T+ 2018 · ALT 000 KM · Ignition
Founded Lost Frame Development.
Games, VR systems, and fully owned IP that scaled past 2.5M players. The engine that funded everything after.
Stranger & SafeZoneVR2.5M+ UsersOwned IP
Will Taubenheim
AI EngineerFounderSpeaker
LinkedInConnectwilliam-taubenheimNext Pillar CapitalCo-Founder & Managing MemberTechnology & Capital
I build AI and autonomous systems for NASA, the Department of Defense, and businesses that need technology built to perform under real pressure. At Next Pillar Capital, I apply that operating playbook to acquiring and modernizing established service businesses.
Booking a speaker instead? Keynotes & briefings →Managing Member, Next Pillar Capital
4x NASA Award Winner
DoD / SERDP Defense Award
Meta Presence Platform Grant
Epic Games MegaGrant
Google Partner
Founder, Lost Frame Ventures
130K+ Positive Reviews
2.5M+ Users Reached
Quest 3 MR Developer
Keynote AI Speaker
248K-Word State of AI Report
Meta Hackathon Winner
Managing Member, Next Pillar Capital
4x NASA Award Winner
DoD / SERDP Defense Award
Meta Presence Platform Grant
Epic Games MegaGrant
Google Partner
Founder, Lost Frame Ventures
130K+ Positive Reviews
2.5M+ Users Reached
Quest 3 MR Developer
Keynote AI Speaker
248K-Word State of AI Report
Meta Hackathon Winner
About
Building at the Frontier
I founded Lost Frame Development in 2018, now operating publicly as Lost Frame Ventures. Since then: four NASA awards, including the LunaRecycle prototype track and People's Choice against more than 1,200 competing companies and teams, AI contracts for the U.S. Navy and Air Force, games played by millions, and a 248,000-word State of AI research report.
Today I work with founders and executive teams as an AI engineer and fractional CTO: architecture, hands-on builds, and technical due diligence across healthcare, real estate, defense, and document intelligence. I take companies from uncertain idea to working system in weeks.
I am Co-founder and Managing Member, Technology & Capital at Next Pillar Capital. I architect the firm's proprietary AI stack, lead high-trust investor relationships, and oversee technical diligence and AI-driven value creation for acquisitions.
I also co-founded RareOS, an AI operating system for the $462B buy/sell/trade industry.
Official press and milestones: Lost Frame News · Profile: lostframe.ai
0x
NASA Awards
0+
Shipped Projects
0K+
Positive Reviews
Portfolio
Innovation Showcase
Shipped work across NASA, defense, Meta and Google partnerships, games with millions of players, and enterprise AI. The State of AI 2026 report is featured in the section directly below.
4x NASA Award Winner
Meta Partner
Google Partner
Epic Games MegaGrant
DoD SERDP Award
Keynote AI Speaker
NASA & Defense
National competition wins, Navy contracts, and Air Force down-selects for autonomous and digital-twin systems
NASA LunaRecycle FinalePLATINUM. Won the NASA LunaRecycle Challenge prototype track and People's Choice at the August 2026 Alabama finale. Lunar Re-Forge ran live: crew cotton clothing converted into cellulose, blended with lunar regolith simulant, and formed by paste extrusion. More than 1,200 competing companies and teams. NASA's largest Centennial Challenge.
Prototype TrackPeople's ChoiceNASA WinnerPrototype TrackPeople's Choice
NASA LunaRecycling ChallengePLATINUM. Led the winning submission from 1,200+ competing companies and teams. Digital twin for lunar habitat waste recycling. First of four NASA awards. The later Lunar Re-Forge prototype converts crew clothing into a cellulose and lunar-regolith composite, then paste-extrudes or molds parts.
NASA Prize WinnerNASA WinnerDigital TwinSpace Technology
NASA Lunar Recycle Phase 2PLATINUM. NASA Phase 2 award for prototype and digital twin work. The physical system moved from an earlier thermal conversion concept to cellulose conversion plus lunar-regolith composite printing.
NASA Phase 2 WinnerNASA WinnerPrototypeDigital Twin
AIRAS Ballistic Missile DefensePLATINUM. Awarded contract for AI-integrated ballistic missile defense system for U.S. Navy destroyers. Advanced threat detection and autonomous response architecture.
Defense ContractDoD ContractNavyAutonomous AI
Terasynth AIMS-CertPLATINUM. Led the AIMS-Cert architecture down-selected by Air Force Global Strike Command for automated flight certification. Built on the lunar recycling digital twin playbook to correlate real-time thermal, optical, and vibration telemetry into a digital birth certificate for additive manufactured aircraft parts.
