Ray Hernandez

I design AI products that make people better at what they already do.

I started at 17, in 1998, as a Design Intern at Rare Medium in Dallas. My first project was Betty Crocker's first website.

I've founded companies and grown from Designer to Chief Creative Officer to Chief AI Officer. I set the design vision and build the systems that carry it: brand, product, design systems and code. I prototype ideas myself, so the team starts from something real instead of a slide.

I've been building with AI for years, at every step: research, design, code, film and launch. This site, SIDE QUEST, is an arcade game I built with AI: art, code, music and sound.

Products

Career

  1. Sofico, Sr. Director, Sofico Intelligence (2026 – Now). Rebuilt Velona into Sofico Intelligence: the same engine under the hood, a whole new car, built for lease contracts. Lead the AI division.
  2. Vinli, Chief AI Officer (2025 – 2026). Made AI the company's direction and led the team that launched Velona, turning fleet software into AI insights, through Sofico's acquisition of Vinli.
  3. Vinli, Chief Creative Officer (2022 – 2025). Creative vision across product and brand for a connected-vehicle platform serving 5M+ vehicles with Fortune 500 partners. Built Velona: a data science team in a box.
  4. Vinli, Head of Product & Design (2018 – 2022). Built product and design from the ground up.
  5. AIM7, Strategic Partner (2020 – Now). Partnered with Dr. Erik Korem, now Director of Player Performance for the New York Jets, to take AIM7 from idea to launch: MVP, go-to-market and dev team. A top pickleball app with pro players.
  6. Bashful Beauty, Co-founder (2018 – Now). Co-founded and built from the ground up with my wife. A downtown Rockwall, Texas spa known for its lashes and brows.
  7. LAUNCH & Inside.com, Head of Product for Jason Calacanis (2015 – 2016). Designed and launched Inside.com and worked with companies in the LAUNCH Incubator and portfolio on product, brand, UX and vision.
  8. ShopSavvy, Creative Director (2012 – 2013). Led design for a shopping app with 40M+ downloads.
  9. LikeUs Network, Founder & CEO (2011 – 2014). Social-currency hardware for vending machines. Backed by Mark Cuban. Launched at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013.
  10. Social Fly, Co-founder (2009 – 2011). Reinvented the photo booth in Austin: our own hardware and software, with filters and social sharing before Instagram. Grew from 1 booth to 6, booked for the year in month one.
  11. Stoodio.com, Founder (2007 – 2018). Freelance design agency.
  12. Ninja Shaved Ice, Founder. A food truck in the East Bay.
  13. Rare Medium, Design Intern, then Jr. Visual Designer (1998 – 2000). Started at 17 in Dallas. First project: Betty Crocker's first website.

How I build

  1. Napkin sketch
  2. Planning and research
  3. Inspiration and ideation
  4. Prototype
  5. Iterate, iterate, iterate
  6. Distribution

Find me

RAY HERNANDEZ'S
CREATIVE A.I. EDITION
SECRETS
HI-SCORE
CREDIT01
HACK THE PLANET!