As a sales leader in several large organizations, Smith found himself inundated with more administrative tasks, taking away from his time actually spent selling. Searching for key decision-makers, hunting down contact details online, and drafting countless emails became routine. These necessary yet tedious tasks either consumed his day or were sidelined for more critical issues.

Equipped with extensive experience in television, technology, and the arts, Gadney launched interactive storytelling platform Charisma AI with co-founder Ben Salili-James. Charisma makes storytelling immersive, and the company’s conversational characters are built for an array of applications such as video games, educational projects, interactive films, or TV shows.