Nick Vandivere, CEO of Houston-based software company ThoughtTrace Inc., is today’s featured Forty Under 40 honoree.

Vandivere’s company, ThoughtTrace, has designed and implemented a software application that combines artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to read “words, sentences and paragraphs down to the thought or intent level.”

When ThoughtTrace launched, the application recognized 100 facts. Today, it has read almost 9 billion words and has helped the collective customer-base identify 155 million facts. This number grows every day. 

When Vandivere became CEO in 2014, there were fewer than 20 employees. Now, as the team works to adapt the application “to many, many more data types,” he oversees almost 70 employees, ranging from oil and gas attorneys to software developers, all valued for their “grit … [which he considers] the biggest predictor of success.”

Vandivere grew as a leader during his military service, which he says “completely reshaped [his] perspective on life.” As a Platoon Leader in the U.S. Army, he said he learned “through some rather difficult circumstances … the importance of elevating the success of the team above everything else.”

Click here for Nick Vandivere’s complete profile.

Take a look at all of the Forty Under 40 honorees.