Air Force Global Strike CommandAFGSC Down-SelectAdditive ManufacturingEdge AI
ReArmor VR Therapy. AI-powered VR therapy platform built with UCF RESTORES and Dr. Deborah Beidel, achieving 200% improvement over traditional PTSD treatment. Exposure therapy system for veterans and first responders.
Healthcare AIUCF RESTORES200% Improvement
ARFAS Autonomous Wildfire Suppression. AI-powered autonomous wildfire suppression system with ground vehicles and vehicle-mounted jet engines. Awarded by NAWCTSD and SERDP for breakthrough autonomous capabilities.
NAWCTSD & SERDP AwardNAWCTSD AwardSERDP AwardAutonomous Systems
Naval Airwarfare CASCON. Fire detection and alert system training software for Naval Air Warfare Center. NAWCTSD awardee for defense training simulation.
NAWCTSD AwardNAWCTSDTraining SystemsDefense
Strategic Partnerships & Ventures
Direct work with Meta, Google, and venture-scale platforms at the leadership and engineering level
Next Pillar Capital. Co-founder and Managing Member, Technology & Capital. Architect of the proprietary AI stack, leading investor relationships, technical diligence, and AI-driven value creation for an acquisition platform focused on established service businesses.
Managing MemberTechnology & CapitalAI-Enabled Acquisitions
Meta Partnership. Official Meta partner. Flown to Meta HQ, met Mark Zuckerberg, consulted on Quest 3 development. Awarded Meta Presence Platform Grant for VR innovation.
Meta Presence Platform GrantMeta PartnerQuest 3Presence Grant
Google Partnership. Google partner working closely with the Google Gemini team and their lead engineers on AI integration and next-generation model deployment.
Google PartnerGemini AIEnterprise AI
RareOS (Co-Founder). AI platform targeting the $462B buy/sell/trade industry. AI-powered point-of-sale, inventory management with computer vision scan tool, and consumer marketplace. The Ventures Miami finalist.
Co-FounderVentures Miami Finalist$462B Market
Games & Immersive Media
Titles with millions of players, studio partnerships, and shipped VR/XR across Steam and Quest
Escape the BackroomsPLATINUM. Technical lead and lead developer (contracted via Lost Frame to Fancy Games). Co-op horror game with 130K+ positive reviews and millions of unique players. A24 is releasing a Backrooms feature film May 2026 based on the same IP universe.
Overwhelmingly Positive130K+ ReviewsMillions of PlayersA24 Film
Shipped Game Experience Portfolio. Designed and built across five shipped game experiences spanning co-op horror, solo horror, VR, multiplayer systems, and experimental XR. Combined reach across the portfolio exceeds 3M players.
Multi-Title Portfolio5 Shipped Games3M+ PlayersHorror + XR
Stranger & StrangerZ. VR horror franchise scaled to 2.5M+ users across Steam, Meta Quest, and Fanatical. Flagship Lost Frame owned IP generating ongoing passive revenue.
Flagship Franchise2.5M+ UsersVR HorrorOwned IP
Battle Builders (Epic MegaGrant). Selected by Epic Games for a MegaGrant. Innovative multiplayer combat mechanics built on Unreal Engine, reaching millions of users worldwide.
Epic Games MegaGrantEpic MegaGrantUnreal EngineVR
FoodLens AI Kitchen Assistant. Multi-modal AI kitchen assistant spanning mixed reality and mobile. The Quest 3 build uses a custom C++ Vulkan camera plugin and headset telemetry to scan pantry items and guide hands-free cooking. The productized mobile app pairs Gemini vision with a full guided-cooking experience. Solo-built in one week and submitted to the Meta Horizon Start Developer Competition.
Meta Horizon Start SubmissionMulti-Modal AIQuest 3 MRCustom Vulkan Camera
Solo Horror Release. Solo-developed horror release published by Lost Frame. Achieved a 94% positive review rating on Steam and validated fast-turnaround IP development for atmospheric horror experiences.
94% PositiveSolo DevHorror
Luxe Casino VR. Stereoscopic VR casino experience with custom Unreal Engine plugins for immersive gambling simulation. Built proprietary rendering and interaction systems.
VRUnreal EngineCustom Plugins
SafeZoneVR. Published VR survival game on Steam and Fanatical. 100% Lost Frame owned IP, built on the studio's cross-platform VR framework.
VRSteamOwned IP
OVERROOM. Mixed reality portal system that turns any indoor space into dynamic virtual rooms on Meta Quest. Built as a 3-day rapid prototype on the Presence Platform.
