Ray Ozzie | |
|---|---|
 Ray Ozzie at theWeb 2.0 Conference | |
| Born | (1955-11-20)November 20, 1955 (age 70) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Known for | Chief Software Architect,Microsoft Lotus Notes |
| Spouse | Dawna Bousquet |
| Children | Neil Ozzie Jill Ozzie |
Raymond "Ray" Ozzie (born November 20, 1955) is an American software industry entrepreneur who held the positions ofChief Technical Officer andChief Software Architect atMicrosoft between 2005 and 2010. Before Microsoft, he was best known for his role in creatingLotus Notes.[1]
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Ozzie grew up inChicago, Illinois, later moving toPark Ridge, Illinois. He graduated fromMaine South High School in 1973 where, in 1969, he learned to program on aGE-400 mainframe and an Olivetti-UnderwoodProgramma 101.
In 1979, he received hisbachelor's degree incomputer science from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he worked on thePLATO system.[2][3]
Ozzie began his career atData General Corporation, where he worked forJonathan Sachs. After leaving Data General, he worked atSoftware Arts forDan Bricklin andBob Frankston, the creators ofVisiCalc, on that product andTK Solver.[4]
He was then recruited by Sachs andMitch Kapor to work for Lotus Development to develop what becameLotus Symphony. Ozzie leftLotus Development in 1984 and foundedIris Associates to create the product later sold by Lotus asLotus Notes, based in part on his experiences using the PLATO Notes group messaging system.[5]Iris Associates was acquired by Lotus in 1994, and Lotus itself was acquired byIBM in 1995.[6][7]
Ozzie worked for Lotus and IBM for several years before leaving in 1997, to formGroove Networks.[8] Groove was acquired byMicrosoft in 2005, where Ozzie became one of threeChief Technical Officers.[8] That year, he wrote a seven-page, 5,000-wordinternal memo, titled The Internet Services Disruption.[9]
On June 15, 2006, Ozzie took over the role ofChief Software Architect fromBill Gates.[1]
In October 2008, Ozzie announcedMicrosoft Azure, the first project to emerge from his advanced development labs focused on new and potentially disruptive approaches to Microsoft's business. The project, originally known as "Red Dog", was led byDave Cutler and Amitabh Srivastava.
In January 2009, another project emerging from the development labs, "Live Mesh", received aCrunchie Award for best technology innovation.[10] In October 2009, he also createdFUSE Labs (Future Social Experiences) within this advanced development unit, focusing on innovation in social experiences for mobile and web.
On October 18, 2010, Ozzie officially announced his plans to step down from his role at Microsoft.[1]
In 2011, he helped create the non-profitSafecast.[3]
In January 2012, Ozzie started Talko Inc., a company that delivered mobile apps and services for business team communications primarily focused on those roles in which voice is essential. Talko was launched in September 2014.[11] Ozzie has said that the name "Talko" was meant as an homage toTalkomatic, a popular group chat program he experienced while working on thePLATO System in the 1970s. Ray sold the company to Microsoft in December 2015, with the intent to bring Talko's novel voice and productivity features to Microsoft's Skype.[12]
In 2013, Ozzie joined the board of directors atHewlett-Packard, and continues to serve as a director ofHewlett Packard Enterprise. He joined the board of Safecast in 2017.[13][14]
In April 2020, Ray Ozzie raised $11 million for his new venture, Blues Wireless, an IoT company.[15] By July 2021, Ozzie had raised $22 million from investors.[16]
Ozzie was elected a member of theNational Academy of Engineering in 2004, for the conception and development of online collaboration products, including Lotus Notes.[13]
