ALEX LEADER

I like to turn "someone should really do something about this" into a project.

I build things that don't exist yet. Mostly it's about helping the public keep up with technology that isn't waiting for our permission. Below is most of what I've made, grouped by how much of it was mine.

01 / BUILT

Things I started, led, or own.

Spotlight Security

Cybersecurity for the unglamorous infrastructure everything else depends on. We build software that sits on devices to fix their problems (instead of just flagging them). Sometimes those devices are older than the internet. Co-founded 2025.

[ Co-Founder & COO ]
Defensive Cyber Benchmark

I wanted to find out whether AI can actually hold the line against hackers trying to break into the things we rely on. I designed and ran the $2.1M grant-funded project that measured it. Government AI agencies and frontier labs use the results. We published our findings here.

[ PI · with NYU · funded by Coefficient Giving · via my consultancy, New Foundry ]
New Foundry

My consultancy. Governments, foundations, and companies bring it in when they have to make a call about a technology that doesn't always have a track record. Founded in 2023, it supported much of the work on the row below.

[ Founder & Principal ]

02 / HELPED BUILD

Things I worked on with other people, for other people.

AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge

The blueprint for a $100M challenge pointing AI at climate change and biodiversity loss.

[ with Luminary Labs and the Bezos Earth Fund ]
Patch Forward Prize

A $50M prize for getting vaccines the last mile to the people who actually need them. I co-designed the competition, conducted the outreach, and helped launch it.

[ with Luminary Labs and BARDA ]
National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy

The U.S. was short hundreds of thousands of cyber workers. I contributed to the 2023 federal strategy for closing the gap.

[ with the White House Office of the National Cyber Director ]
Climate Tipping Points

A forecasting tournament on when clean-energy tipping points actually tip. Designed to give policymakers an early read on the shift to zero-emission vehicles.

[ at Metaculus · with the Federation of American Scientists ]
Neuromod Prize

A $9.8M competition to move neurotech therapies out of the lab and toward the patients waiting on them.

[ at Luminary Labs · with the National Institutes of Health ]
Rural Tech Project

A $600K challenge to get real tech education to the rural schools most programs quietly skip.

[ at Luminary Labs · with the U.S. Dept. of Education ]
CTE Mission: CubeSat

A national challenge that put satellites — designed by actual students — into near-space.

[ at Luminary Labs · with the U.S. Dept. of Education ]
CTE CyberNet

A way to train cyber talent through schools and employers instead of hoping it appears. It worked well enough to earn millions in follow-on funding. (It once lived here.)

[ at Luminary Labs · with NIST, the NSA, and the U.S. Dept. of Education ]