Questions about Will
Straight answers about Will Taubenheim: what he has founded and built, his NASA awards, his view on AI, and how to work with him. The full record, with dates, is on the About page.
Who is Will Taubenheim?
Will Taubenheim is an American serial entrepreneur and AI engineer: the founder of Lost Frame Ventures, the co-founder and CEO of Next Pillar, and a four-time NASA award winner on the Terasynth team. He builds the technology first, then the company around it: games played by millions, AI for the U.S. Navy and Air Force, and the company brain Next Pillar installs in owner-led businesses. William is his formal name.
What is Will Taubenheim known for?
Building companies on technology he builds himself. Four NASA awards in the LunaRecycle Challenge, won on the Terasynth team. AI for the U.S. Navy and Air Force through contract work. Technical lead on the game Escape the Backrooms, played by millions. Founding Lost Frame Ventures, Next Pillar and Next Pillar Academy. And keynotes, including The Age of Adaptation at Illuminate 2026 in Houston.
What companies has Will Taubenheim founded?
Lost Frame Ventures in 2018, which he still owns outright. Luxe Spatial, Inc., his first C-corporation, behind the Luxe Casino VR platform, since dissolved. RevolvAI and AquaLeads, started through Lost Frame with domain partners in 2025. RareOS, an AI operating system for the buy, sell and trade market, where he was co-founder, Co-CEO and CTO until July 2026. Next Pillar, where he is co-founder and CEO. And Next Pillar Academy, which he founded and hosts.
What NASA awards did Will Taubenheim win?
Four, all on the Terasynth team in NASA's LunaRecycle Challenge: Phase 1 winner in the Digital Twin track (June 2025), Phase 2 Digital Twin Milestone winner (March 2026), and, at the August 2026 finale in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, second place overall in the prototype track and the People's Choice award. The challenge drew more than 1,200 registrations, the most in the 20-year history of NASA's Centennial Challenges.
Does Will Taubenheim work for NASA or the Department of Defense?
No. He works on NASA and defense projects as a contractor and partner, through Terasynth, and is not a NASA or Department of Defense employee. The four NASA awards were won by the Terasynth team, with Will on it.
What does Will Taubenheim do now?
He is the co-founder and CEO of Next Pillar, an AI implementation firm for established, owner-led companies, with partner Joe Staiber. He also hosts Next Pillar Academy, runs Lost Frame Ventures, and gives keynotes on AI.
What is Next Pillar?
Next Pillar is an AI implementation firm for established, owner-led companies: we install a private company brain and a simple app your team actually uses, built with you in person over a few weeks. Then we stay.
What is a company brain?
A private brain for a company: its documents, meetings and the tools it already pays for are connected, so someone can ask a question and get an answer from the company's own records. Access follows the roles the company sets, and a person still approves anything that goes out to a customer.
Has Will Taubenheim built a company brain before?
Yes. He designed and built a company brain and internal platform for a wealth management firm: agents that answer from the firm's documents, meeting transcripts and CRM records, with role-based access, task tracking, onboarding and document generation. That build is the pattern Next Pillar now installs. Client details stay private.
What is Will Taubenheim's view on AI?
That AI is not here to replace the work you already love; it is how you keep doing it. That an owner's domain knowledge, relationships and trust are the moat, and AI accelerates what the business already does well. And that the right measure of AI is capacity, not headcount. These are the arguments of his keynotes, The Age of Adaptation and The AI Mindset.
What is the State of AI 2026 report?
A 248,000-word research report by Will on AI economics, labor, chips, policy, infrastructure and geopolitics: more than 200 sources, 35+ data visualizations, 7 research domains and 26 months of primary data collection. The executive summary is on Lost Frame.
What is Next Pillar Academy?
Next Pillar Academy is where business owners learn to put AI to work: a paid online AI community and school, taught by Will Taubenheim, an AI engineer with four NASA awards, with co-host Joe Staiber. It opened on October 16, 2026.
What is Lost Frame Ventures?
Lost Frame Ventures is the AI engineering company and venture studio Will Taubenheim founded in 2018. It is self-funded and wholly owned by him. It works as a fractional CTO and AI engineering firm, and has shipped games, defense software and business AI systems.
Does Will Taubenheim work as a fractional CTO?
Yes. He works with founders and executive teams as an AI engineer and fractional CTO: architecture, hands-on AI builds, technical due diligence and delivery leadership, taking companies from an uncertain idea to a working system in weeks. The first step is a free consultation.
How do I book Will Taubenheim to speak?
Use the speaking page, which has the talk descriptions, a one-sheet PDF and the way to book. His flagship keynote is The Age of Adaptation, delivered at Illuminate 2026 at The Ion in Houston on August 27, 2026, at Lumino's public launch. Operator rooms get The AI Mindset, the format behind the Greater Brookfield Chamber AI Summit, and he spoke at the International Reprographic Association's workshop in Nashville on October 15 and 16, 2026.
How do I book a consultation with Will Taubenheim?
Book a free consultation on the consultation page. It is a direct call with Will about AI strategy, technical execution and fractional CTO work, with no sales representative in between.
Where is Will Taubenheim based?
Tampa Bay, Florida. He speaks nationwide.
What games has Will Taubenheim worked on?
He was the technical lead on Escape the Backrooms, a co-op horror game with millions of players, contracted through Lost Frame Ventures. Lost Frame has also shipped VR and horror titles, and Will received an Epic Games MegaGrant and a Meta Presence Platform Grant for his XR work.
Where can I find Will Taubenheim's official profiles and press kit?
The official profiles are Will's LinkedIn page, his profile on Lost Frame, and the pages for Next Pillar and Next Pillar Academy. The press kit has a speaker one-sheet, a headshot and a link to press coverage on Lost Frame News.
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