Garrett Lord
Garrett Lord is Handshake’s co-founder and CEO as of October 2026; its AI service connects experts with frontier labs to train, evaluate, and align models. He studied computer science at Michigan Tech after community college and co-designed Handshake as a student career network. In March 2025, Handshake AI launched expert work for model training, evaluation, and alignment. In 2026, Handshake acquired Cleanlab, adding research capability in data quality, robustness, and evaluation, and TIME included Lord in its 2026 TIME100 AI list.
- Now at
- Handshake
Timeline
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2010s
From Oakland to Palantir
Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, he studies part-time at Oakland Community College while running an IT business. By 2014, he studies computer science at Michigan Tech and searches for Silicon Valley internships; after contacting recruiters, he lands a Palantir forward-deployed engineering internship and moves to Silicon Valley to build Handshake, leaving Michigan Tech a few credits short.
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2014
Designing Handshake
In 2014, he and fellow Michigan Tech students Scott Ringwelski and Ben Christensen design Handshake, a college-career network for student internships and jobs that helps employers find talent.
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March 2025
Launching Handshake AI
Handshake AI launches in March 2025, connecting academic experts with AI labs for model training, evaluation, and alignment. The service helps experts validate frontier technologies, build skills, and contribute to foundational models.
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January 2026
Cleanlab’s research team
In January 2026, Handshake acquires Cleanlab. Lord says the team adds research capacity in data quality, robustness, and evaluation.
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August 2026
A TIME100 AI selection
TIME includes him in its 2026 TIME100 AI list.
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As of October 2026
Co-founder and CEO
As of October 2026, he is Handshake’s co-founder and CEO. Handshake presents itself as a career network for the AI economy.
Sources and credits
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