👋 Hey there! I'm Geoff Shively, a wretched sinner undeservingly saved by the Grace of God in Christ Jesus and now made a son of God. On a mission to love Jesus and others rightly. I don't always do that well, far from it, but when I do, all credit and glory goes to God.

❤️ Current: Chaplain, COO @ KnotsofLove.org

👨🏻‍🚀 Former: CEO, CXO, CMO, Chief Hacking Officer, and Chief Scientist.

🏴‍☠️ Retired hacker, fixer, hacktivist, tech guy.

💡 Spent most of the past 30 years (age 43 now) stumbling around in the dark, gripped by sin, trying to earn the love of others (and then when I proclaimed to be a Christian, i even tried to earn God's love). And yet… God kept building me, protecting me, and blessed me with opportunities to serve others and learn about what really matters in life. In that time he also allowed me be part of many world-changing technologies and ideas years or decades before their mainstream adoption – so that I could be humbled and finally admit that no amount of achievement or money can satisfy, and pride is an insidious monster with not a single human on earth having the ability to survive it and die to self on their own – to overcome it requires Jesus – a loving external force, and full surrender to Him, regularly. I am grateful for all that He's done and does to teach me. Here are some things that I used to get puffed up about, now I see, they really mean nothing in themselves, but now that I love him and am called according to His, He has knit them all together for a greater purpose:

‣ Cybersecurity, Phone Hacking (1994)

‣ Tech Startups (1996)

‣ Distributed systems and cryptography (1997)

‣ Privacy, e-commerce, internet radio (1998)

‣ AI chatbots, AI cybersecurity, AI for Good (1999)

‣ Growth Hacking (2001)

‣ SaaS platforms (2004)

‣ AI Enterprise hardware and software (2007)

‣ Blockchain, 3D printing, hackerspaces (2010)

‣ Live-streaming and citizen journalism (2011)

‣ Drone livestreams, drone food delivery (2012)

‣ Regenerative Agriculture (2017)

‣ AI cybersecurity - round 2 - (2018)

‣ Good / positive news (2019)

‣ AI trust and safety (2024)

and…
‣ Helped Knots of Love start + grow to deliver 700,000+ handmade hats to people fighting cancer and tiny blankets to babies in the NICU

‣ Advised TOMS founder at start and evangelized new charitable biz model

‣ Created the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, helping millions change how to think about and grow food

‣ Created The Good News show, producing 107 episodes of positive content and helping catalyze a global movement

‣ Organized teams and operated pandemic response missions supporting businesses, doctors, and high-risk communities in NYC

‣ Created processes, systems, and standards in cybersecurity that are still used to this day by the world's largest tech companies (Apple, Amazon, Meta, Etc)

🚀 Started in business at age 7 making and selling products door to door in Orange County, California. My tech/startup journey began at 12 when I dove into tech and the hacker scene head first. At 14 founded my first profitable company, and at 16 launched PIVX — a world renowned cybersecurity brand that quickly grew to a $168M market cap and had me co-creating guidance for The White House and developing security standards still used today tech giants like Google, Meta, and Apple. Made a global impact, got “famous”, my ego skyrocketed faster than our stock price while I trusted in people and self, instead of God and… lost it all. BUT! …God is gracious and He kept giving me opportunities to learn this lesson, serve others and grow by exploring, building, and evangelizing impactful tech and companies around the world (before bringing me into the flock to serve Him with the skills he developed in me, while I was of the world).

👨🏻‍🏫 At 18, I became the youngest instructor in UC system history, creating their first cybersecurity curriculum. I've been blessed to work with amazing people all over the world, create and evangelize prolific tech + media, and work with hugely impactful organizations like TOMS Shoes and Knots of Love — from their early days, to becoming household names.

🌱 Finally, after 30 years in tech – I exited the field. My last positions were: Mentor at MIT Professional Education on Gen AI, and Head of Three Labs “AI for Good” lab. I quit the teaching / mentoring job at MIT PE, shut down my AI lab, and took a step forward in stepped forward into ministry!

✝️ God made me a Chaplain, Preacher, and Minister of His Word. I don't deserve it, I ran from it at first, and second. There are far more knowledgeably and experienced people out there but He chose me, so I serve at His pleasure. Thank you my God, Father, my King, my Lord – Jesus.

🏄‍♂️ When I'm not working you'll find me hanging with my son and spending time with brothers and sisters learning about the character of God and His will for our lives. Sometimes writing, biking, painting, skateboarding, listening to Forrest Frank, surfing, and/or exploring and co-creating.