Meet the people, principles, and purpose behind Code Metal

Peter Morales is Founder and CEO of Code Metal. He brings deep experience in AI research, robotics, and defense technology, with prior roles at BAE Systems and MIT Lincoln Laboratory. His work spans reinforcement learning, computer vision, autonomy, and production AI systems, including technologies supporting the F-35, counter-UAS defense, and the U.S. Army HoloLens scene understanding platform. He previously founded a VC-backed company acquired in 2022.

Ryan Aytay is President and COO of Code Metal. He brings experience scaling enterprise technology companies and helping customers adopt data and AI technologies, with prior roles as CEO of Tableau and Chief Business Officer of Salesforce. He has also worked at Deloitte and Piper Jaffray, and holds a B.A. from Augsburg University and an M.B.A. from the UMN Carlson School of Management.

Laura Shen leads Growth at Code Metal. She brings experience across national security, technology, finance, and consulting, with prior roles at the National Security Council, U.S. Treasury, Uber, Oliver Wyman, Morgan Stanley, and the U.S. Senate. She holds an A.B. from Princeton, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and an M.B.A. from Wharton.

Alex Showalter-Bucher is SVP of Technology at Code Metal. He brings deep experience in AI, algorithms, and modeling and simulation for national security, including a decade at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. His work has supported OSD, the Navy, Army, MDA, and DHS. Alex is a Gordon Institute of Engineering Leadership Fellow and holds advanced degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Dr. Octavian Udrea is Chief Scientist at Code Metal. He brings more than 20 years of experience building advanced AI systems across IBM Research AI, Dataminr, and Code Metal, with expertise in neuro-symbolic AI, large-scale machine learning, automated code generation, knowledge graphs, and distributed systems. His work has powered commercial and defense AI platforms, and he has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and patents.

Jennifer Paau is SVP of Business Operations & Strategy at Code Metal. She brings deep experience helping technology companies scale, drawing on operating leadership roles at Ironclad and SalesforceIQ. Her expertise spans business operations, strategy, planning, and cross-functional execution, with a focus on building the systems and rhythms that help high-growth teams operate effectively. She holds an M.B.A. from Wharton and a B.A. from the University of Waterloo.