Palo Alto, CA; September 17, 2024 –- SandboxAQ today announced it has named veteran executive Andrew McLaughlin as its first Chief Operating Officer (COO). McLaughlin will be responsible for scaling SandboxAQ’s AI and quantum business units. SandboxAQ focuses on Large Quantitative Models (LQMs), which drive SandboxAQ’s platforms in sectors such as biopharma, chemicals, medical devices, and aerospace.

McLaughlin joins SandboxAQ as COO after serving as a senior advisor to the company since 2021. Prior to SandboxAQ, McLaughlin founded, built and scaled a range of teams, organizations, and tech startups, serving as the founding VP and Chief Policy Officer of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the first Head of Global Public Policy at Google, and Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States.

Following his tenure in the White House, McLaughlin was a partner at betaworks, a venture fund and startup studio which invests in, accelerates, and builds companies, most recently focusing on AI and applied machine learning. During that time, McLaughlin also served as CEO of two betaworks companies, Instapaper and Digg, and as EVP at Tumblr and Medium. He spent four years as the founding president and COO of the scalable, sustainable urban architecture and construction startup Assembly OSM. He has been a co-founder and partner at Higher Ground Labs since 2017.

“Andrew’s strong experience in operations, technology businesses and the public sector will help SandboxAQ scale our global operations and achieve rapid, sustainable growth across our key sectors,” said Jack D. Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ. “Andrew has already hit the ground running as COO and will help us  scale the company to greater impact with our customers and partners.”

“SandboxAQ is at the forefront of developing AI and advanced technology solutions that tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges in healthcare, finance, cybersecurity, government, and other sectors – backed by world-class investors and driven by some of the most brilliant minds in the business,” said McLaughlin. “As an early SandboxAQ advisor, I know the company very well and have been involved in several key initiatives.   I am excited to work with Jack and the team even more closely to take us to the next level of scale.”