Wolfram Alpha LLC Names Barak Berkowitz as Managing Director

Technology Industry Veteran to Lead Growth of Wolfram|Alpha's Business

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Mar 11, 2010, 02:44 ET

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolfram Alpha LLC, creator of the breakthrough Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine, today announced the appointment of Barak Berkowitz as Managing Director. Berkowitz—a well-known industry veteran—brings to Wolfram|Alpha 30 years of experience in introducing world-changing technologies to the marketplace.

"Wolfram|Alpha has experienced explosive growth since we launched last May—and with every passing month I become more convinced that Wolfram|Alpha is not only a breakthrough technology but also a massive business opportunity," said Stephen Wolfram, Founder and CEO of Wolfram|Alpha. "I recruited Barak to help build Wolfram|Alpha into one of the world's great technology businesses and I have great faith that he is the perfect person to do that."

In conjunction with Berkowitz's appointment, Wolfram|Alpha will be building a significant presence in Silicon Valley.

Over the past 30 years Berkowitz has played an important role in some of the world's most influential computing and internet companies. As CEO of Six Apart during its period of dramatic growth, Berkowitz helped transform blogging from a concept to a business. Prior to Six Apart, he co-founded OmniSky and built it into the first publicly traded mobile internet company.

Berkowitz first entered the computer industry in 1981 when he led the building of the world's first consumer computer store chain at Macy's New York. He then moved to Apple, first to run its consumer marketing programs and later to build its distribution channels in Japan. After returning to the United States, Berkowitz built Logitech's American business as its General Manager. In 1996, he joined Infoseek, and later led the team that built the Go Network with Disney into one of the top five sites on the internet.

"My passion has always been introducing new technologies that give people powers they never imagined they could have," said Berkowitz. "Wolfram|Alpha obviously fits this lifelong ambition. As was true in my previous roles in microcomputers, internet search, mobile internet, and social media, I see the opportunity for Wolfram|Alpha to change the world by giving people everywhere access to all the computable data in the world. And as with these other endeavors, I expect people to do amazing things with this capability—things that we would never have been able to predict. I couldn't be more excited."

Berkowitz's appointment is effective immediately, and he is already moving to grow the team in the San Francisco Bay area, build new partnerships, and take Wolfram|Alpha to the next level. His first public appearance in his new role will be on a panel at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas on March 14.

About Wolfram Alpha LLC

Wolfram Alpha LLC is a Wolfram Research company whose long-term goal is to make all the world's systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. The company aims to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything.

Wolfram|Alpha builds on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries.

For more information, see the Wolfram|Alpha website:

http://www.wolframalpha.com

TIME declared Wolfram|Alpha one of the "50 Best Websites" of 2009:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1918031_1918016_1917928,00.html

Popular Science selected Wolfram|Alpha as the "Best of What's New" in

Computing:

http://www.popsci.com/bown/2009/product/wolfram-research-wolframalpha

Fast Company named Wolfram|Alpha as one of the "Most Innovative Web

Companies" in 2010:

http://www.fastcompany.com/mic/2010/industry/most-innovative-web-companies

SOURCE Wolfram Alpha LLC