# Ray Hernandez

> I design AI products that make people better at what they already do. Chief Creative Officer turned Chief AI Officer. Dallas, Texas. Builder of Recall, Franky, Token Toys and Velona.

I started at 17, in 1998, as a Design Intern at Rare Medium in Dallas. My first project was Betty Crocker's first website.

I've founded companies and grown from Designer to Chief Creative Officer to Chief AI Officer. I set the design vision and build the systems that carry it: brand, product, design systems and code. I prototype ideas myself, so the team starts from something real instead of a slide.

I've been building with AI for years, at every step: research, design, code, film and launch. This site, SIDE QUEST, is an arcade game I built with AI: art, code, music and sound.

## Products

- [Recall](https://recall.team) (MCP server · Web app): Shared team memory for every repo. An MCP server that turns every AI coding session into team knowledge: it logs every decision and why, flags mistakes so nobody repeats them, and briefs the next AI session before the first line of code. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI and OpenClaw. Summaries are encrypted per team and source code never leaves your machine.
- [Velona](https://velona.ai) (Web platform · AI agents): A data science team in a box for fleets, built at Vinli. Agentic AI that digs through huge amounts of fleet and vehicle data and finds what people never would: anomalies, patterns, trends and insights. Launched in 2025. Sofico acquired Vinli in 2026 to make it the core of its intelligence division, rebuilt as Sofico Intelligence for lease contracts.
- [Franky](https://yofranky.co) (Web app · AI agents): Your Pinterest pins, made real. For people who know what they like but not how to make it: Franky turns your pins into the project you want, plus the prompts to build it with any AI tool.
- [Token Toys](https://tokentoys.co) (Mac app): A free Mac app where little desktop robots show how much Claude Code and Codex usage you have left, so you never hit the wall mid-build. On the Mac App Store.
- Homeroom (Private build · AI agents): My instinct before my instinct as a dad. Agents check 10+ school, sports and lunch portals every day and flag what needs attention: every grade, assignment, lunch balance and practice change.
- [Spinner Verbs](https://spinnerverbs.com) (Open source): Themed packs for Claude Code's loading messages: 80s movie lines, 90s hip-hop and retro terminal jokes. One prompt to install.
- [Nuuzs](https://nuuzs.com) (Chrome extension): A news start page for your browser, on the Chrome Web Store.

## Career

- Sofico, Sr. Director, Sofico Intelligence (2026 – Now): Rebuilt Velona into Sofico Intelligence: the same engine under the hood, a whole new car, built for lease contracts. Lead the AI division.
- Vinli, Chief AI Officer (2025 – 2026): Made AI the company's direction and led the team that launched Velona, turning fleet software into AI insights, through Sofico's acquisition of Vinli.
- Vinli, Chief Creative Officer (2022 – 2025): Creative vision across product and brand for a connected-vehicle platform serving 5M+ vehicles with Fortune 500 partners. Built Velona: a data science team in a box.
- Vinli, Head of Product & Design (2018 – 2022): Built product and design from the ground up.
- AIM7, Strategic Partner (2020 – Now): Partnered with Dr. Erik Korem, now Director of Player Performance for the New York Jets, to take AIM7 from idea to launch: MVP, go-to-market and dev team. A top pickleball app with pro players.
- Bashful Beauty, Co-founder (2018 – Now): Co-founded and built from the ground up with my wife. A downtown Rockwall, Texas spa known for its lashes and brows.
- LAUNCH & Inside.com, Head of Product for Jason Calacanis (2015 – 2016): Designed and launched Inside.com and worked with companies in the LAUNCH Incubator and portfolio on product, brand, UX and vision.
- ShopSavvy, Creative Director (2012 – 2013): Led design for a shopping app with 40M+ downloads.
- LikeUs Network, Founder & CEO (2011 – 2014): Social-currency hardware for vending machines. Backed by Mark Cuban. Launched at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013.
- Social Fly, Co-founder (2009 – 2011): Reinvented the photo booth in Austin: our own hardware and software, with filters and social sharing before Instagram. Grew from 1 booth to 6, booked for the year in month one.
- Stoodio.com, Founder (2007 – 2018): Freelance design agency.
- Ninja Shaved Ice, Founder: A food truck in the East Bay.
- Rare Medium, Design Intern, then Jr. Visual Designer (1998 – 2000): Started at 17 in Dallas. First project: Betty Crocker's first website.

## How I build

Napkin sketch → Planning and research → Inspiration and ideation → Prototype → Iterate, iterate, iterate → Distribution

## Find me

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayhernandez
- https://x.com/raydawg88
- https://www.instagram.com/raydawg88/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@raydawg88
- https://medium.com/@raydawg88

## Optional

- [Full profile](https://rayhernandez.com/llms-full.txt): everything above plus how the site works
- [Website](https://rayhernandez.com/): SIDE QUEST, an arcade game portfolio (needs JavaScript)