40 under 40 — Omar Haroun

Iota, 2006 — Recognized in: 2018

Omar Haroun is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Text IQ, where he provides executive strategic vision and leads customer success for the company’s proprietary AI technology. Recently, Text IQ was named to the 2018 AI 100, a ranking of the 100 most promising AI companies in the world, and both Haroun and his co-founder Apoorv Agarwal were featured by Forbes in early 2017. Text IQ is profitable and its software has supported some of the most high-profile lawsuits and investigations in recent news.

Omar Haroun first started his journey at UC Berkeley, where he graduated with a degree in economics. Following his undergraduate experience, Omar moved on to Oxford University, where he would pursue his MA. Omar’s presence at Oxford would eventually help Zeta Psi achieve one of its proudest “firsts.” During his time there, Omar helped to establish Zeta Psi’s Iota Omicron chapter, making Zeta Psi the first intercontinental Greek letter society. After his journey at Oxford had wrapped up, Omar then moved to Columbia where he received his MBA/JD.

After receiving his J.D. and M.B.A. from Columbia University, Haroun began his career in law at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati before pivoting to operational roles at early stage start-ups. In 2010, he founded Sportaneous, an award-winning consumer health company that used machine learning algorithms to improve fitness habits and served as the company’s CEO until it was acquired in 2013. Haroun then served as the chief revenue officer at Greatist and went on to work as the Managing Partner of Oxford Digital, a boutique innovation agency that worked with both start-ups and high-growth companies to launch and grow new digital products from the ground up.

Haroun is a recipient of Columbia University’s William J. Heffernan Memorial Award for Service and has been recognized by the United States White House as a Champion of Change. He currently resides in San Francisco, California.