Meet The Team
Get to know the leaders driving AI innovation, quantum breakthroughs, and real-world results at The AI Cowboys.

- Retired Air Force
- Doctoral Candidate
- Founder of The AI Cowboys
- Founder of The Quantum Cowboys


- Army Veteran
- Co-Founder of The Quantum Cowboys
- Founder of Capture That Media
- Founder of San Antonio Studios


- Collegiate Professor
- Retired Air Force Veteran
- CEO, A to Z drone services
- Cybersecurity, AI, ML, Quantum Educator


- 30 years in Biz Dev & Tech
- System integrator & Architect
- Business Development Expertise
- Founder of Onda Max Tech Solutions

Texas's Rising AI Powerhouse
Founded in 2024 by former Air Force leader Michael J. Pendleton, The AI Cowboys has rapidly become one of Texas' hottest tech startups, currently ranked #6 among AI companies in the state. Headquartered in San Antonio—the nation's 6th largest city and a thriving hub within Texas's vibrant tech corridor. We're uniquely positioned at the intersection of national security, professional sports, healthcare, and academic research.
Our strategic location places us just one hour from Austin, 2.5 hours from Houston, and 4 hours from Dallas-Fort Worth, granting unparalleled access to premier talent, strategic partners, and diverse markets. This prime location allows us to remain agile, responsive, and deeply invested in groundbreaking research and development.
We've garnered significant industry recognition, including acknowledgments from tech giants like LlamaIndex and NVIDIA, highlighting our innovative approach to Small Language Models and agentic AI. Our quantum-driven, deterministic, and explainable AI solutions set us apart by addressing critical challenges like bias, hallucinations, and inefficiencies common in traditional AI models.

Proven Excellence Across Critical Industries
At The AI Cowboys, our capabilities are demonstrated through high-impact partnerships and active projects with some of the most demanding clients across sectors. Our current government contracts include providing quantum-secured AI solutions for the FBI, NSA, and CIA, directly supporting mission-critical national security operations.
Our technology is not limited to government applications; we've successfully collaborated with major private-sector clients such as the WWE and the NFL Players Association, deploying advanced analytics and performance optimization solutions. Recently, we've strategically entered the healthcare and biomedical industries, developing state-of-the-art, secure AI infrastructures and hyperscale computing solutions designed specifically for medical research and patient data protection.
A pivotal partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio—an esteemed R1 research institution—coupled with our collaboration with the National Security Collaboration Center under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, positions us as leaders at the intersection of cutting-edge academic research, national security, and technological innovation.
With plans for significant commercial deployments throughout 2025, our track record proves that we're more than just an AI startup—we're delivering transformative, reliable, and secure AI solutions for industries and organizations where precision, security, and reliability are paramount. The AI Cowboys are poised not just to scale locally, but to become a global leader in AI innovation.

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