Meet The Team
Our Advisory Board
Exceptional minds, guiding a regenerative future.
Student of Relationships
& Their Implications
Gene is a leading voice in systems thinking and organizational learning. With decades of experience fostering global conversations through initiatives like Systems Thinking World, he brings to our board a rare gift for reframing challenges, deepening understanding, and guiding more meaningful action.
Chief Helper
Bobby—a proven architect of growth and innovation—is recognized for building transformative platforms at Salesforce, Twilio, and beyond. With a career dedicated to scaling ecosystems and forging trusted connections, he brings to our board the vision and expertise to help us align technology, partnerships, and purpose in service of a regenerative future.
Advisor for Impactful Philanthropy
Kenny Parsons, Philanthropic Advisor and Regional Director with the Oregon Community Foundation, brings deep experience in building partnerships and guiding purposeful giving. With a focus on strengthening communities through strategic philanthropy, he helps Food with Thought AI connect resources with mission, ensuring our growth is rooted in stewardship and shared impact.
Builder of Strong Foundations
James Darcey, a seasoned SCORE mentor, brings decades of business leadership across operations, finance, marketing, and customer service. Known for his ability to distill complex challenges into practical strategies, he helps Food with Thought AI strengthen its organizational backbone and build the solid foundations needed for sustainable growth.
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Klaus Mager
Founder & CEO
Klaus is a holistic food systems thinker. He has spent five decades navigating every link of the food chain—from running award-winning kitchens and managing high-volume operations at Disney to advising global brands on sustainability and soil health.
A trained culinarian turned systems thinker, he blends hands-on experience with deep expertise in regenerative agriculture, supply-chain logistics, and food-policy advocacy. Klaus has partnered with farmers, NGOs, and Fortune 500 companies alike, earning a reputation for turning bold ideas into practical, profitable action. His guiding compass is simple: stewardship of land, transparency of data, and genuine service to the people who grow and eat our food.
With Food with Thought AI, Klaus channels that lifelong commitment into an AI platform you can trust—built to deliver rigor, reliability, and real-world results for every client.
Kathryn Hayat
Co-Founder & CMO
A lifelong food enthusiast turned brand strategist, Kathryn shapes the voice and vision of Food with Thought AI. She has built her career helping companies with their online marketing and branding strategies.
After receiving a stage 4 Cancer diagnosis at the age of 27, she immediately turned to food to support her holistic treatment strategy. Having been an athlete throughout her life, she instinctually understood the power of proper nutrition on health, but had not realized that what she thought was healthy (ie. juicing vegetables covered in glyphosate) was actually making her more sick.
As the mother of four little girls, Kathryn’s commitment to a food supply chain, that is both safe and health-promoting, isn’t abstract—it’s dinner-table urgent. That personal stake, combined with sharp marketing acumen and a knack for collaboration, makes her the perfect bridge between our AI technologists, farm partners, and the families they ultimately serve.
Peter Kaminski
CTO
Pete is a seasoned tech entrepreneur and consultant. His portfolio includes technical cofounding of five innovative Internet firms, including enterprise collaboration solution provider Socialtext (2003) and Ethernet wide-area network service provider Yipes Communications (1999).
Leveraging his Silicon Valley experience, he offers unique perspectives on product and service development as well as operations management. Previous experience as a video game designer augments his approach to product development and user experience design.
Pete possesses a broad, in-depth skill set, ranging from low-level coding and networking to team dynamics and agile methodologies. He advises organizations on improving team dynamics, optimizing system architectures, implementing decentralized collaboration tools and processes, and leveraging generative AI to turbocharge human-centered and productive workplaces.
Justin Nelson
Head of Growth & Operations
Justin is a sustainability and operations leader focused on turning complex environmental challenges into practical, scalable action. With more than seven years of experience in sustainability consulting, he works at the intersection of strategy, partnerships, and implementation to help organizations move from intent to execution.
His background includes systems analysis and the delivery of sustainability initiatives across food, climate, and natural resource contexts. Justin holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences and Climate Change and brings a disciplined, systems-oriented approach to aligning business goals with ecological limits.
As Head of Growth & Operations at Food with Thought AI and founder of Cascade Sustainability Consulting, Justin supports growth, partnerships, and operational execution. His work centers on building collaborative systems that contribute to soil health, watershed resilience, and ecosystem restoration.