Mixed RealitySpatial Computing3-Day Build
RecipeLens. Mixed reality culinary companion with spatial anchors, hands-free interaction, and gesture navigation. Built in under 3 days.
Mixed RealityHand TrackingKitchen Tech
AI & Enterprise Solutions
Healthcare, document intelligence, and commercial AI platforms built for operators
FFO AI Document Intelligence. Enterprise document processing platform with AI-powered vectorization, RAG retrieval, Google Drive integration, and automated workflow management.
Enterprise AIRAGDocument Intelligence
RevolvAI (Real Estate AI). MVP in 2 weeks, commercial-ready in 2 months. Automated property analysis, pre-probate lead generation, and family outreach with strong investor interest.
Real Estate AILead GenCo-Founder
MedSpa Clinical Intelligence. AI-powered clinical operations platform for medical spas: patient analysis, treatment recommendations, scheduling intelligence, and HIPAA-compliant optimization.
Healthcare AIHIPAAClinical AI
AquaLeads (Pool Service AI). AI-powered analysis of Google Maps satellite imagery combined with data scraping to generate qualified pool service leads. Includes intelligent CRM for workflow automation.
Computer VisionSatellite AILead Gen
Speaking
Keynotes for launches, chambers, and operator rooms. The flagship is The Age of Adaptation.
Illuminate 2026: The Age of Adaptation. TED-style keynote at Lumino's public launch at The Ion in Houston, August 27, 2026. A personal, motivational talk on adapting through the AI shift. The thesis: AI is not here to replace the work you already love. It is how you keep doing it.
KeynoteHoustonThe Age of Adaptation
Greater Brookfield Chamber AI Summit. Opening keynote, extended Q&A, panel, and hands-on workshop for ~80 business owners and managers. Attendees were executing within 24 hours. Companion Summit Report still live at willtaubenheim.com/brookfield.
Half-day SummitKeynoteJune 2026
Proprietary Technology
Reusable engines and an internal AI operating system that power every deployment
Proprietary AI Operating System. A private, agent-driven platform that runs the business end to end. Deterministic knowledge routing, automated document generation, and multi-account workflow automation across the full venture portfolio.
Agentic AIInternal PlatformAutomation
AI Orchestration Engine. Reusable RAG, embeddings, and LLM pipelines deployed across every engagement. The core engine behind the document intelligence and lead-generation platforms.
RAGLLM PipelinesReusable IP
Computer Vision Pipeline. Object detection and image recognition deployed across defense and commercial systems, from satellite imagery analysis to real-time scan tools.
Computer VisionObject DetectionEdge AI
Web Scraping and Data Framework. Enterprise-grade data collection from public records, satellite imagery, and web sources, with anti-bot resilience and structured extraction.
Data EngineeringScrapingPipelines
...and much more.
Over 20+ projects shipped across defense, healthcare, AI, and entertainment.
Start a ConversationThe Journey
Eight Years, One Trajectory
From a game studio founded in 2018 to NASA, the Department of Defense, and the frontier of applied AI. Scroll to climb.
T+ 2022 · ALT 012 KM · Liftoff
Meta came calling.
Flown to Meta HQ, consulted on Quest 3 development, and awarded the Meta Presence Platform Grant.
Meta PartnerPresence Platform GrantQuest 3
Press coverage →T+ 2023 · ALT 040 KM · Max Q
Escape the Backrooms went global.
Led development on a co-op horror phenomenon: 130K+ positive reviews, millions of players, and an A24 film in the same universe.
130K+ Positive ReviewsMillions of PlayersReArmor VR Therapy
Press coverage →T+ 2024 · ALT 090 KM · Stage Separation
From games to frontier hardware.
2nd place at Meta's NYC hackathon. First to run UE5.4 on Apple Vision Pro. Presented at the I/ITSEC defense conference.
Meta NYC — 2nd PlaceVision Pro First-MoverI/ITSEC
T+ 2025 · ALT 220 KM · Orbit Insertion
NASA. Then the Department of Defense.
Won the NASA LunaRecycling Challenge from 1,200+ global entries. Navy missile defense and autonomous wildfire contracts followed.
NASA WinnerAIRAS — U.S. NavyARFAS — SERDPRareOS Co-Founder
Press coverage →T+ 2026 · ALT 400 KM · Station Keeping
Four NASA awards. The research era.
NASA Phase 2, then the LunaRecycle finale: prototype track and People's Choice against 1,200+ teams. A 248,000-word State of AI report. An Air Force down-select.
