Powering Mission-Critical Operations with Advanced Optimization
Tagup is a defense AI company combining expert knowledge with artificial intelligence to revolutionize military logistics.
Our Manifest optimization platform uses artificial intelligence to predict, plan, and execute logistics operations with unprecedented precision and efficiency. Manifest ensures our warfighters have the mission-critical resources they need where and when they need them, maximizing readiness and mission success.
Driven by this vision, Jon and Will founded Tagup and put their technology to work in an environment where the stakes could not be higher: defense logistics, where the absence of critical supplies or parts can have disastrous consequences. Tagup’s technology also powers decision-making in the private sector, including optimization of industrial equipment.
Jon founded Tagup to make real-world problems in logistics and operations solvable with reinforcement learning. With a background in industrial asset management, Jon recruited a team from the academic artificial intelligence (AI) community, established relationships and customer agreements with commercial fortune 500 companies and multinationals, and organized equity financing of over $10 million for the business since its inception. The company’s initial entry was providing AI and ML products to large industrial companies, most specifically in the energy sector. Over the past three years, Jon has led the company’s expansion into the defense sector, specifically designing and employing AI/ML products to U.S. Marine Corps logistics and maintenance units. Prior to Tagup, Jon worked at General Electric as a software product manager with a development team of over 20 engineers in Atlanta, San Ramon, and Shanghai to build applications for electric utilities. Before GE, Jon studied physics and economics at MIT. After GE, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Jon is the principal inventor on four granted patents and several pending patents.
Will built the Tagup engineering team and has brought multiple ML products to market, providing decision support to operations teams managing hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Before Tagup, he studied artificial intelligence at MIT, publishing research at the intersection of motion planning, machine learning, and complexity theory and developing algorithms that enable automated systems to find high-quality solutions to complicated tasks. Will holds an undergraduate degree in physics and a PhD in mechanical engineering.
Paul served in the U.S. Army for 35 years after enlisting as an Infantryman in 1972. During his extensive service, he held various staff and leadership positions from platoon to brigade size units in peace and in combat. Key assignments include support of Operation Urgent Fury and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), as well as serving as the first Officer-in-Charge of the Captured Enemy Ammunition mission for the Combined Joint Task Force-7 in Baghdad, Iraq. His last combat assignment was as Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Troy. Paul retired from the Army at the rank of Colonel in 2007. Following his military service, Paul served as Corporate Vice President at the Sierra Nevada Corporation for 11 years, leading the Electronic Warfare and Range Instrumentation (EWR) business area.
Lieutenant General Marshall B. “Brad” Webb (U.S. Air Force, retired) served 38 years in the U.S. Air Force. Webb is a command pilot with 3,700 flying hours, including 117 combat hours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Bosnia. Webb’s distinguished military career includes roles such as Commander of Air Education and Training Command and Air Force Special Operations Command. Additionally, he commanded the 20th Special Operations Squadron, the 352nd Special Operations Group, the 1st Special Operations Wing, and the 23rd Air Force. Webb holds multiple advanced degrees, including a master’s degree in International Relations from Troy State University and a master’s degree in National Security Strategy from National War College.
Lieutenant General Neil Thurgood (U.S. Army, retired) served more than 37 years in the U.S. Army. Thurgood served in various company grade and battalion aviation positions domestically and overseas, including combat deployments in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thurgood’s distinguished military career includes roles such as Director for Hypersonics, Directed Energy, Space and Rapid Acquisition and the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office. Thurgood holds multiple advanced degrees, including a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the Air War College, a master’s degree in Systems Acquisition Management from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a doctorate of Business from the University of Sarasota.
Rear Admiral John Neagley (U.S. Navy, retired) served over 35 years in the U.S. Navy. While on active duty, Neagley served aboard USS Whipple, USS Coral Sea, USS John Paul Jones, and USS Antietam, and as Commanding Officer of USS Fitzgerald during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Neagley’s distinguished military career includes roles such as Major Program Manager for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and as SPAWAR’s Deputy Commander for Fleet Readiness. Neagley holds a master’s degree in Environmental Management from Duke University, a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and a master’s degree in Finance from the Naval Postgraduate School.
“Business challenges have been my life’s passion and I’m delighted to be associated with brilliant young people who are doing well by doing good.” Ed is a lifelong entrepreneur who has spent 56 of his 62 professional years in the pursuit of growing businesses. Since 1994 he has presided over New Canaan Capital, a merchant bank specializing in small-cap investments, with partner Ron Manganiello. Ed holds a degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Business.
John D. McDonald, P.E., is Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE’s Grid Solutions business. John has 45 years of experience in the electric utility industry. He is Past President of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), Finance Committee Chair of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) Board, the VP for Technical Activities for the US National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, and the Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee. John has co-authored five books and has one US Patent.
Robin is President of Clearview Investment Management, Inc. a private real estate investment firm specializing in the acquisition, development and management of real estate and related assets on behalf of select private investors and institutions. For over two decades, the firm has generated exceptional returns for its investors through a highly selective and disciplined investment process.
