthropic endowments, and family offices in various capacities – as a thought leader and practitioner on early impact investing in the 2010s, as a member of the US Impact Investing Alliance advisory board, engaging with the Giving Pledge community, and establishing the Global Innovation Fund. He also engaged extensively via grantees like For the Long Term and membership organizations like the National Association of State Treasurers.
Mike frequently speaks at events for institutional and other investors – comptrollers, state treasurers, pension funds, family offices, philanthropic and university endowments, and others – on AI as an investment thesis, on AI governance and policy, and on the effects of AI on the broader economy and especially the economic and social consequences for jobs and wages. He has published extensively in publications from HBR to Fast Company, Barrons, and beyond, regarding artificial intelligence, impact investing, emerging markets investing, tech and tech regulation, jobs and future of work(ers), and philanthropy, and taught several classes on emerging markets venture investing at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
For three decades, Mike has been at the forefront of new technologies, playing a leading role in innovations like digital identity, a crucial enabler of the digital economy in everything from financial services to health care delivery to AI, in both developed and emerging economies.
Mike cut his teeth at a picks and shovels startup during Web 1.0, where he learned about tech infrastructure booms and busts, and how quickly a seeming moat can disappear in the face of both economic, regulatory and legal developments well outside the control of an enterprise’s management.
At Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte) in the 1990s Mike built a practice helping clients in telecom, tech, and satellites make sense of how first telecom deregulation and then the internet were fundamentally changing the way they do business. In the early aughts, Mike led a program at the private sector arm of the World Bank Group (IFC) to promote more investment in emerging markets from other emerging markets. By Web 2.0, Mike was part of the team advancing fintech work at ON, doing deep dives on credit scoring innovations, mobile payments platforms, central bank digital fiat currency, and more general field-building efforts on the digitization of cash.
Mike has served as a board member of the Better than Cash Alliance, the US Impact Investing Alliance, and the Norrsken Foundation in Sweden, which itself is an LP in several leading venture funds in Europe and Africa. He also served as Vice Chair of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s impact investing committee.
A proud New Englander, Mike has travelled to more than 60 countries, 46 US states, and 24 US National Parks. He also lived on four continents before settling in Washington, DC, where he was converted from a long-suffering Red Sox fan to a long-suffering Nationals fan. Mike has trained in the finer arts of improv theater. He’s unfortunately still not that funny, but his Golden Retriever still enjoys his jokes while his wife and two adult children tolerate them with love.
Mike has an MBA from Northwestern (Kellogg) and a BA from Brown University. Mike has published extensively on these topics, as detailed on his LinkedIn page.
Mike Kubzansky
Founder and Managing Director
Mike has been making sense of what tech revolutions mean for society and shareholders for more than 30 years, from Web 1.0 to today. He founded Andaris, both excited about AI’s transformative potential, and clear-eyed about the immense work and intentionality it will take to reach that potential. Andaris is dedicated to helping investors play their part in getting us to an AI economy that serves humanity’s best interests. Mike launched Andaris in 2026 after stepping down as CEO of Omidyar Network (ON), where he led the 2023 reorientation of all of ON’s work to center on ensuring the generative AI revolution is well managed, productive, and a force for good.
Mike has been making sense of what tech revolutions mean for society and shareholders for more than 30 years, from Web 1.0 to today. He founded Andaris, both excited about AI’s transformative potential, and clear-eyed about the immense work and intentionality it will take to reach that potential. Andaris is dedicated to helping investors play their part in getting us to an AI economy that serves humanity’s best interests.
Mike launched Andaris in 2026 after stepping down as CEO of Omidyar Network (ON), where he led the 2023 reorientation of all of ON’s work to center on ensuring the generative AI revolution is well managed, productive, and a force for good. Among many other efforts, he spearheaded an investor consortia of other philanthropies and family offices to take stakes in AI startups like Anthropic, Sakana, and Groq, which provided the inspiration for the Andaris community. Equally important, he engaged deeply on AI policy matters in Washington and multiple states from New York to California, and with key ecosystem players from the Foundation for American Innovation to the AFL-CIO to Y Combinator. He served as an IC member at ON in its prior strategies, especially for investments in fin tech and civic tech.
In his 13+ years at Omidyar Network, he worked extensively with upstream investors, including pension funds, philanthropic endowments, and family offices in various capacities – as a thought leader and practitioner on early impact investing in the 2010s, as a member of the US Impact Investing Alliance advisory board, engaging with the Giving Pledge community, and establishing the Global Innovation Fund. He also engaged extensively via grantees like For the Long Term and membership organizations like the National Association of State Treasurers.
Mike frequently speaks at events for institutional and other investors – comptrollers, state treasurers, pension funds, family offices, philanthropic and university endowments, and others – on AI as an investment thesis, on AI governance and policy, and on the effects of AI on the broader economy and especially the economic and social consequences for jobs and wages. He has published extensively in publications from HBR to Fast Company, Barrons, and beyond, regarding artificial intelligence, impact investing, emerging markets investing, tech and tech regulation, jobs and future of work(ers), and philanthropy, and taught several classes on emerging markets venture investing at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
For three decades, Mike has been at the forefront of new technologies, playing a leading role in innovations like digital identity, a crucial enabler of the digital economy in everything from financial services to health care delivery to AI, in both developed and emerging economies.
