Brian Sirgutz
My path into impact began on 9/11. Living just blocks away, I was pulled into the aftermath – helping first responders and neighbors as we organized supply stations in lower Manhattan. In that devastation, I saw something that never left me: empathy wasn’t abstract, it was instinct. And I’ve spent my career asking how technology can make that instinct easier to act on every day.
Since then, I’ve worked at the intersection of technology, media, and philanthropy to make empathy scalable. I founded one of the first platforms for impact news, later served as SVP of Social Impact at HuffPost where I launched the Impact, Education, and Good News verticals (reaching 25M+ monthly), and helped create the “How You Can Help” series that anchored HuffPost’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Beyond the Battlefield.
Today, I’m the Founder & CEO of Ampathy — an AI-powered fintech and media company building the empathy layer of the internet. Ampathy combines neuroscience, AI, and storytelling to transform attention into action, giving everyone a programmable giving wallet to direct brand, philanthropic, or personal dollars toward what they value most.
As a founding benefactor of Stanford’s Starling Lab, I believe we must trust the world around us if we are going to reach new heights as citizens, as a society and for our collective humanity. The mission has been advancing tools to combat disinformation and in partnership with USCShoah, preserve 55,000 genocide survivor testimonies, and have co-created partnerships linking media, philanthropy, and brands in new ways.
I believe the future of technology is not about extracting attention but about restoring trust, dignity, and connection. That’s the throughline of my work~ and the challenge I remain focused on now; revealing our collective empathy in the everyday, with every moment.
Brian.blog 