There’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur—and few places make that clearer than Babson College, ranked number one for entrepreneurship by U.S. News & World Report for thirty-two years running.

As the founder of RecoveryAI, I was fortunate to be selected for the 2025 Babson SUD Sprint—a bespoke, six-day, NIDA-funded program designed to help researchers, inventors, and entrepreneurs accelerate innovative solutions for substance-use disorder (SUD).

Focused on leadership, commercialization, and strategic connection, the Sprint has quickly become a launchpad for bold, transformative ideas. Being part of it was incredibly rewarding, exhilarating—and yes, exhausting.

To see so many people from across the country’s top academic institutions come together with solutions ranging from cutting-edge drug-delivery devices to science-backed yoga practices to educational tools for families of those struggling with addiction was inspiring in a way that’s hard to describe.

I’ve been an entrepreneur for a long time now, and sober even longer—and I never could have imagined, stepping out of the glass double doors of the rehab I once attended, that I’d one day be in a room with some of the smartest scientists, researchers, academics, and entrepreneurs in the world, each laser-focused on solving the addiction crisis.

In addition to being a masterclass in entrepreneurship, the SUD Sprint offered a rare moment of deep focus—on both the problem RecoveryAI is solving and how we’re approaching it. We spent our days immersed in the nuances of the SUD space, receiving tough love and real guidance from NIDA’s Elena Koustova and Leonardo Angelone, and emerged from the week with a clearer understanding of both our challenges and our opportunities.

I left enriched by the incredible knowledge and mentorship of Babson Professors Angela Randolph, Wiljeana Glover, Gina O’Connor, Zach Zacharakis, Sherene Shenouda, and Vini Onyemah.

I'm also grateful to NIDA’s Boris Sabirzhanov and Tisha Wiley for their insights and guidance at the Sprint as well.

To sum it up, I’m a better entrepreneur—and we have a better business—thanks to the time I spent with the talented team in Wellesley, MA.

To learn more about the program, visit the program's webpage.