Dean Banks

An entrepreneur, technologist, innovator, and business leader, Dean’s strategic vision has helped diverse early-stage and established companies deliver on their long-term strategies.

Dean most recently served as President and CEO at Tyson Foods where he was responsible for charting the long-term vision for the company including steering integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and development of alternative proteins throughout its operations. During his four-year tenure with the company, he also served on the Board and executive leadership team. He joined Tyson from the high-tech incubator at Alphabet, the company formerly known as Google [X], where he served on the leadership team and led moonshot projects across multiple industries including sustainable food (as co-founder of Tidal) and robotics (as co-founder of Intrinsic).

Dean was previously managing partner of SEED Ventures, a group investing in and developing early stage healthcare technologies. He also has served as a consultant to Cleveland Clinic Innovations, SVP of Business Development and Strategic Marketing at OrthoHelix, co‐founder and CEO of Connective Orthopedics, and Vice President at Highland Capital Partners. He currently serves on the Boards of Vergent Bioscience (where he was a co-founder and founding CEO), OMeat, and on the Advisory Board of Shiru.

Dean is a former platoon sergeant and squad leader in the U.S. Marine Corps. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Public Relations from Miami University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.