Manoj Saxena
About Manoj Saxena
Manoj Saxena is based in Austin, Texas. He was the first General Manager of IBM Watson, leading the Watson software division from 2011 to 2014. In January 2014 IBM formed the Watson Business Group with a $1B investment, and Saxena helped with that. Before IBM he founded and ran two venture-backed software companies. Exterprise, a business collaboration platform, ran from 1998 to 2001 and was sold to Commerce One for $114 million. Webify was later acquired by IBM, in 2006 according to his Cognitive World bio.
He is Executive Chairman of the Responsible AI Institute, a non-profit that certifies trustworthy and ethical AI. He also founded Trustwise, an AI safety company, where he is CEO and Chairman. Trustwise builds software to help enterprises deploy and control generative and agentic AI safely. He is Chairman of CognitiveScale, an enterprise AI company whose leadership came from IBM Watson. His bios describe him as former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio Branch, a role he held for six years.
Saxena is a Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches a course on the design of ethical AI systems. He is a Director of the Saxena Family Foundation. His degrees are an MBA from Michigan State University and a graduate degree in management sciences from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science in Pilani, India. He holds software patents, and sources give different counts. He is also an auto racing enthusiast.
Crunchbase lists 5 personal investments, 5 portfolio companies and 2 lead investments. Pitchbook classifies him as an angel investor and lists two deals: CogX Festival (October 2018) and Clocr (a seed round in December 2021). The two databases do not cover the same deals, so neither is a full record.
Saxena has also invested through funds. Pitchbook lists him as Founding General Partner of The Entrepreneurs' Fund IV. His Cognitive World bio says he left IBM in 2014 to start an AI-focused venture fund, which later took investment from IBM and USAA. Pitchbook also shows him as an advisory board member at W11 Capital Management. The fund sizes and his personal check sizes are not public.
Most of the companies tied to him are AI companies or AI-adjacent ones. Crunchbase shows him as lead investor in the pre-seed round of Trustwise AI, which he founded, and in a seed round for Avathon. It also lists a seed round in Asparia, a venture round in CognitionX, and a seed round in Clocr, where he is an investor and advisor.
His public bios describe him as an investor in generative AI and web3. His Cognitive World profile lists his focus as trusted AI, responsible AI, AI ethics and web3. He has also served on the board of SparkCognition, an AI company, and is listed as co-founder and board member of the conversational-commerce company WayBlazer.
Saxena does not publish a formal thesis or check size range. His public profiles consistently point to AI that enterprises can trust, meaning safe, observable and compliant systems, plus generative AI and web3. The Crunchbase portfolio is mostly seed and pre-seed, with one venture round. His investments are not tied to one region: CogX and CognitionX are London-based, while his own companies are in the US.
He describes himself as someone who likes building things, going fast, and helping strong people build companies. Founders pitching him have the most natural fit if they work on AI safety, governance, compliance or enterprise AI deployment. The sources do not say whether he takes cold pitches. They give no investment process and no stated check size.
- Trustwise: AI safety software for controlling generative and agentic AI. He founded it, and Crunchbase lists him as lead investor in its pre-seed round.
- Avathon: Crunchbase lists a seed round led by him. The year is not shown in the sources I found.
- Clocr: Crunchbase lists a seed round, with Pitchbook dating it to December 2021. He is also listed as an advisor.
- Asparia: Crunchbase lists a seed round, shown on its timeline in January 2019.
- CognitionX / CogX Festival: Crunchbase lists a venture round, and Pitchbook dates the CogX Festival deal to October 2018.
- CognitiveScale: enterprise AI software company founded by former IBM Watson colleagues. He is Chairman and was Executive Chairman during its $21.8M funding round.
- WayBlazer: co-founder and board member, per Pitchbook.
- crunchbase.com/person/manoj-saxena
- crunchbase.com/person/manoj-saxena/person_overview_investor/timeline
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/234203-59
- cognitiveworld.com/manoj-saxena
- eventible.com/speakers/profile/manoj-saxena-4149
- sramanamitra.com/2006/11/16/serial-entrepreneur-manoj-saxena-part-2
- pli.edu/faculty/manoj-saxena-i2346471
- inspiredinsider.com/manoj-saxena
Investing activity
Manoj Saxena has made 5 investments according to Crunchbase across 5 portfolio companies, and has led 2 rounds, seen 1 exit and founded 3 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Manoj Saxena
Does Manoj Saxena invest in AI startups?
Yes. His public bios describe him as an investor in generative AI and web3. His portfolio and board roles include Trustwise, CognitiveScale, CognitionX and Avathon.
What is Manoj Saxena's typical check size?
No check size is public. Crunchbase and Pitchbook list deals without amounts, so any figure would be a guess.
What stage does Manoj Saxena invest in?
Crunchbase shows mostly pre-seed and seed rounds, including Trustwise (pre-seed) and Avathon, Clocr and Asparia (seed), plus one venture round in CognitionX.
Who is Manoj Saxena?
He is an Austin-based serial entrepreneur and the first General Manager of IBM Watson. He is Executive Chairman of the Responsible AI Institute, founder and CEO of Trustwise, and Chairman of CognitiveScale. He also lectures at the University of Texas at Austin.
What does Manoj Saxena look for in AI founders?
He has no published checklist. His work centres on trustworthy, safe and compliant AI, so founders in AI safety, governance and enterprise AI are the closest fit.
How can founders contact Manoj Saxena?
He is on X as @manojsaxena and on LinkedIn. His family foundation site is saxenafoundation.com. Whether he accepts cold pitches is not stated publicly.
Is Manoj Saxena an angel investor?
Yes. Manoj Saxena invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 5 investments and 1 exit.
Where is Manoj Saxena based?
Manoj Saxena is based in Austin, Texas, United States.
How can founders reach Manoj Saxena?
Founders on Lounge can see Manoj Saxena's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Manoj Saxena to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.