John Forsberg
Founder & President
Fifty years building technology for Fortune 100 companies, the last ten in AI computer vision. Father of a Deaf daughter and teacher of a Deaf Life Group. M.B.A. Hofstra University.
Our story
DeafAI did not start in a lab.
DeafAI did not start in a lab.
It started at a kitchen table.
A father. A Deaf daughter. Two languages in one home, and a barrier that was never hers to carry.
Why we exist
The barrier was never her.
It was the gap between two languages, and it followed her everywhere.
John Forsberg has seven children. One of them is profoundly Deaf. For years he watched what the rest of the world made her do just to be understood: write notes, wait on interpreters who were not always available, lip read people who spoke too fast or covered their mouths, and settle for the shortened version of conversations that everyone else got in full.
None of that was a limitation of hers. American Sign Language is a complete language, and she is fluent in it. The limitation was that almost nobody on the other side of the conversation could meet her in it.
He also saw it beyond his own home. For five years he has taught a Deaf Life Group at his local church, and the same pattern held for every person in the room: bright, capable adults spending enormous energy just to be heard, in the doctor's office, at work, at the counter of a store.
DeafAI exists to close that gap with technology, so that the effort of being understood no longer falls entirely on Deaf people.
Our vision is a society in which Deaf people and hearing people can communicate directly with one another, empowering all Deaf people to live lives of purpose and contribution. DeafAI, Inc. mission statement
The founder
50 years of software engineering, aimed at one problem.
John Forsberg, Founder and President
For more than 50 years, John has built technology for some of the most recognized brands in America, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Chick-fil-A. He has spent the last decade of that career working specifically in artificial intelligence.
Most recently, as Solution Architect, he provided the leadership behind Chick-fil-A's AI Kitchen Production Control System, a computer vision platform that manages production across the company's restaurants. That is the same core discipline DeafAI depends on: teaching a camera to reliably understand human motion in a real environment, at speed, with real consequences if it gets it wrong.
What is unusual is not that an engineer decided to work on sign language interpretation. Several large technology companies have tried. What is unusual is an engineer with that background who has also spent 15 years inside the Deaf community as a parent and a teacher, and who understands why the generic approach keeps falling short.
He holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from Hofstra University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Florida State University.
Track record
AI computer vision at scaleLed the AI Kitchen Production Control System now running in Chick-fil-A restaurants
Enterprise deliveryFive decades managing large teams building IT solutions for Fortune 100 companies
Inside the Deaf communityFather of a Deaf daughter and teacher of a Deaf Life Group for five years
Leadership
Board of Directors
DeafAI is governed by people who live this issue rather than study it from a distance, including a Deaf director who shapes how the product is built.
Joyce Forsberg
Treasurer
Working proficiency in American Sign Language and 15 years of experience teaching her Deaf daughter to speak. Career background in recreation services for older adults. Skilled manager of budgets and finances.
Brian Forsberg
Secretary
Working proficiency in ASL and an experienced mentor to Deaf and hard of hearing young adults. B.S. Biochemistry, Kennesaw State University. M.B.S., William Carey University.
Grace Forsberg
Director
Deaf, and proficient in both ASL and spoken English. Served two years as President of the ASL Club at Liberty University. B.F.A. in Graphic Design. Graphic designer, photographer, and mentor to Deaf adults and children.
Language and values
How we talk about Deaf people.
Words carry history. These are not stylistic preferences, they are commitments, and we hold ourselves and our partners to them.
- Deaf is always capitalized. It names a culture and a community, not only an audiological fact.
- Deafness is not a disability. It is a simple fact about a person. Deaf people are proud of who they are and proud to belong to Deaf culture.
- ASL is a complete language. Not a workaround, not a simplified version of English, and not something to be fixed.
- We do not use pity framing. No one here is a victim to be rescued. The goal is direct communication between equals.
- Deaf people review our messaging. Nothing goes out under the DeafAI name without review for language that would be offensive to Deaf people.
- We build with, not for. Deaf users test the app, guide the roadmap, and sit on our board.
Help finish what a family started.
The app exists. It is in beta. What it needs now is the engineering time to become something every Deaf person can download.
DeafAI, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. FEIN 33-3594114. Every gift is tax deductible.