Derron Blakely joins Zapata AI as General Counsel, reporting to CEO and co-founder Christopher Savoie. Mr. Blakely brings a strong legal background at fast-growing public companies in the AI and defense industries. In his most recent position as General Counsel at C3.ai, a public enterprise AI company, Mr. Blakely played a critical role in commercial and federal contracting, compliance, employment, litigation, and corporate governance. He previously served as Deputy General Counsel for Elbit Systems of America where he played a pivotal role in all aspects of federal procurement and strategic growth initiatives, including large scale M&A. Mr. Blakely began his career at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and holds a J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law.
Mr. Blakely’s track record of counseling public companies in the AI, government, and defense industries will add tremendous value in supporting Zapata AI’s growth as the recently public company expands its offerings, customer pipeline, and partnership network.
