Line 1:
*#REDIRECT [[Alef Aeronautics]]▼
{{Short description|American entrepreneur and innovator}}
{{Infobox person
{{Rcat shell|
| name = Jim Dukhovny
{{R to related topic}}
| image = JimDukhovnyAtPresentation2022-10-19.jpg
| caption = Jim Dukhovny during his presentation on October 19, 2022
| birth_place = [[Kyiv]], Ukraine
| nationality = American
| occupation = Entrepreneur, Innovator
| education = [[University of California, Berkeley]]<br>[[Santa Clara University]]<br> [[Stanford University]]
| title = [[CEO]] of [[Alef Aeronautics]]
| father = [[Leonid Dukhovny]]
| awards = 2023 Bronco Entrepreneur of the Year
}}
'''Jim Dukhovny''' is an American [[entrepreneur]] and [[innovator]], known primarily as the founder and CEO of [[Alef Aeronautics]],<ref name=cnn>{{cite web |last=Isidore |first=Chris |title=A flying car prototype just got an airworthiness certificate from the FAA |date=July 6, 2023 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/03/tech/flying-car-faa/index.html |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=CNN}}</ref><ref name=cnbc>{{cite news |last=Browne |first=Ryan |title=Alef CEO: 2025 target for flying car 'actually pretty realistic'. |date=March 4, 2024 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/04/flying-car-firm-alef-hits-2850-preorders-worth-over-850-million.html |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=CNBC}}</ref> a company dedicated to developing electric flying cars.<ref>{{cite video | date = July 13, 2023 | title = Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny talks FAA's approval of Alef's flying car | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa4UbwTsLYA | access-date = 2024-06-05 | publisher = CNBC Television}}</ref> Dukhovny has a diverse background in software engineering, architecture, and transportation technology.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kamisher |first=Eliyahu |title=Q&A: Jim Dukhovny, nightclub DJ turned tech CEO. His latest business – flying cars. |date=January 10, 2023 |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/11/11/qa-jim-dukhovny-nightclub-dj-turned-tech-ceo-his-latest-business-flying-cars/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Mercury News}}</ref>
==Early life and education==
Jim Dukhovny was born in [[Kyiv]], Ukraine, then part of the [[Soviet Union]]. His father, [[Leonid Dukhovny]], was a singer-songwriter, poet, and scientist. In 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, his family immigrated to the [[Bay Area]], settling in [[Palo Alto]], California.<ref>{{cite web |last=Demicheva |first=Valerie |title=In Silicon Valley, Alef’s post-Soviet CEO imagines a future with flying cars |date=March 30, 2023|url=https://jweekly.com/2023/03/30/in-silicon-valley-this-ukrainian-immigrant-is-inventing-the-flying-car-of-his-dreams/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The Jewish News of Northern California}}</ref> Dukhovny attended [[Palo Alto High School]] and later pursued higher education at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently obtained a master's degree from [[Santa Clara University]] and received a certificate in global business (BUS-217) from [[Stanford University]].<ref name=SCU>{{cite journal |last=D'Urzo |first=Francesca |title=Where We’re Going, We Won’t Need Roads |publisher=Santa Clara Magazine |date=October 1, 2023 |url=https://magazine.scu.edu/magazines/2023/spring-2023/where-were-going-we-wont-need-roads/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Santa Clara University}}</ref>
==Career==
Dukhovny began his professional career in 2002 as the founder and CEO of DjWizard Presentation Promotion, organizing and hosting various events, including a 400-person ''Intellectual Trivia'' event.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jim Dukhovny. "What? When? Where?" trivia game host |url=https://rsa.stanford.edu/djwizard/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Standford University}}</ref> In 2004, he joined [[Walmart]] eCommerce as a lead software engineer, contributing to the development of core systems for Walmart.com and the Pricing Management System.<ref>{{cite web |title=Future of Transportation |date=April 25, 2024 |url=https://www.acg.org/sv/events/future-transportation |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=ACG}}</ref><ref name=theorg>{{cite web |title=Jim Dukhovny. CEO at Alef Aeronautics |date=2024 |url=https://theorg.com/org/armada-aeronautics/org-chart/jim-dukhovny |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Orgio, Inc.}}</ref>
By 2009, Dukhovny had moved to [[Yahoo!]] as a senior software engineer, where he led the software datacenter management team and designed a new product. In 2012, he became a schema architect and software engineer at [[Microsoft]], where he worked on schema storage for [[Cortana (virtual assistant)|Cortana]], [[Windows Mobile]], [[Windows Speech Recognition|Speech]], and designed the Relativity API.<ref name=theorg/>
In 2013, Dukhovny founded ''Intellectual Games'', a franchise focusing on intellectual live and online games, debates, and science fiction-themed events. In 2014, he established ''Prezera'', an online presentation company, and also founded the Science Fiction Society of Silicon Valley, where he served as president. In 2015, he became president and CEO of Transcoder Systems and a senior software engineer at [[SAP SE|SAP]], developing parts of the backend for the mobile system of [[SAP Ariba|Ariba]].<ref name=theorg/>
==Alef Aeronautics==
[[File:Jim Dukhovny unveils Alef flying car on Oct 19, 2022.jpg|thumb|left|Jim Dukhovny unveils Alef Model A]]
In October 2022, Jim Dukhovny, along with three co-founders, launched [[Alef Aeronautics]], a company focused on developing flying cars.<ref name=cnbc/><ref>{{cite web|last=Mendez|first=Andrew|title=Alef Aeronautics brings its future vision of transportation to the present|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/inno/stories/awards/2023/07/20/alef-inno-award.html|website=The Business Journals|date=July 20, 2023|access-date=June 5, 2024}}</ref> As president and CEO, Dukhovny led efforts to secure multiple rounds of funding and increase the company's valuation. The team unveiled a flying prototype car in [[San Mateo, California|San Mateo]], California, which represents a new development in personal transportation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview: Jim Dukhovny, Alef Aeronautics |date=February 9, 2024 |url=https://www.mobileworldlive.com/old_latest-stories/interview-jim-dukhovny-alef-aeronautics/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=Mobile World Live}}</ref> Jim Dukhovny led the development of the [[Flying car#Design|Alef Model A]] project, which features an unusual configuration where the car's hollow body and slab-like sides transform into a biplane wing when in flight, while the cabin remains upright.<ref name=cnn/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/alef-debuts-model-a-flying-car-and-hopes-to-sell-it-starting-in-2025/|title=Alef Debuts Model A Flying Car and Hopes to Sell It Starting in 2025|date=19 October 2022 |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=CNET |first=Stephen |last=Shankland}}</ref>
==Awards==
* 2023 Bronco Entrepreneur of the Year Award<ref name=SCU/>
==See also==
▲* [[Alef Aeronautics]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukhovny, Jim}}
[[Category:21st-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Santa Clara University alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:American engineers]]
{{US-business-bio-stub}}
|