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  4. Abdullah 'Ax' Ali

Abdullah 'Ax' Ali

Ph.D., '20

Abdullah “Ax” Ali

Dr. Abdullah “Ax” Ali arrived in the United States as a 19-year-old war refugee and worked his way from community college to a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction at the iSchool. Ali took the knowledge he gained from his Ph.D. and his extensive experience working at small startups and tech companies including Apple, Microsoft and Amazon to co-found  with his wife and fellow UW alum, Paige Collins. 

The mission of 3rd Brain is to disrupt the traditional household in typical domestic tasks.  As a couple’s organizer, the platform uses a Generative AI technology, affectionately named Bo the Brain, to empower couples to work together. Bo helps manage tasks and events and allows couples to share notes about their lives in one intelligent space. In outsourcing life’s thoughts to a Bo, couples may be able to reduce daily stresses.

At the iSchool, Ali said, his ideas were transformed into reality through determination, perseverance and the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded people. While working in the technology industry, he thought back often of the time he spent studying at the iSchool and the inspiration to go after big ideas, and he said that’s what motivated him to launch a startup with others who shared his vision of a more equitable harmonious home life. 

News

Chirag Shah

iSchool's Chirag Shah honored as a leading figure in information retrieval

Thursday, July 24, 2025
Information School Professor Chirag Shah was among the 2025 cohort elected to the SIGIR Academy, a prestigious honor that recognizes leaders who have significantly shaped the field of information retrieval.  SIGIR is...
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Ryan Calo

Q&A: Ryan Calo on why 'we need to take a page from the Amish' 

Monday, July 21, 2025
Ryan Calo holds a joint appointment as a professor in the Information School and as the Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor at the UW School of Law. Calo is a prominent voice in tech policy both on campus and globally, with his...
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MSIM Conversation with Professor Sara Sanford - Career Outcomes

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iSchool Connect: Software

University of Washington Waterfront Activities Center (WAC)
Aug 21
 
10:00-11:00AM

MLIS Prospective Student Information Session

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