Biography
Douglas Levin is an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, where he teaches AI-native startup ideation and innovation strategy, and advises startups. He’s also an Academic Advisor at Stanford Law School Directors’ College, teaching AI governance for boards of directors and other subjects.
Also, today, he authors the Substack Lessons from a Startup Life.
He holds board positions with FiVerity and ReversingLabs and provides strategic guidance on artificial intelligence and governance to multiple advanced technology firms. In 2026, he launched Northstar Clarity, a strategic AI consultancy for boards and executive leadership.
Levin founded Black Duck Software in 2002, a pioneer in open source security and compliance. He previously held senior roles at Microsoft and contributed to the original Macintosh team.
