Jeff Watson

Jeff Watson was born in Toronto, Canada.He grew up in one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse urban centres in one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. His foundational life experiences immediately clashed with external expectations and rhetoric, as he knew only a harmonious, pan-cultural, racially diverse social climate from his earliest moments in life. The world offered that we are all irrevocably divided and that only extreme solutions or mandates could resolve...See more

Jeff Watson was born in Toronto, Canada.He grew up in one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse urban centres in one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. His foundational life experiences immediately clashed with external expectations and rhetoric, as he knew only a harmonious, pan-cultural, racially diverse social climate from his earliest moments in life. The world offered that we are all irrevocably divided and that only extreme solutions or mandates could resolve our apparently irreconcilable differences. Watson joined the Canadian Armed Forces as an infantry officer at age eighteen, was promoted to the rank of Captain at age twenty-one, and deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, as a mechanized infantry platoon commander in the same year. He was slotted for a senior technological and policy position in the military upon his return, leading an army-level team fielding novel weapons systems, platforms, and supporting training design and policy. He retired from the military in 2015, as he felt that the purpose and engagement he sought in that career was no longer present, opting to engage his passions as a private citizen. From experiences like professional musician to foundational partner in an artificial intelligence company to friend and counsel to close relations and even strangers in his life, Watson sought to better interface and understand the world and himself through a variety of means. His focus has always been the improvement of humanity through understanding and growth. As he often says, "We should be doing so much better than we are today, but people would rather live in the fight than actually work to solve tangible problems in a material way." See less