Our founder and CEO, Mel McGee, has been named to the inaugural AI25 list, presented by Ohio Tech News and OhioX, honoring the 25 people defining Ohio’s AI economy.
Mel has been building AI since long before it was fashionable, from early conversational agents like “Zoe” in the 2000s to the Human-First AI Maturity Model she leads SkillSpout™ clients through today. Under her leadership, SkillSpout has helped Ohio businesses secure more than $2 million in state funding to deploy AI responsibly, and she even built an AI system to sit on a live panel in front of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the region’s largest chamber of commerce.
She is also proof of her own methodology at work. SkillSpout runs on ExoCog, the agentic AI system Mel built to manage her own day, a working case study for the model she helps other leaders build.
It is the latest recognition for Mel, following her spot as a 2025 Progressive Entrepreneur honoree and her feature in Cleveland Magazine’s Community Leader series. Good company to keep.
Read the full AI25 list from Ohio Tech News and OhioX here, and get to know the human-first approach behind SkillSpout’s work at skillspout.com.
Congrats, Mel. Ohio’s AI economy is fortunate to have you shaping so much of it.