Overview
John Kessler is a co-founder at Aaru [1], an AI startup that generates agents designed to simulate human behavior for market research applications [1]. Based in the New York AI scene, Kessler has been involved in developing technology that creates artificial agents capable of mimicking human responses and behaviors for research purposes [1].
Career history
- Co-Founder, CTO2024 to PresentAaru
- Fellow2024 to PresentZ Fellows
- Fellow2024 to PresentKleiner Perkins
- City Science Lab2023 to 2025MIT Media Lab
- Urban Sciences Institute2023 to 2025National Taipei University of Technology
- Human Robot Interaction Lab2023 to 2024Tufts University
Education
FellowMay 2024Z Fellows
Study of Exceptional Talent (SET) Program2019Johns Hopkins Center For Talented Youth (CTY))
Insights & ideas
John Kessler argues that AI-driven simulation of human behavior can meaningfully disrupt the traditional market research industry, with Aaru positioned as a case study in generating agents that stand in for real consumer or public responses rather than relying solely on conventional polling or focus groups [1]. The framing of the discussion, which pairs Aaru's work with geopolitical events like Iran and broader anxieties about AI, suggests Kessler sees this technology as operating at a consequential and even unsettling intersection of predictive modeling and real-world stakes [1]. Notably, he and his cofounders built the company while still teenagers, a detail the show notes tie directly to the disruptive ambition of their approach to simulating human behavior at scale [1].
Media & appearances
- Squawk PodApple PodcastsAaru, Iran, & an AI Horror Story 3/20/26Aaru cofounders Ned Koh, Cameron Fink, and John Kessler discuss their company’s AI-driven shakeup of the market research industry and their journey building it—as teenagers. Legendary venture capitalist Katie Haun backed BVNK, a stablecoin infrastr
In the news
- Reposted Aaru
- Reposted Aaru
- Reposted Muharrem Şenyıl
- An interesting consequence of productivity gains as a result of newly introduced agentic tooling is that it seems to invert the standard time discount on labor. The typical assumption is that an hour today is worth more than an hour a year from now. But, if the hour a year from
- Reposted Aaru
- Reposted Aaru
- Reposted Aaru
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