Prototype TrackPeople's Choice248K-Word ReportAir Force AIMS-Cert
Press coverage →T+ 2026 · ALT 600 KM · Downlink
The Age of Adaptation, Houston.
Keynoted Illuminate 2026 at The Ion for Lumino's public launch. A 15-minute TED-style talk, personal and motivational. The thesis: AI is not here to replace the work you already love. It is how you keep doing it.
Illuminate 2026The Ion, HoustonTED-style Keynote
Press coverage →T+ Now · ALT 1000 KM · Trans-Lunar Injection
The AI playbook proved out. Now he buys the companies.
Will is Co-founder and Managing Member, Technology & Capital at Next Pillar Capital. He architects the proprietary AI stack, leads investor relationships, and directs technical diligence and AI-driven value creation for acquisitions.
Next Pillar CapitalManaging MemberTechnology & Capital
The trajectory continues.
The next stage is being built now: AI systems for operators, ventures, and acquisitions. If you're working on something hard, let's talk.
Speaking
Keynote Topics
Available for TED-style keynotes, half-day summits, podcasts, and executive briefings. The flagship is The Age of Adaptation. Operator rooms get The AI Mindset.
01
The Age of Adaptation
The flagship TED-style keynote, delivered at Illuminate 2026 at The Ion in Houston. A personal, motivational talk. AI is not here to replace the work you already love. It is how you keep doing it.
Launches, summits, universities, general audiences
02
The AI Mindset
A mental model for AI that does not expire in two weeks. Where it is, where it is going, the use cases beyond marketing, and a 90 day plan. The format behind the Brookfield Chamber AI Summit.
Chambers, trade associations, operator rooms
03
Scaling Your Business with AI
The real playbook for implementing AI that generates ROI. Not chatbots, but full-stack systems that give your team leverage and create defensible competitive advantages. Built from 10+ live deployments across healthcare, real estate, and defense.
CEOs, founders, operators
04
AI & Geopolitics: The Arms Race
The U.S. and China AI competition, NATO's AI doctrine, and what it all means for business. The geopolitical map is being redrawn by algorithms and compute.
Business leaders, investors, policy audiences
05
Protecting Your Business in the Age of AI
AI is being weaponized by competitors and bad actors. Deepfakes, autonomous cyberattacks, and algorithmic manipulation. Here's how to build a business that survives.
Executives, security professionals
06
The AI Founder Playbook
A first-principles look at building AI companies: structuring for defensible IP, selling to enterprises and government, and building at 90% margins with AI-assisted engineering.
Founders, VCs, accelerators
What audiences say
This was not a generic presentation on AI. The insights Will shared were fascinating, practical, and immediately applicable. The investment of both time and money was well worth it.
Christen Meyer
Vice President, Treasury Management, First Business Bank
Within 24 hours of the summit, I used some of his examples to streamline tasks I'd been dreading for months. That one win alone made the summit worth attending.
Maggie Uravich
Immanuel Lutheran Church
The session on AI for business was genuinely one of the most informative I've been to. It's clear how much work went into making it happen.
Tony Meister
Chameleon Communications
Recent Engagements
- Illuminate 2026 · The Age of AdaptationThe Ion, Houston. Lumino public launch, August 27, 2026
- Greater Brookfield Chamber AI SummitOpening keynote, half-day summit, June 30, 2026
- EO DC Chapter KeynoteEntrepreneurs' Organization, Washington D.C.
- Not an Accident PodcastGuest on AI state, automation, and future of work
- I/ITSEC Defense ConferenceDefense simulation and training technology
and many more
AI for Good
Technology Should Leave a Useful Mark
I am drawn to AI because it can move real-world systems, not just generate content. The work that matters most to me uses that leverage to protect people, expand access, reduce waste, and make institutions work better.
Access
AI should expand access to care, expertise, education, and opportunity. The most useful systems meet people where they already are.
Protection
The same technology that creates leverage can create harm. I care about systems that protect people, institutions, and public trust.
Resilience
From wildfire suppression to healthcare operations, the best AI work makes critical systems more responsive when pressure is highest.
Education
People need practical literacy, not hype. I want more founders, students, and operators to understand what AI can actually do.
Long term, I want Lost Frame Ventures to fund and build more public interest technology: AI tools for clinical access, disaster response, responsible automation, and education. Commercial work pays for the engine. This is where I want more of that engine pointed.
Get in Touch
Whether you need an AI system built to perform under pressure, senior technical leadership for a hard project, a keynote speaker for your next event, or a strategic technology partner, I'd like to hear from you.