şů«Ӱҵ alumnus Kyle DeSana, BSBA ’21, has landed in a space he was destined for: AI entrepreneur.
Just over a year ago, he left his job to embark on an entrepreneurial quest, founding in Chicago with a business partner. Positioned as the first AI-powered cultural insights platform, Siftree is poised to be a disruptor in a social intelligence industry that, according to Kyle, has seen little innovation in recent years.
“What’s trending? What’s the sentiment? There’s a bunch of noise on social media, but companies are missing 99 percent of everything,” he explained. “We are offering a way to use AI to analyze what’s happening across social media and culture, giving companies unique insights on things that may affect them from an economic standpoint.”
Starting a company, Kyle acknowledges, isn’t for the faint of heart. But entrepreneurship is part of Kyle’s heritage. His maternal grandparents opened the first Mexican restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Taylor, Mich., and his parents and other relatives have also built businesses from the ground up.
“This aspect of the American Dream is innate to me, it’s in my DNA,” he said.
Kyle believes we are on the cusp of a technological revolution. Machine learning, he says, is already transforming the world. He’s excited to be a young entrepreneur in the early days of AI, a moment he likens to the Industrial Revolution.
“I’ve found what I love to do,” he said. “So, in five years if I’m not with this company, I’ll be involved in the early stages of another company.”
At şů«Ӱҵ, Kyle majored in marketing with a minor in data analytics. The University’s personalized approach to education enabled him to “create his own adventure,” he explained.
“You’re given a lot of freedom at şů«Ӱҵ to explore your interests,” he said. “Professors allow you customize coursework and projects according to your interests, and that’s motivating.”
In addition to playing soccer and joining business organizations, Kyle discovered a passion for data.
“I went down a rabbit hole of marketing science,” he said. “I saw that the marketing field was becoming more data-focused.”
After graduation, he worked for Comcast in Atlanta and CCC Intelligence Solutions in Chicago. But the desire to build something new pushed him to take what he describes as a “giant leap” into entrepreneurship.
The idea for Siftree came from his fascination with how culture is now shaped by digital conversations. While most companies rely on basic keyword monitoring, called boolean queries, to track brand mentions and hashtags, Kyle saw a better opportunity. Using proprietary machine learning algorithms, Siftree analyzes sentiment, behaviors, and cultural patterns that traditional tools miss. The startup is currently in beta testing with multiple companies, with plans for a full-scale launch.
Since starting his company, Kyle has sharpened his ability to navigate uncertainty, take calculated risks, and pivot quickly.
“We’re making micro-bets every single day,” he said. “I’ve become really good an analyzing what’s working and what’s not working.”
He’s also gained expertise in everything from finance to legal strategy. And while many days it’s scary to be a young entrepreneur who’s “racing against the clock” to get a business up and running, Kyle says he feels energized by the pace, the pressure, and the potential.
“It feels like everything in my life—my major, my experience, my interests—have come together and brought me here.”