Citrine Informatics

13 years. 60 people. No shortcuts.
That's Citrine Informatics, and their CEO Greg Mulholland just gave me one of the most honest startup conversations I've had.

"Use AI to be average at everything, and be really good at something."

Here's what hit me hardest from that room ↓
1. Data scarcity is the real moat.
Citrine builds AI for chemical R&D, one of the lowest-data domains in industry. Greg's insight: if a company doesn't have enough data, that's not a blocker. That's the problem worth solving.

2. Critical thinking > prompt engineering.
In AI-augmented work, the rarest skill isn't knowing which tool to use. It's knowing what you're actually doing — and why.

3. Diverse industry knowledge is a superpower.
Greg explicitly said this. Coming in with cross-domain perspective — logistics, retail, materials, ops — isn't a distraction. It's an edge.

4. Staying lean is a strategy, not a limitation.
A 60-person team building AI for Fortune 500 materials companies. Disciplined scope beats aggressive headcount every time.

My takeaway as an Engineering Management student:
This wasn't a pitch. It was a masterclass in surviving the long game, with a clear product, a focused team, and a founder who still shows up to meet students from NC State.
Huge thanks to the NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship centre for organizing this Silicon Valley trip and to Greg for joining the alumni meet that evening.