Leadership team
David Howerton
CEO & Co-Founder
David brings proven leadership as a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits, transforming technical visions into market-leading enterprises through disciplined growth strategies and operational excellence. With over six years as CEO of an ambulatory surgery center, David combines deep operational experience with a track record of scaling businesses from startup through acquisition. He champions a customer-obsessed approach while building the strategic foundation for sustainable, predictable growth across VendoIQ's expanding market.
Dave Lyle
CTO
Dave is a visionary technologist and proven team builder with deep AI expertise, bringing extensive experience scaling engineering organizations from startup to acquisition while pioneering enterprise data integration solutions. His background spans complex enterprise software architecture and advanced AI implementation, making him uniquely positioned to lead VendoIQ's technical evolution. Dave's focus on practical innovation ensures our voice-first platform delivers enterprise-grade capabilities with the intuitive experience field teams demand.
Caleb Norris
GTM Director
Caleb serves as VendoIQ's strategic revenue catalyst, combining outbound prospecting mastery with data-driven pipeline optimization to accelerate qualified lead generation and sustainable growth. His expertise in modern go-to-market strategies and cross-functional collaboration ensures VendoIQ's messaging resonates across the entire buying committee—from RevOps champions to sales end-users. Caleb's approach balances systematic process development with the agility needed to capitalize on market opportunities as they emerge.
The Innovation Studio
The Innovation Studio is a Nashville-based venture studio that creates bold new companies utilizing Industrial AI to solve real-world problems. Led by Brian Moyer, the Studio operates under a disciplined approach to founding companies by devoting human capital around innovative ideas rather than relying on external founders. As a co-founder and builder of startups, the Studio provides not just investment and mentorship, but comprehensive resources and support that allow companies to focus on product development, market entry, and rapid value creation. According to the Global Startup Studio Network, well-run studios achieve twice the success rate of typical venture-backed startups.
The Studio leverages Nashville's emerging tech ecosystem and strong industrial base, capitalizing on the region's growing data science population—which is expanding faster than any other major city in the country. Through partnerships with local universities like Vanderbilt, Belmont, and Meharry, the Studio identifies promising intellectual property and engages top talent to drive AI innovation. VendoIQ represents the Studio's first AI startup, embodying their mission to establish Nashville as a thought leader in AI and a destination for transformative technology innovation.