Featured Founder: John Licato of Actualization.AI

Welcome to our Featured Founder series, where you’ll meet startup founders from Tampa-St. Petersburg who are building and scaling their ventures to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. We interviewed John Licato of Actualization.AI, which makes AI follow the rules by developing cutting-edge tools that ensure artificial intelligence systems align with human ethics, rules, and regulations.

What inspired you to launch your company?

Before launching Actualization.AI, I was (and still am) an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Florida, creating and leading the Advancing Machine and Human Reasoning (AMHR) Lab. My work centered on artificial intelligence and human reasoning, and I saw firsthand the growing need to ensure AI systems are both effective and ethically sound. This realization inspired me to create Actualization.AI, leveraging the work developed in my lab, to address the critical gap between AI innovation and its ethical, real-world applications.

What pain point is your company solving? What gets you excited to go to work every day?

Actualization.AI is making sure that AI follows human rules. More specifically, we are addressing the challenge of ensuring AI systems remain ethical, secure, and compliant with human-defined standards as they scale. With AI increasingly integrated into critical decision-making, preventing unintended consequences is paramount. But not only are people anxious about adopting AI, they’re also worried they don’t know how to properly test and vet their AI. That’s where we come in.

We’re motivated by the opportunity to create AI systems that not only excel in their tasks but also earn the trust and confidence of users across industries, in a rapidly changing field. Every single day, it seems there’s a new AI-related breakthrough. That means new possibilities, but also new dangers to watch out for. So we are never bored!

Name the biggest challenge you faced in the process of launching the company. How did you overcome it?

A major challenge was translating the deeply technical and academic aspects of my research into actionable, industry-ready tools. To overcome this, I collaborated with a diverse team of experts in engineering, ethics, and AI systems to bridge the gap between theory and practice, ensuring our solutions were both practical and impactful. We’re still figuring it out of course, but we’re learning quickly and always willing to have our minds changed when faced with evidence.

Where do you see your company headed next?

In the short-term, we’re about to drop our alpha release and are actively looking for new partners of all types. We aim to scale our tools for broader adoption in sectors like healthcare, finance, and defense, where ethical AI is especially critical.

Long-term, we think we can define a new category—we want to provide safety and security certifications for AI products. Our roadmap includes partnerships with organizations seeking to validate the safety and compliance of their AI systems and expanding our capabilities to address emerging challenges in generative AI and automated decision-making.

Give us a tactical piece of advice that you’d share with another founder just starting out.

Focus on building a strong foundation—understand your market, identify your unique value proposition, and assemble a team that complements your strengths. Above all, stay adaptable; the ability to pivot based on feedback is crucial for growth.

Also: work hard, play hard, and sleep well!

Why Tampa Bay?

Tampa Bay offers a thriving ecosystem for innovation, with a growing tech community, a new AI and Cybersecurity college coming to USF, and incredible resources like Embarc Collective. Its collaborative environment, combined with its quality of life, makes it the ideal place to grow a business focused on cutting-edge AI solutions.