Origin Story

Cognovi stands for “New Cognition,” combining Cog (as in cognitive) with Novi (a play on novus, the Latin word for new).

Beni Gradwohl used to believe that cold hard data defines the world. Not surprising for an astrophysicist turned business executive. But exposure to behavioral economics drastically changed his view. This kick-started his journey to find a systematic way to measure human decision-making and understand how people behave.

At the same  time, Dr. Amit Sheth, one of the world’s most cited computer scientists, developed the NLP platform Twitris at Wright State University’s famed Kno.e.sis Center. The patented technology was supported with millions of dollars in grants from the US Air Force, Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, and validated with hundreds of academic papers. Ikove Capital identified Twitris for commercialization.

When Beni found himself at Kno.e.sis and Ikove, Cognovi Labs as we know it was born.