Mike cut his teeth at a picks and shovels startup during Web 1.0, where he learned about tech infrastructure booms and busts, and how quickly a seeming moat can disappear in the face of both economic, regulatory and legal developments well outside the control of an enterprise’s management.
At Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte) in the 1990s Mike built a practice helping clients in telecom, tech, and satellites make sense of how first telecom deregulation and then the internet were fundamentally changing the way they do business. In the early aughts, Mike led a program at the private sector arm of the World Bank Group (IFC) to promote more investment in emerging markets from other emerging markets. By Web 2.0, Mike was part of the team advancing fintech work at ON, doing deep dives on credit scoring innovations, mobile payments platforms, central bank digital fiat currency, and more general field-building efforts on the digitization of cash.
Mike has served as a board member of the Better than Cash Alliance, the US Impact Investing Alliance, and the Norrsken Foundation in Sweden, which itself is an LP in several leading venture funds in Europe and Africa. He also served as Vice Chair of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s impact investing committee.
A proud New Englander, Mike has travelled to more than 60 countries, 46 US states, and 24 US National Parks. He also lived on four continents before settling in Washington, DC, where he was converted from a long-suffering Red Sox fan to a long-suffering Nationals fan. Mike has trained in the finer arts of improv theater. He’s unfortunately still not that funny, but his Golden Retriever still enjoys his jokes while his wife and two adult children tolerate them with love.
Mike has an MBA from Northwestern (Kellogg) and a BA from Brown University. Mike has published extensively on these topics, as detailed on his LinkedIn page.
Jerome Nicolai
Chief of Staff
Jerome is Andaris' Chief of Staff. He came from Omidyar Network, where he worked on the firm's AI for-profit investments and on AI policy analysis. Before that, he worked at Techstars, one of the world's largest pre-seed venture investors, served as digital economy attaché at the Embassy of France in Washington, and worked on Microsoft's European government affairs team. He holds a joint master's in transatlantic affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and a master's in economic law from Sciences Po in Paris, France.
Jerome Nicolai
Chief of Staff
Jerome is Andaris' Chief of Staff. He came from Omidyar Network, where he worked on the firm's AI for-profit investments and on AI policy analysis. Before that, he worked at Techstars, one of the world's largest pre-seed venture investors, served as digital economy attaché at the Embassy of France in Washington, and worked on Microsoft's European government affairs team. He holds a joint master's in transatlantic affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and a master's in economic law from Sciences Po in Paris, France.
Jerome Nicolai
Chief of Staff
Jerome is Andaris' Chief of Staff. He came from Omidyar Network, where he worked on the firm's AI for-profit investments and on AI policy analysis. Before that, he worked at Techstars, one of the world's largest pre-seed venture investors, served as digital economy attaché at the Embassy of France in Washington, and worked on Microsoft's European government affairs team. He holds a joint master's in transatlantic affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and a master's in economic law from Sciences Po in Paris, France.
Ellie Hartpence
Head of Operations
Ellie Hartpence is Head of Operations at Andaris. Previously, she served as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of PowWater, a technology-enabled water distribution network in East Africa. Based in Nairobi for five years, she built PowWater into the region’s largest private water supplier. With backing from the Gates Foundation, USAID, Stanford GSB’s venture fund, Goodwater Capital, Boost VC, and European government agencies, PowWater has distributed over one billion liters of water. Prior to PowWater, Ellie worked at J.P. Morgan in New York and San Francisco, advising ultra-high-net-worth families, family offices, foundations, and institutional endowments on capital allocation. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022 and holds a B.A. from Williams College.
Ellie Hartpence
Head of Operations
Ellie Hartpence is Head of Operations at Andaris. Previously, she served as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of PowWater, a technology-enabled water distribution network in East Africa. Based in Nairobi for five years, she built PowWater into the region’s largest private water supplier. With backing from the Gates Foundation, USAID, Stanford GSB’s venture fund, Goodwater Capital, Boost VC, and European government agencies, PowWater has distributed over one billion liters of water. Prior to PowWater, Ellie worked at J.P. Morgan in New York and San Francisco, advising ultra-high-net-worth families, family offices, foundations, and institutional endowments on capital allocation. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022 and holds a B.A. from Williams College.
Brendan Lehan
Network Director
Brendan Lehan is a strategist and advisor who helps leaders and organizations navigate change through growth, adaptation, and more effective collaboration. For the last decade he has helped organizations develop strategies to tackle complex issues like education inequality, climate change, and financial inclusion, working with senior leaders to design adaptive strategies and build them into how their organizations work. Previously, Brendan was at the Monitor Institute, part of Deloitte Consulting, and on the internal strategy team at Omidyar Network. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Brendan Lehan
Network Director
Brendan Lehan is a strategist and advisor who helps leaders and organizations navigate change through growth, adaptation, and more effective collaboration. For the last decade he has helped organizations develop strategies to tackle complex issues like education inequality, climate change, and financial inclusion, working with senior leaders to design adaptive strategies and build them into how their organizations work. Previously, Brendan was at the Monitor Institute, part of Deloitte Consulting, and on the internal strategy team at Omidyar Network. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Senior Advisors
Advisors, Directors, and others
Kelly Born
Senior Advisor on AI and Senior Advisor on Democracy, David and Lucile Packard Foundation
